Many years ago I had a Cal 25 and replaced all of the windows. I removed them and traced exact window hole size on paper which I gave to Mark Plastic/ Go Windows. Within a very short time, the company mailed new plexiglass windows, each one in a frame. I glued them in place with 3M 5200 and never had a problem thereafter. The windows were still in good shape when I sold the boat some 15 years later.
I now own a Cal 34, Mark III- which was an extreme fixer upper when I acquired it. The boat needs windows and I could not locate Go Windows at the time.
What I did: I purchased 1/4 plexiglass, again made a paper pattern. I had a plastic store cut out the window pattern providing an additional 3/4 inch oversize of my patterns, and drill holes through the plastic evenly spaced round the plastic at about one inch distance apart. I drilled corresponding holes in fiberglass sides of hull. I then used Dow 795 Silicon Building black sealant and screws and bolts as fasteners on the boat. It is now some 20 years latter and so far, I had to replace one of the windows.
Warren Fox
Scrimshaw, Cal 34, III
Marina del Rey, CA
Cal 39-2 windows
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SailingChris
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Fri Oct 18, 2019 9:15 am
Note that tempered safety glass (the kind that crumbles) must be custom-produced. First it has to be cut and then it is tempered. It's expensive. Laminated safety glass is like car windshields. It has the film of plastic between 2 sheets of glass. That's easier to obtain and size. Plastics are easiest of all because you can DIY.
On my older boat, a bronze opening port had tempered glass that was all cracked but still somehow intact. I replaced it with laminated glass. That broke and delaminated quickly because the bronze frame was poorly machined. I replaced it with plastic--can't recall if it was acrylic or polycarbonate; I think the latter--and it tolerated the stress from the frame and has held up well for about 25 years or so. Bear in mind that this is in MI, where our boats live indoors for half the year.
Chris Campbell
1967 Cal 20 # 1220
1961 Seafarer Polaris #13
On my older boat, a bronze opening port had tempered glass that was all cracked but still somehow intact. I replaced it with laminated glass. That broke and delaminated quickly because the bronze frame was poorly machined. I replaced it with plastic--can't recall if it was acrylic or polycarbonate; I think the latter--and it tolerated the stress from the frame and has held up well for about 25 years or so. Bear in mind that this is in MI, where our boats live indoors for half the year.
Chris Campbell
1967 Cal 20 # 1220
1961 Seafarer Polaris #13
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