Just to add to others' experience with frameless fixed port lights, my Landfall
38 is a 1983 vintage and I have owned it since 1986. Since 1986 I made two
port light replacements using 3/8-inch thick cast acrylic and plexus before
making my last and final fix without Plexus (about 13 years ago). During the
19 years using Plexus, it seemed like I always had a leak somewhere in one of
the four port lights (the two aft port lights most frequently). Sometimes, the
Plexus' bond would break and other times the acrylic would crack and cause a
leak. You could say that the Plexus-installed windows lasted 11.5 years each
time on average but during most of that time there were leaks.
The Plexus is very hard (and brittle) after it cures. It certainly sounds
reasonable to me that flexing of the boat's structure causes these cracks to
occur. I really think the reason my current window design works so well
(leakproof for the last 13 years) is that the flexibility is being accommodated
rather than resisted. My fix was not inexpensive and I did most of the work
myself while living aboard.
So, when thinking about Plexus-installed windows, how much of your service life
was really leak-free? I think that is the important question to ask rather
than the frequency of replacement.
Bob
Bob Boyer
S/V Rainy Days / Annapolis MD
1983 C&C Landfall 38 - Hull #230
email: dainyr...@icloud.com
blog: dainyrays.blogspot.com
"There is nothing--absolutely nothing--half so much worth doing as simply
messing about in boats." --Kenneth Grahame
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