When we bought Rocket Science it was like falling in love. I didn’t notice or just didn’t care that there were a few visual imperfections, the overall feeling was that she’s an amazing boat (true!). I’m not sure if Rocket Science cared that her windows weren’t so easy to see through and I didn’t really notice for quite some time. I do remember when my dad replaced the windows in the Mara how shocking it was to be able to see out and how horrifying it was that a passerby could see in! Anyway, we finally knew it was time for new windows for Rocket Science when a gust filled the cockpit at the dock and blew out one of the forward facing dodger windows.
Research led us to choose acrylic and we used the same thickness as was there before. Charlie at Clear Cut Plastics in Ballard was so helpful with ordering and then helping us get it totally right. Initially I was just going to do the big dodger windows but for those we need just over one sheets worth so I added in the cabin house windows as well and used up two sheets.
For templating, I used strips of door skin plywood and hot glued it together to hold the shape of the window frame less 1/4″ all the way around. This allows for expansion and contraction of the acrylic that’s at a different rate than the materials that it’s mounted into. Rocket Science’s windows all fit into recessed flanges and to allow that gap between the window and the frame I used 3/16″ spacers made from a few layers of thick VHB tape and then 1/4″ tile spacers around the edges.
I left all the templates with Charlie who ordered the materials and a few weeks later they were all ready. I started with one of the small windows up in the bow which was really hard to get out. The tight corners of the small windows made it tricky to get scrapers in to clean out the old adhesive and it was tight cleaning up the new stuff too. The larger windows turned out to be easier overall but I’m glad I started small just in case something didn’t work out.
The installation process took a while. After the frame was clean and the paper on one side of the window was cut back to where the sealant would come to and sanded lightly it was time for the sticky stuff. First, one layer of black primer type A went on the window edges and flange. Then a layer of black primer type B went on the frame edges and flange. The squares of spacing tape went into the frame on top of the primer with enough room around them to be concealed by sealant. Next was carefully applying a V shaped bead of UV4000 sealant to just the flange of the window frame. It should be enough to squeeze out to the inside edge of the window but not so much that it makes a mess in there. Then the spacers on the bottom got balanced on the edge of the frame and the window slid in on top of them. Lastly, the rest of the spacers went in around the rest of the edges of the window to help the sealant that would go there 24 hours later be a nice uniform thickness. I think if we had wanted to do the outer bead of sealant right away it may have been okay but it would have taken a lot longer to dry. As it was we were squeezing in installation between days of rain and didn’t want to count on it being dry for long and the weather had been very Seattle.
Putting the beauty bead in the next day was harder than I thought… getting a smooth and uniform finish with the black sealant required just the right touch. By the end I had it figured out, I found it easiest to run a pressured in bead that filled most of the space and made sure that met the first bead. Then I ran another pretty bead that wasn’t as thick and went in much faster around at a nice angle to fill up the space. Sometimes (okay, often) I had to go back and run over the bead to make it look nicer. I went through lots and lots of tape that protected the surfaces next to the bead and lots of rags and adhesive cleaner. That first new window in the bow looked so different. I couldn’t believe how much better it looked from the outside, it’s so reflective and shiny.
When the first dodger window went in the old paint looked so bad next to the new window I just couldn’t handle it. By now the weather was warming up and I thought why not just paint the waterways on the dodger? There’s not much surface area! True, but there are a lot of edges and corners. That added some time to get them all sanded, prepped, and painted. The solar panels will be covering most of the dodger roof so it seemed like a good time to do the waterways which will still be easy to see. The aft edge of the dodger was a little beat up too… and while I was at it may as well touch up a few other spots. We could use new paint everywhere but that’ll be after another adventure or two.
We also decided to add a little window in the front middle window to allow a little air to move through the dodger. When it’s hot and you’re sitting in the shade under the dodger it feels great to have a little air flowing through. I brought the window back to Charlie to cut the hole in it but I asked him to do it wrong! I hadn’t studied the window installation and included the hinges in the cut out which is not how it works. I turned it over to Greg who got Charlie the correct measurements and got it done.
The end result is amazing and totally trippy. I’m still not used to seeing out of the windows from the inside. They look so shiny and nice, it really helps the whole boat look like someone cares.
