sadler 34 maintenance

Repairing Leaky Ports

colin bastable Leave a comment

The windows leak when it rains, as well as when the sea is bumpy. At first I thought it was just the frames, but eventually I realized that, as well as leaky frames, the putty holding the glass in the aluminum frames is rotten.

This results in a wet boat inside, and as the two biggest villains are over the chart table (starboard side) and the galley (port), I get wet charts, wet electronics, wet logs (as in “Captain’s Log”). A good reason to buy waterproof notebooks, btw.

Having just upgraded the coolbox, I decided to reglaze and refit the port over the galley. My first effort was done in the dusk and dark, and it was not very good. So in the morning, I started again. Because the glass slides into the 2-part frame, it is quite a challenge to get the 3M marine silicone to stay in place whilst sliding in the glass. Hopefully, I will discover that it is waterproof.

I also repaired the hole, where the frame sits. The outer skin had partially separated, so I mixed up some West System epoxy and used it to glue the skin back, clamping it into position.

Some pics:

Forecabin/Heads door re-hung

colin bastable Leave a comment

Somewhere along the way from Gosport to Corpus Christi, the door of the heads, which swings to also act as the door for the v-berth in the bow, swung off its hinges.

It probably happened on the first leg Gosport to Camariñas, which was replete with weather. I was stuck at the helm as the door slammed its way to and fro, until it finally exhulted in its freedom. In the loo.

So when I finally had a spare moment I stowed it up front with the other stuff, where it has languished until today.

The hinge is one of those “riser” or “gravity” hinges, like on a saloon swing door, so it has three positions and a tendency to stay in the middle position. However, the bottom hinge is in a “wet” place, by the heads shower bilge. So it corrodes. Especially as Frank ships sea and rain water through the anchor locker, forehatch, ports and from other as-yet unknown sources.

The wet patch:

The door, newly-installed on its new bottom hinge

From the SSOA Forum, I had learned of a supplier of Centurion hinges, Door Handles Direct and today the heads door came top of the to-do list! I must admit that I bought the hinge set back in February 2016, and I only opened the parcel today. The hinge is not stainless steel, just brass-coated metal. So it will corrode again. I bought two pairs..

The old hinge bottom looks very similar to those that I bought, so sometime in Frank’s past, an owner has been through this. On removing the old hinge I could see that the door originally had a spigot inserted into the bottom edge, on which it would pivot. The spigot sat in a hole, which had been repaired a few times, and then the bottom setup was replaced with a new hinge – perhaps from the same supplier.

Here are some pics:

Unhinged by corrosion. The bottom hinge pivot.


Hole in one’s boat: where the bottom hinge sat. Originally the door pivoted on a spigot that sat in the hole

Bottom of door. The hole is where the spigot would have been inserted. Remains of replacement spigot assembly, including nylon riser, are in place. Just..

The top hinge: this works. The top spigot seems to be stainless steel.


I painted the hinges in Rustoleum, in the forlorn hope of holding the corrosion at bay.