Things aren’t looking good for splashing in 2022. It got cold all the sudden, and the boatyard manager tells me they got a lot of requests to haul boats starting next week. In September, he said they were keeping the yard relatively empty this year so they could clear out a bunch of Pergatory boats that accumulated in recent years, with non-paying owners, over the winter. Apparently, that plan has changed. Since my tent is at the back of the yard, once boats start getting hauled, I’m basically locked in until April. Stay tuned…who knows how things will turn out?
Back to the refit, since we used our previous boats primarily as liveaboards in The Swamp, the missus insisted on a few things for this Roamer 46: a deep jet bathtub and a washer and dryer.
The bathtub is sitting in the aft head awaiting installation. The washer and dryer are sitting on the aft fuel tanks awaiting me getting the custom laundry closet porthole done. What I needed was an H-shaped gasket with very specific dimensions to go between the new 1/4″ tinted glass that will fill 2/3 of the porthole glass area and a 1/4″ plate with a 4″ hole in it for the dryer exhaust. Needless to say, getting all the portholes installed is a priority, since the boat has to be weather-proof when Tent Model XXX comes down.
Unlike all of the other portholes, the one for the laundry closet has no screen
This is the one porthole on the boat that will pretty much never be opened, so there’s no need for screen to keep out bugs. And a screen would eventually clog up with lint from the dryer exhaust anyway, so it’s best not to have it here.
Brand new tinted glass fills 2/3 of the window space
1/4″ marine plywood with a hole cut for the dryer exhaust fills the rest
I’m considering making that dryer vent section out of aluminum rather than marine plywood. The plywood is fully encapsulated in epoxy and a layer of fiberglass on each side, but the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that aluminum would be a better material to use here. And I have plenty of leftover 5052 plate from the aft deck enclosure build.
1/4″ gap needs to be sealed
I don’t think caulk would be an effective seal here. But I was unable to find an H-shaped gasket that had the dimensions I want. So I decided to make one using the same approach as I did with the silicone porthole seals.
Something like this is what I need
That H-shaped gasket is hiding inside this jointed 2×4
I just have to let it out!
After splitting the 2×4, I cut identical grooves in each half
1/8″ saw blade kerf was the perfect size to make the grooves I needed in four passes
Then I adjusted the saw blade depth and removed an 1/8″ from the middle sections that remained to get my H
Next, I sanded the mold with 120 then 240 grit Mirka Autonet
Ready for varnish
The smooth surface and varnish really help when it comes to pulling the final silicone gasket loose.
It’s Showtime!
After clamping the two mold halves together, I taped the end and edges to keep the silicone from leaking out too much. I made the mold much longer than the final gasket needs to be, in part, because I figured the liquid silicone will end up leaking out to some degree. I just need enough to stay in the mold so I can make my 7″ long gasket.
Ready for the pour
Done with the pour
The tape seems to be holding.
There’s not much getting past the tape on the bottom
There was quite a bit of air in the mixed silicone
It’s good to see the bubbles work their way out of the poured silicone.
Four hours later, the silicone has kicked off
Fortunately, it solidified before the silicone could work its way past the tape. You can see in the picture above that it made it 1/2 to 3/4 of the way past the tape.
I didn’t lose as much silicone as I expected
Tape is removed from the sides and bottom of the mold
Time to split the mold halves
Nice!
The gasket easily came out of the mold once the halves were split
Perfect gasket for a 1/4″ window and dryer outlet plate
So that went well. I just need to finish the dryer outlet plate and I can assemble and install the laundry closet porthole.
I should also maybe mention, as I have before on other articles, that this isn’t a ‘real-time’ posting. I actually made that gasket in 2020. I just never got around to posting about it after I was wrongfully terminated from my job and pretty much stopped working on the boat or posting here.
Over the winter of 2021, a mouse got into our basement. I dealt with the beast as soon as I discovered signs it had taken up residence, one of which was that the bloody thing chewed up a bunch of my H-shaped gasket! Fortunately, I made the mold far longer than the seven inches I need for the gasket. Enough of it remained without nibbles for me to use it on the porthole.
Next up in our 1969 Chris Craft Roamer 46 Refit: Installing the Last of the Portholes
1969chriscraftroamer46 