port gaskets

[peterg]

Over the last bunch of years, I've owned at least five boats that had bronze opening ports, of which three were Compacs. Since I have never had the wherewithal to enjoy a factory-fresh vessel, the gaskets in the ports typically were approaching a state of non-sealing, crunchy petrification. Until about four years ago, Defender offered replacement gasketing in various sizes, but this is no longer the case. I am aware that the Hutchins folks can provide us with replacement gaskets for their various vessels, but I kinda thought that the price was a little high. When I was restoring Beagle I, a 1982 Compac 19, I purchased 1/4" square closed cell silicone gasketing from McMaster Carr. If these guys don't have what you are looking for, it probably has to be custom made! Anyway, for under twenty bucks, I was able to get enough gasketing to do all the ports in the 19, with a little bit left over. When I upgraded to a 27, Beagle II, the port gaskets were naturally fagged out and had the consistency of charcoal. I checked the McMaster Carr catalog, and much to my dismay, they did not have the 3/8" square gasketing that I wanted for the 27. They did have, however, 3/8" X 1/2" black solid neoprene strip. Having tried some 3/8" square neoprene foam as gasketing, I found that the width of 3/8" was fine for fitting in the 3/8" groove on the port, but that there was insufficient height for a decent seal. For twenty bucks, I purchased a twenty foot length of the 3/8" X 1/2" neoprene strip from M/C and installed it on all eight ports on the BII. I had to back off completely on the adjustment set screws on the port "axles" to allow the port to move as far as possible from the sealing lip on the fixed part of the port. When the dogs are tightened on the ports, a great seal results; I hit every port with the garden hose and have gone through a couple very heavy downpours, and the ports do not leak a drop. If M/C was able to provide the gasketing strips in 3/8" X 7/16", this would be the ideal size, but I have managed to get really great seals on my ports and saved, probably, about  $140.00. Just thought I'd pass this along.

[Bob23]

Thanks, Pedro:
   I think these would work on the 6" round Perko portlights that grace Koinonia's sides. I was able to buy the gaskets from Defender before they stopped selling 'em. More troublesome was the seal between the glass and the bronze opening frame. I went to the Gasket guy in the Lacey business park and for 5 clams, he custom made all 6 gaskets. A great guy to deal with. Obey the beware of the dog sign on the door...his great dane was almost as tall as me- standing on all 4's!
   Thanks for the tip, compadre.
Bob23

[brackish]

Great tip PeterG!  Ironically I had just placed an order to McMaster Carr just about an hour before I read your post.  Bought some push pins with lanyards, and some clevis pins (I'm getting old and have a tendency to drop stuff overboard) for spares.  The push pin will replace that pesky sail track stop I keep losing.

Another good source for all kinds of stuff, including neoprene and various other rubber sheet goods is http://www.smallparts.com/  Primarily for researchers, they have a lot of stuff I use at relatively good prices.