The porthole in the hull in our aft cabin leaks like a sieve whenever it rains, I'm sure it will also do that when we're sailing in any kind of waves at all.
I had a look at it from the inside and it appears the water is coming inside at the horizontal joint halfway down on both ends of it, the gasket looks like it's been nicked or dinged there. It looks like this thing is two pieces held together by a bunch of machine screws going from the inside half into the outside half and a gasket inside the outer half.
I hate these things, I hate any hole in the hull below the rub rail, I've always felt it was asking for trouble to put port holes down there. If I felt I could do a good job I'd pull the thing out and fill it in. But that's a tall order so not likely happening.
Anyone ever taken one of these out before? Would kind of like to get an idea of what to expect before I start dropping things into the water.
Mine leaked, too. You're correct that it's in 2 pieces, an upper and a lower aluminum frame, with a rubber 'gasket' between the 2 pieces. The gasket is what was leaking. I contacted Lewmar and the ports can't be fixed. So, I bought a new one. I was lucky that they still had them in stock as they've changed to a more rounded profile in the current line.
However, I decided not to replace the port, and to fix the seal instead, keeping the port as a spare. I took some clear silicone and forced it into the gap between the upper and lower frame pieces and covered it with electrical tape, so it would harden flush, and to protect the remaining rubber gasket from the UV light that caused it to fail in the first place. That black electrical tape is still on there, and has been there at least 5 years...!!! I trimmed it flush with the edges of the frame and it looks like it's supposed to be there.
So, check that rubber seal between the upper and lower frames. Mine was obviously leaky, you could see light from inside the aft cabin once the trim ring was removed. Lewmar confirmed that they degrade; I'm surprised none of my opening ports leak. My 'fix' has held and no more leak in the aft cabin.
Gary and Cathy Price
1997 C36 Mk II Tall Rig/Wing Keel Imagine...
Hull # 1617
Worton Creek, Md.
Northern Chesapeake Bay
These Lewmar’s commonly leak at the rubber gasket between the two halves of the frame. My wife and I bought a 1999 C-36 last year and all the top side ports leaked. The rubber gasket material was gray and soft enough that I thought it was actually caulking. On the 1988 Catalina 30 we sold, the same Lewmars had black rubber gaskets that were good as new and never leaked. The black rubber gaskets must be much more impervious to UV, because they were still hard, after 20 years.
I took a metal pick and removed much of the soft gray rubber gaskets at the two joints and caulked the gap. No more leaks.
Nile Schneider
Mañana C36 #1798
Lake Champlain, VT