Posted by Dave Evans (dgevans@…>)
Long a topic for Freedom owners; perhaps the only poorly-chosen
component of the entire series. Some people have leaky opening ports;
we have leaky fixed ports.
I know they were made by Bomar, and think the fixed ports have long
been unavailable, unlike the opening ports. So what have people done?
One approach would be to take the existing ports out, clean and rebed
them. Has anyone tried this? Is it possible to do without bending the
aluminum extrusions?
Or find suitable replacement ports. There is a Canadian company,
Bomon, which I remember some owners tried. But I have not heard any
long-term experiences.
Then there could be a bigger change, like New Found Metals
rectangular opening ports. These would alter the appearance to be
more like that of the Pedrick boats. And add ventilation (plus) and
much more work (minus).
I don’t really need a big-time winter project, but it would be nice
to solve this before the teak is ruined. (I have tried sealing the
exterior edges with silicone.)
Thx,
dge