J44 forward deadlights

[Chris Campbell]

My new-to-me J/44 has leaky deadlights - the two forward-most on the starboard side, when there is significant water sloshing around. They're not opening ports, and it's not obvious how they are even constructed at a glance - does anyone know? What other J/Boats have similar non-opening windows - can they be taken apart and put back together with a fresh seal?

This is a fabulous group, I hope to be able to contribute more as I get familiarized with my boat. She sure is impressing me so far!

Thanks,

Chris Campbell

J/44 #33 Chester Nova Scotia

[Bernie Coyne]

Hi Chris:

 

Welcome to the J/4X family!

 

All J/46’s also have the same fixed deadlights.  A friend of mine with a J/46 had  those same ports leaking and had a competent yard remove and rebed them with some black rubbery stuff...have not leaked since.   Sorry I do not know how they are constructed, but you can always try J/boats themselves for help.

 

Good luck,

Bernie

J/46 #10, Mystic Rose

 

Bernie Coyne

Email: bernie...@outlook.com

Cell/text: 781-789-0762

 

Protect yourself, family and everyone.

Please get vaccinated...and boosted!

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[Chris Campbell]

Thanks - this is a great group, sailing great boats, obviously!

I hadn't thought to try JBoats, strangely, but that is a great idea and I'll do it now. It sounds reasonably straightforward, actually - more or less like a car's windshield adhered to a surface. If there is anything more to it than that I'll report back.

Cheers,

Chris

[David Jade]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone has more details on this. We’ve got a forward deadlight that is leaking just with heavy rain on our J/46. 

Has anyone figure out how to rebed them? Is it too specialised to dyi?

[Wayne Cassady]

Am looking for opinions on the reef line system on the J40. Single line, double line, some description of how you’ve run it?

Thanks.

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 3, 2024, at 3:47 PM, David Jade <da...@mutable.net> wrote:

Hi,

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[Chris Campbell]

Hi David,

I haven't done mine yet, but plan to. Last season I had shrink wrap tape sealing around the edge and had no leaks, so my motivation dropped off and I either worked on other projects or went sailing - we'll see what happens this year :)

Here's what I managed to find out, though. My forward starboard deadlight was leaking significantly, and I pushed it from the inside - not very hard! - and it popped right out. I feel lucky it didn't go overboard: I was on the hard, but it would have certainly been scratched up if not cracked. It was clearly no longer adhered in any way to the cabin side. The research I did suggested the best flexible adhesive for securing acrylic windows is DOWSIL 795 Silicone Building Sealant. It looks straightforward to apply, just mask off so you don't get it anywhere you don't want it, and make sure you use enough to fill any voids while not making a goopy black mess anywhere on your boat!

If you end up doing it share photos, I'm sure our boats aren't the only ones that could use this repair.

Thanks,

Chris