May 30, 2011.

After doing some varnish work down in Herrington Harbor yesterday we found ourselves with nothing scheduled for the afternoon. So I was catching up on some of the various blogs that I follow when I got to Theretirementproject.blogspot.com

They just bought their retirement boat, Kintala, and have started on that litany of things that need to be done before they head out for warmer climes. Like us, their ports were a *little* grungy due to the severe conditions that boats endure. They had about a dozen plastic ports that could be replaced to the tune of several hundred dollars. Or they could think outside the box and gamble 25 dollars, an afternoon and some elbow grease.

We have 16 opening ports of which 10 are plastic. They work fine its just that after 26 years the plastic is a bit “fogged”. Theres micro scratches that have built up over the years and the lens had actually yellowed. They still let light in but seeing through the lens was a lot like having cataracts. As luck would have it we also had 25 dollars, an afternoon and some elbow grease.

So after seeing Kintalas results we followed their example and headed out to the auto parts store and bought a Meguiars Headlight Restoration Kit. The kit comes with some polishing compound, a buffing wheel to mount on a hand drill and a micro fiber cloth.

We also had new weather seals and screens for 4 ports so we started in the aft cabin. Some compound, 20 minutes of drill action and the difference was amazing. Installing the new weather seal is a huge pain in the ass so I was glad that we only had 4 of them to do.

When Christy saw how much better the ports looked after polishing she immediately ordered 6 more sets of screens and seals so we can do the rest of the boat the next time we’ve got nothing to do….