The Start of the Last Big Pre-departure Task

We knew that getting the windows out was likely to be a major task. On 8 January we removed all of the screws holding the windows in place and handed over to Barry the shipwright so that he could do the potentially damaging part of actually removing the windows and frames. The frames are made from aluminium and need to be levered out very carefully so that the are not distorted or the anodising damaged. Having removed hundreds of windows Barry has the experience to know just how much force can be used. Much as it would have been quite satisfying to do the work ourselves, if we had tried to learn how strong the frames are by removing BV's windows, we'd most likely have run up a big bill for new window frames; a potentially expensive way of learning we felt best to avoid.

The first window - not budging!

Despite Barry's best efforts, however, the first window did not want to come out. What was supposed to be a half day job to remove eight windows was starting to look like it would take two days. Barry was on the verge of delaying his afternoon clients' work when suddenly the first window popped out. It was a great relief to actually get the first window out and, even better, there was no damage to either the gelcoat or the aluminium frame. The only issue was that it had taken an hour and a half to remove just one window.

One done - only seven more to go!

Before

After

Amazingly the second window took just ten minutes to remove and then the same for each subsequent window. Barry was on a roll and got the whole job, including cleaning up the gelcoat with acetone, completed by early afternoon.

Closer inspection of the first frame showed that it had been put in with a different sealant. It had probably been removed at some stage and replaced with the wrong sort of sealant. We were very pleased that there was just one like that!



We have now dropped off the windows and frames with a company that specialises in making and refurbishing windows like ours. They will split the aluminium frames apart, remove the glass and then, after cleaning out all of the old perished rubber sealant, will rebuild them with new sealant so they are watertight again. That will take a couple of weeks to complete. In the interim, we will have to learn to live with Barry's idea of a zany new colour scheme for BV!