My 1st Hatt - 1984 52C

[JuiceClark]

Have any of your redone your flybridge windscreen? I'm dreading it. Getting all the bolts out is going to be miserable. The pieces are big and heavy and I fear something getting broken. If broken, then I'll have to have something custom made.
But the aluminum is well oxidized and it cannot simply be repainted. It must be powder coated or re-iodized. The tint looks a little funky all around the glass edge as well.

I saw one with the windshield removed, but I'm not sure it looked quite right. Plus, my very expensive eisenglass curtains are attached.

Have you seen anything creative done to ease the pain? I'm trying to figure-out what this guy did to his splended 52C:
https://www.unitedyacht.com/used-yac...ngaree-2762267
2762267_285e275e_1.jpg

[Briankinley2004]

I had my eisenglass replaced using the existing canvas. It is not too hard to get out. In fact I remove it when a hurricane is coming that predicts over 60 MPH winds. I usually just open the zippers if lower than that. I cannot stand where the eisenglass meets the window frames on my 55C. It is right in my field of vision. I have thought about removing it and going with an enclosed bridge some how

[finatic]

I had my windscreen redone on my 52C recently. They did it in place removing the gasket material and the plexi. They made a mess! The old gasket material made black marks on the fiberglass that were a real PITA to remove! They never cleaned up their mess! If you are near Morehead City NC do not use Atlantic Glass and Mirror for anything!

[rsmith]

You need to take the glass out first then the aluminum frame won’t be too bad. That’s not OEM windshield

[Eddieclemons]

I assume someone got rid of mine altogether. original_35e8218d-d694-4743-9be3-e394f7f1cd2a_PXL_20220501_212907973.jpg

[JuiceClark]

This convo really helps - appreciate it.

With new eisenglass curtains, I'd really hate to permanently remove the windscreen now! Those were close to $15k before the world went inflation crazy. I could put in a dog elevator to the bridge for that money.

I saw one 52 with a solid piece of plexiglass all the way around - no frame at all. It looked great! But that wouldn't be strong enough to attach the curtains, right?

I'd bet Eddie's sweet boat removed the windscreen when it was painted. That'd really be the best time to patch the dozens of resulting holes.

The more I think about it, the more it seems I might just have to do a few build-up coats and paint it....poor man's fix. Then, when I get new eisenglass and/or paint the boat, I'll just remove the damned thing.

Stainless L brackets screwed into aluminum windows ruined them.
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The glass is going too.
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[Briankinley2004]

My frames were pitted like that when I bought the Southern Drawl. I sanded them down after scraping the loose stuff off. Used an etching primer then put a few coats of Awlgrip on them. That was in 2017 and it isn't peeling yet. If you look close you can see the pitting but looking back I probably could have glazed it with Awlgrips glazing compound and that would be hidden. Unless you have large holes all the way through I would consider trying to salvage unless you want to get rid of the line of site issues.

[JuiceClark]

My frames were pitted like that when I bought the Southern Drawl. I sanded them down after scraping the loose stuff off. Used an etching primer then put a few coats of Awlgrip on them. That was in 2017 and it isn't peeling yet. If you look close you can see the pitting but looking back I probably could have glazed it with Awlgrips glazing compound and that would be hidden. Unless you have large holes all the way through I would consider trying to salvage unless you want to get rid of the line of site issues.

That's really the best option. It wouldn't be that bad to set them in the garage, sand them all down and get them looking good in white. BUT taking them off is what I dread. Digging the glass out to get the frames off seems like the kind of job I'd say "forget it" about half way through.

Did you refinish them in place? I don't think I could sand them without damaging the paint or scratching the plexi.

[RyanB]

Is it possible to remove the wind screen all together? I was following the refit of a 40 something foot MY, on Instagram called "thelanding_", and thats what he did. Removed it completely, painted, and then had the new enclosure glass fitted right to the brow.

Looks really sharp and clean. Like all the new SF yachts come now.

Here's some pics from their account.

[Briankinley2004]

That's really the best option. It wouldn't be that bad to set them in the garage, sand them all down and get them looking good in white. BUT taking them off is what I dread. Digging the glass out to get the frames off seems like the kind of job I'd say "forget it" about half way through.

Did you refinish them in place? I don't think I could sand them without damaging the paint or scratching the plexi.

Painted them in place. I had a guy working for me that was a good cut in man and I don't think he even masked much off. I repainted the bridge after that and masked the seam where the frames met the fiberglass but it didn't matter much at that point since the paint matched. I suppose you could mask and spray but we just used awl grip with the brush additive. It doesn't look like a new powder coat job would but it suits my needs