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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Lewmar vs Beckson Ports

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Randall
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123 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/23/2004 : 09:57:06

I'm getting way off topic for Cat 25's, but I can't find much info on the Hunter site about replacing opening ports. My Hunter 25 has 8 openers that need to be replaced, and Lewmar and Beckson both make openers that appear to fit. Does anyone have experience in installing either brand, but especially Lewmar Standard ports?

I'm installing a Lewmar Ocean 60 hatch on her ($530!!), because it was the only hatch I could find that would fit without modifying the hatch opening. I think the Lewmar ports would be attractive and modern looking, even though they will cost half again more than the Becksons. It also looks as though the Lewmar latches are flush with the frame when the ports are closed, so they won't whack you in the back of the head the way the original Bomar/Gray knobs do.

Any insights?

Randall
"Kite" '79 TR/SK dinette #1459
Central Texas

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OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 04/23/2004 : 20:37:06

I replaced the head portlites with Lewmars. Becuase the cabin top was so narrow in this area I had to special order shorter metric $tainless $teel $crews. Then I had to hunt down a metric allen wrench to adjust the hinge tension (so the portlite would stay in the open position.) I also had to purchase a pair of nippers (term?) to cut the depth of the inside trim piece.
Very good quality.

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Gloss
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1916 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2004 : 08:14:54

Sounds like you need to go ahead and sell that Hunter and buy a Catalina 25.

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Randall
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123 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2004 : 10:02:26

Knock it off, Frank! I still have my Cat 25, it's just berthed in my yard for the foreseeable future, that's all. And it's still taking on huge amounts of water just sitting there. Poor thang suffered too much neglect over the years, and leaks in sieve-like fashion through every fitting and bolt on the cabin & deck. All the interior bulkheads are rotted out, it smells of mildew, and needs way more work than I can give anytime soon.

That's why I bought the Hunter 25-- it is watertight above and below the waterline and beautiful on the inside. Not one stain or spot of rot or mildew. The PO's never drilled any holes in the cabin liner or bulkheads to mount things. The interior on my Cat, on the other hand, has so many holes in it that it looks like it's made from pegboard.

I'm supposed to come off active Army duty on the 4th of July, after 2 1/2 years. My unit is considering sending me to Iraq in September, but next May I hit my mandatory retirement date. So sometime within the next year I will go back to being a poor-but-honest police officer. That means I'll be making less money, but will have more time to complete projects.

My Cat is too far gone to ever be made pristine again, so I'm thinking about leaving her stripped down and re-rig her for racing. It is a tall rig/swing keel that has all the hardware for spinnaker racing, and I can leave the interior gutted to reduce weight. We can have the Hunter to weekend on and the Cat to race. The marina where we keep our boat costs 50 bucks a month, so even on a cop's salary I could afford to keep 'em both berthed side-by-side.

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Gloss
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1916 Posts

Response Posted - 04/24/2004 : 11:08:21

sorry Randall, I forgot that you are the person in the Army and do have a C-25

Thanks for your service to us, and your country. We are all proud of you. I hope that you don't get your retirement cancelled. The husband of one of our nurses just got his retirement cancelled (he is in artillery) and now has to go to Iraq for a year. Youch.

The Bowmar hatch on my 89 was leaking and I bought some rubber gasket material from Catalina Direct. It was thicker than the original, and now is tight. Still need to rebed the whole thing though.

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Randall
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123 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 19:04:52

Yeah, that's one of the little known facts about military retirement. You are only retired as long as you ain't needed. The ARPERSCOM (Army Reserve Personnel Command) website states that "Retirees are considered mobilization assets for life." Current policy is that you can be called back up to age 60, but in case of a WWII-style "full mobilization", retirees can be called back to age 70. Unless you have critical skills (doctors and such)-- then there is no age limit. Gosh, I'm only 53, so I could still serve 17 more years, if things go really badly in other regions of the world!

A lot of folks in the Artillery branch are being involuntarily retrained and reclassified as Military Police, since MPs are in short supply. I hope your friend and her husband aren't too bummed and inconvenienced by his deployment. A lot of people suffer financially and emotionally from the stresses of deployment, and many relationships come unravelled.

For me, being mobilized doubles my salary, and my monthly military retirement grows about $180.00 a month for every year I serve. In contrast, my police retirement only grows about $50.00 a year! My wife is active duty also, and we have 25 years in together, so our relationship can endure the separation. It's been hard on our 9 year old daughter. but she's coping well. The real problem will come if my wife and I both have to deploy. Then our girl has to go live in Nashville with the grandmother she has only met twice in her life. I kind of want to do the Iraq deployment, but it would be hell if my wife's unit got deployed, too.

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 04/25/2004 : 20:01:14

Randall,
Whatever they pay you guys, it ain't enough.

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Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.