ZOSHA'S WAKE: Greenish looking stuff ..... Got it covered.......

A month or two ago, the Westsail Owners Association sponsored a Gulf Coast rendezvous in Clear Lake Shores, Texas for owners and owner wannabe's and any other parties who have an interest in the Westsail line of cruising sailboats. Owners from all over the Gulf Coast got together for fun, food, libations, boat tours, and endless rounds of talking Westsail stuff. The Westsail Corporation went out of business back in the 1980's after manufacturing a total of about 1100 boats. The most prolific of their production run was the W 32 with about 825 boats manufactured. Depending on who you talk to, there were about 60-70 W 28's. The remainder of the production run was comprised of W 39's, 42's and 43's.
Today, Westsails are just about as popular and in demand as they were in the 1970's and 1980's. A 35 year old boat in good shape is selling today for not much less than the purchase price when new. Some sell for more. Part of this success is due to a guy named Bud Taplin. Bud was the production manager for the Westsail Corporation for many years and was responsible for the manufacturing output of the factory. When the corporation went out of business, Bud started a company supplying Westsail owners with technical manuals and advice, new and replacement parts that are manufactured to original or better specifications, and a clearing house for brokering boats.
Westsail's are probably the favorite boat that Forum A-holes like to pick on. That aside. No one who is familiar with these boats can ever criticize the factory for skimping on either construction scantlings or the quality of the component parts that finished out the boat. For instance, lets examine the ports found on the boats that I have personal experience with, theW28 and W32. They are massive bronze opening ports available with screens for bug control and if memory serves me right were sold by the ABI Company out on the west coast in California. Sadly, this company is no longer in business.

These ports are 35 years old and are better than the day they were new.........why, you ask ? .....because of the patina, the greenish looking stuff on the bronze.....the first thing that most newbies want to do is polish these ports up and get them all shiny and new looking, My GF Tana, sometimes referred to as Tanababy (TB), wanted to do exactly this until I explained that it is this greenish looking stuff that protects the metal and allows it to last forever.

Look at the bronze statues in Rome that are 2000 years old.....all covered with the same greenish looking stuff.....and still looking good! Because of their simple design and robust construction these ports will function perfectly......... indefinitely. If they have an inherent weakness and this is not because of the port itself but because of an un-knowledgeable user, now don't get me wrong here....I'm not becoming another Forum A-Hole pundit.....we are ALL ignorant!!! yes all of us!!! we are just ignorant about different things! OK back to the weakness in these ports.....What is it ? You ponder. ...It's the gasket that seals the two have together when closed....they have a tendency to leak.......NO, you say! ..Yes, I retort! ..Why? you query .... "because current and past owners have dogged them down too tight and over the years these gaskets become compressed and don't seal well any longer and we keep dogging harder and harder to stop the drip until we've ruined the gasket" Finger Tight is the Rule.....don't dog these down as tight as you can get them.....certainly it will keep them from leaking but so will keeping to the FT Rule and you won't ruin the seal! BTW, Bud Taplin has new gasket material in stock. That said, another issue with these ports is heat and glare radiating into the cabin. These ports are large for light and airflow and they do a terrific job but sometimes for whatever reason you don't want alot of bright! The light bouncing off the white bulwarks through the thick glass of the port sometimes creates a glare that is, to us, uncomfortable and unnerving. Another issue is magnified heat broiling through the port glass that can heat up poor ZOSHA'S interior to the point of simmering your vital fluids! .....you don't want that to happen ...Do you? Some people might, I guess....Mmmmm...wonder if you get all tingly when this happens? Hmmm.....Never mind...back to the point.....

TB to the rescue......she made up some fabric port covers that have a fabric of your choice on the inboard and reflective heat retardant material is sewn on the outboard side. These things are awesome. Keep out unwanted light and heat.