New to Me Prairie 36 Finally at Home

After some negotiations and equivocation my Prairie 36 is finally moored behind my house. My son Dan and I mover her from her previous berth In Englewood, FL on Sunday, May 15 2017. We did the 40 nautical miles in 6 hours. The main salon plaque says CC/36-015. I'm guessing that it means that it is a 36 footer and is the 15th hull, but I'm very open to correction.

This next may need to be in a separate thread, but here goes. I am very happy with my purchase, but I have one concern at this point. The cabin window plastic frames are in poor condition as the fittings that hold the windows closed are failing and at some point there won't be enough to keep the them closed. I haven't done any other research on this issue as I think that this would be the place to start. Does anyone know of a solution to this problem up to and including replacement of the entire unit?

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

Bob

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. By cabin window plastic frames do you mean the portholes?

Welcome aboard and congratulation for this nice lady!
I am sure that is you post some pictures of your issue, some folks here will bring you in the right direction.

L.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. By cabin window plastic frames do you mean the portholes?

Click to expand...

Yes, but in my world, perhaps incorrect, portholes are round.

In either case the below pictures will show the unit and the problem. The lower picture shows the missing fittings and they are missing because of the deterioration of the plastic part of the frames.

Bob

You can use the term "portlight". Not all holes are round.

http://www.hatchrepair.com/?gclid=CK3W1abV-tMCFU1ufgodrBQONw

We replaced our broken tab plastic portlights with new stainless models, purchased direct from the factory in China. It was a qty 5 minimum and made to order which took a few months.

Check out the video here and factory info in the comments section. Unable to copy and paste the notes via my phone. Good luck.


https://youtu.be/TnofxxZ8iBU

Welcome! We have a number of Prairie owners here.

Some of the port lights on my 36' (Hull #23) had been replaced before I bought it. I ended up replacing about 4 or 5 of them, so now they're all done. They were a standard size. I could look up the brand I bought if it would help.

I'm pretty happy with the results, and glad I didn't try to squeeze a few more years out of them by replacing parts. Eventually the plastic pins on the hinges will become brittle and break anyway.

Greetings,,
Perhaps New Found Metals makes a replacement...New Found Metals, Inc.

I just replaced my port-lights with New Found Metals and I am very impressed with the quality and a bonus they are made in America forged in PT Townsend, Washington. Installation is a bit more involved but result looks solid and about same price as Chinese versions

Welcome aboard and congratulations on your Prairie 36.

On our Prairie 36 (Hull # 37) we have been fortunate enough not to loose any of the portlight parts. However, I have had to glue a number of the broken plastic parts back together using a good epoxy. So far they are still holding.

On our previous boat I bought new stainless steel portlights and hatches to replace the plastic ones. It gets expensive real fast. No immediate plans to replace the portlights on our Prairie 36.

Thank-you all. You have been most helpful.

Hi Bob,
The new boat looks great, best of luck with it. Missing pine island and all the guy's, see you when we get back in Oct.
Curt

I'm all for sourcing locally in the US if available. If not, we replaced our CHB 34' portlights with stainless, made to order factory direct.

"5 pieces LS-0512S stainless steel 316 porthole ,the FOB price is USD 280/piece ,not including the freight fee to USA ,It have Tempered glass and bug screen"
Dongying Tuopu Metal Manufacture Co., Ltd.
LS-0512S stainless steel 316 porthole
Tempered glass, removable bug screen "

Your ports are a larger size, if you email dimensions to the factory they will quote. We waited approx 2 months for creation + slow ship to California. Build quality is excellent, mine have been installed for 1 year now, no leaks, no corrosion, no issues. Bug screens are nice quality as well.

One design issue I found odd was the outer and inner bracket holes alternate. It is not possible to through bolt the full assembly. We had to screw the outer port to the fiberglass + core and, the inner portion through the interior veneer + core.

Next time I will request holes drilled to allow through bolting the entire assembly. Unless there is an angle issue preventing the interior and exterior from installing parallel.

Hi Bob,
I owned a 44 Atlantic which were originally the Prairie/Atlantic brand. I had portlights made by Fuller Brush. These may be what you have on board. and they may still be available. Try googling Fuller Brrush.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,,
Perhaps New Found Metals makes a replacement...New Found Metals, Inc.

Click to expand...

kwestby said:

I just replaced my port-lights with New Found Metals and I am very impressed with the quality and a bonus they are made in America forged in PT Townsend, Washington.

Click to expand...

That's what my original ports were replaced with. REALLY nice though not cheap!

Thanks again guys and gals. You've been most helpful.

Cape Bob;
So how are you liking, enjoying your Prairie 36?

Any trips or work youve done?

Just very interested in how a new owner is working out?

Thanks.

Tim

Hi Tim,

I love my Prairie 36, but I've taken no trips to amount to anything to this point. Most of my efforts have been to get the mechanical systems working. The fresh water system had more leaks than the government and neither air conditioning plants were working. I was able to sort the water system, but the air required professional help. Both systems had been working up until yesterday when the cooling water pump died. A new one is on the way. Also, there were many smaller items that required attention. The horn, VHF and some navigation lights were not working, but they were all simple fixes.

I had to have my dock reworked to comfortably berth my 36 so she was at a neighbors dock for several weeks and that dock has very limited power. She is finally back at her berth but with our summer heat she is gong to sit until the air conditioning is back up and running.

After our weather cools a little I'll be tackling the external cosmetics including replacement of the portlights.


Bob

Sounds like you will be ready for some overnights by the time we get down in Oct. Say hi to everyone.
Curt

Will do Curt.

Bob;
Thanks for the update! I appreciate this as just now in life I am living vicariously through other boat owners

I have owned older boats before and know the need and sometimes frustration of going through each system and fixing, repairing, replacing, figuring out just what is happening!

But in the end to know she is my vessel, I know how she works and operates and can trust her; THAT is satisfying.

I wish you well in working on her exterior and making her pretty and then getting out and enjoying some cruising!

Tim

Kokopelli, there is a craftsman in north Sarasota, south manatee county that makes very well designed glass replacements for the Prairie boats. I forget the exact location, but he is very near the Marine Surplus store just North of the Sarasota airport. Friends of mine used him for a complete replacement of their prairie 29 windshield and windows. They were very happy.

Thanks for the update! I took a "weather" day today too, tomorrow I've got some more tinkering to do on my own Prairie 36.

straycat said:

Kokopelli, there is a craftsman in north Sarasota, south manatee county that makes very well designed glass replacements for the Prairie boats. I forget the exact location, but he is very near the Marine Surplus store just North of the Sarasota airport. Friends of mine used him for a complete replacement of their prairie 29 windshield and windows. They were very happy.

Click to expand...

I'd be interested in that name, too. So far I've got no problems with the windows, but it's an old boat, and we all know how THAT goes...

Same here: if you can find that name, I will be grateful.

CapeBob!
So how goes the renovations, work, changes you are doing to your new Prairie?

Able to cruise her some this winter?

Tim

Progress on my Prairie 36

It has been awhile since I've posted on the forum. My apologies for that, but I've been very busy getting the mechanical and electronic components sorted out. The first order of business was to get air conditioning functioning because a lot of the mechanical and electronic work is inside and out of the Florida summer heat. Although I'm fairly handy I had to have help with the air conditioning. The man I chose turnout to be, in my opinion a boating genius. I had feared that the both of the compressors would need replacing, but happily I was wrong. The main salon unit had a bad thermostat and the forward and aft cabin unit did have a leak the which was located and repaired. The units performed very well throughout the summer.

The gen-set was another matter which needed attention. It started and worked well, but had to shut down manually and leaked more diesel fuel than it burned. Since I had no previous diesel experience I needed help with this. The first outfit I called assured me that repairing the unit would be no problem. The mechanic puttered around for an hour or so and then announced that he needed to go and get a tool. He was gone over and hour and when he returned he told me that the unit could not be repaired and I would have to buy a new one. Of course his company would be happy to provide me with and install a new unit. I was not very interested in spending that kind of money so I got a second opinion and am I glad that I did. The second mechanic fixed everything that was wrong with the set for a very reasonable price and taught me the ins and outs of purging diesel fuel systems. I do have to say that the first company that I called didn't charge me for the time they spent on my gen-set so I give them credit for that.

The remainder of my free time this summer was spent installing electronics. I had a Simrad multifunction unit on my previous boat. I was happy with that so I went with Simrad for my Prairie. I installed GPS, radar, sonar, and autopilot. I had to fabricate a new mount for the radar antenna. The original digital depth sounder is still functioning so I kept that and had another transducer installed for the new unit.

Now that the weather has cooled I'm working on exterior cosmetics. At the present time, all the railing is off the boat and I'm grinding out all the spider cracks and making fiberglass repairs along the gunwales as I go along. When those repairs are made, I'll paint from the rub rail to the walkway. I am just about to order new portlights.

That's just about it so far. I'll try to post more often. Thanks for the kick in the butt Tim.

Thanks for the update!

You have been quite busy! Glad you found people you can trust and know what they are doing....always good to know these type of folk.

Seems you are doing a thorough renovation of your vessel and she will last another 40 years!

We each need a kick every once in a while to stay on track!

Tim

I've got so many spider cracks on my Prairie 36 that I've decided not do anything and just say she has a lot of character. However, I would like to see your progress, so post some before and after pics when you find time.

BTW what port lights did you decide to go with?

The bad news is that I haven't been able to find any readymade port lights large enough for my boat. The only option so far is to have them custom made in China or decrease the size of the opening. I didn't really want to do that much glass work, but I may have to.

The spider crack repairs are coming along okay. I have the entire port side and transom area ground out and some of the cracks filled. An easy, but very time consuming job. I'll take pictures tomorrow.

Have you tried Man Ship?

http://manship.kitty01.com/dm/manship2013/files/res/downloads/page_0016.pdf?i=1