A Window on Carver

One of the key features that led us to the Carver 506 was its completely-enclosed, all-weather hardshell bridge (see: An Extraordinary Motor Yacht, July 4, 2002,). What we were unprepared for, however, were the leaks.

Now, all boats leak. But by the 21st century – particularly on production luxury yachts – you'd think they could keep it to a minimum. Not this yacht. Every time we went out in sailboat weather (as opposed to cocktail weather) a constant stream of water would drip from the overhead onto the helmsman – and any other front-seat occupants on the bridge – as soon as seas began breaking over the bows and bridge. And after about two years, water began flooding from around the panels in the windshield, rapidly soaking the carpet on the bridge. You needed rubber boots and a Sou'wester. Indoors.

After we did a little more troubleshooting, the source of the problem became clear: The curved, corner winshield panels were attached solely with black bedding compound; there were no fasteners of any sort. And the panels were falling out; literally.

Now those Wisconsin marine architects are pretty canny, and I am sure that they have a stack of computer simulations, and test jigs, and all other sorts of engineering doo-dads that proved the merits of this fastening system, but they never read my "Made in America" post. Or maybe they never visited their factory to watch the boats they designed going together. Or, perhaps the guy who installed our shower seat from Made in America transferred to windshields.

Whatever the case, we were able to pry up the panels with our fingers, exerting about 3 micrograms of force. In the process, we discovered large voids in the bedding. In addition, the perimeter of the plexiglass panes – about 3 inches worth – had been painted with flat black paint on the underside. The paint was added to hide the irregularities in the underlying black bedding compound, and to give the whole thing a "finished" look.

Forgetting the finger-sized voids – that's just sloppy manufacturing, the problem with this design is that the normally tenacious bedding compound – 3M 5200, if I had to guess – was bonding to the paint, and not to the the plexiglass. Those panes were cooking daily for several years in the Southern California sun, and all that paint just let loose, with bedding compound still attached. If you click on the photograph above, you'll get the big picture...

Now, I'm just a humble Silicon Valley chip- and software-type geek, but were I building this boat, I'd sand or etch about at least a 2" perimeter into that plexiglass, and then run the black paint from there only the remaining inch or so. Then, rather than squirting squiggles of 5200 onto the frame ("Gotta get them yachts built!") and pressing the pane into place, I'd instead liberally slather black 5200 on the entire perimeter of the pane with a putty knife, carefully covering the etched area, and about 1/8" to 1/4" only of the painted trim. Sort of, well, like we did during the 80-hour or so repair.

We still haven't solved the leaks over the helm; that comes from seas cascading up the windscreen, and forcing their way past the top of the frame and the overhang of the cabin top, and dripping out each of the screws holding the trim. More non-existent bedding compound, I'm sure. But at least we have stopped the larger flood, and are confident that now, the window panels will not blow out unexpectedly. Like during cocktails. At the dock.

For their technical assistance during the repair, and validation of our warranty claim outside the formal warranty period, I'll give Carver a "B+". However, for the weak engineering design (bedding to painted plexiglass!) and sloppy installation (large voids), I'll give them a "C-". The repairs were effected by Mack Steagall in Marina del Rey, and he gets an "A" for the quality of his work. And finally: Carver, remember the dripping over the helm. I'll be back.