Bronze is about 10% denser than steel, which can be considered much heavier or no big deal, depending on your hull weight distribution and whether you prefer the look of bronze. My NS27 oval bronze ports have not leaked since the hull left the factory in 1978, but I did replace the gaskets 4 or 5 years ago. I like the green copper oxide look, so I have not touched them for these 32 years. Looks as if the bronze ports on my 2004 M17 are on the same path to green, but they appear to be more finely machined and would be easier to keep shiny new should I develop the ambition. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla On Mar 27, 2010, at 8:25 AM, Nebwest2@aol.com wrote:

My advice would be to stay away from plastic. We have Gray Marine ports on Dauntless. over the years the plastic lenses have succumbed to the UV light and hazed up to the point that they are difficult to see through and now require replacement, a costly repair. Maybe that isn't an issue everywhere. I don't know. Could it be AZ's higher than normal UV and sunlight exposure? The ports were installed before we owned her so I don't know how old they are, but they were clear when we purchased her some 4.5 years ago. At this point I'll have to replace them with the same thing, but if I were to have my "druthers" I would have a set of stainless steel ports with glass lenses like Rick and Melanie installed on Raven. They are beautiful, don't require polishing and I think that they are much lighter than bronze.

Of course, as always...what they heck do I know?! hahaha Just MHO!

Sean M23 Dauntless www.havasumontgomerys.piczo.com _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats

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