This means the thing can't be sealed until  we get the cable in place and decide where it will be running to. Something we don't really want to be doing on the last few days we have before winter snow strikes. - Which incidentally happened that evening (photo at bottom of page!)

This was probably a good thing as I noticed the gasket was on upside down (haha!) I didn't even take a picture from the outside as just mentioning it is embarrassing enough.

Our "big" power will come from a large tru-sine inverter we purchased a year ago. It's about 3 kw, and makes no RF noise...that is doesn't interfere with any radio equipment as do the cheaper "buzz box" ( as I have come to call them! ) types found in most consumer electronics stores.
They are quite a bit more expensive, but, as well as no RF, they have an inherent benefit to become a battery charger when running on shore power. This is because they already have a large transformer, a really great plus. Because of the transformer and some more "analogue" type circuitry, they create a clean sinusoidal waveform not unlike the one found in a wall socket at home. The buzz boxes have been know to fry some household electronics because of the nasty sharp spikey  square wave that pours out unabated.

(Sorry, I could go on about these devils for hours, being a radio amateur frequently annoyed by these and other seemingly careless designs now flooding the market...and the airwaves!)

Back to today.
I continued with work on the portlight interior frames. All of the lexan pieces were used to mark the SS plates for drilling. As the temperature has dropped well below freezing, I couldn't use the outdoor garden hose anymore for cooling. We foresaw this and purchased a giant plastic tray to sit the drill in. ( We're not sure what these trays are for as they come with a lid, but are pretty flimsy. Perhaps for a giant cat litter box?) Most of the filings were held at bay, and the hose from the utility room reached into the kitchen.

88 holes were drilled and one frame cut out with the plazma cutter before it became too dark to work outside.

Gena had sandblasted and spray painted the aft main track the night before so it was ready to be mounted. The track (purchased used on ebay) has a strange "X" shape that lifts the car away from the deck. We couldn't figure out how to mount this as the opening in the lower part of the "X" permitted no seal.

After playing around with the rubber gasket on the front window, we decided that a strip of rubber could provide the seal, along with a bead of butyl calk. The "legs", flat on their bottoms, would then hold the fairly rigid rubber down under the force of all of the bolts.

The top of the page photo shows the track in place, with the multi-wheeled car on top. It looks like overkill, but looks cool as well! The corner block and the winch are there to help make decisions on how the cars' lines will go, as well as the main sheets, we must remember to bolt those down. (lol)

As soon as we know, you'll know :)

Many boats our size don't even have a track for the main. We like the idea because of the close-hauled benefits. Being able to bring her a in little tighter sailing upwind is a benefit when trying to get somewhere a little faster, i.e. out of the path of a storm or into a harbor at nightfall. ( Not that we're afraid to sail in at night.... )

Looks good! And Gena was pretty happy with it too!