Detail inside as I wait for the tarp and windows to show

I finally sourced my windows pre-cut to shape with radius corners and a polished edge.  My oldest brother has a glass company in Idaho, and I dropped him an email.  He's making them all for me out of light grey smoked Lexan and shipping them.  Cost couldn't be beat.  Thanks steen :-)

They're not here yet though.

I dropped Dave over at a Polysail a gentle reminder that he was going to ship me a larger tarp.  He's been so busy with his church project that he can barely keep up with the sail business.  He bashfully admitted he'd forgotten to ship it, and would take care of that immediately.

It's not here yet though.

So I tore into a bunch of the little details inside.

One of the things I knew I needed was a rail under the tiller to avoid too much load on the bolts holding it to the rudder head.  The thing is pretty long, and there's a tendency to rest the weight of your hand on the tiller.  I generally wouldn't use red oak in a boat, but I had a piece just the right size and this thing bolts on and off real quick with wing nuts to give me better access to the compartment if needed.  I also rigged the rudder up haul/downhaul as a continuous loop.  I put the jam cleat on top for the up haul.  I put a loop in the up haul back near the transom with the rudder up, then passed a bungee through the loop and hooked it to a fairlead I had screwed to the bottom of the tiller behind the rail.  I need to fine tun the tension, but it's working well.

The other thing I did was mount the Group 24 battery boxes in the cabin.  this is actually the deepest part of the boat, so they couldn't be better located.  My lead/acid group 24 deep cycle weighs 43lbs.  I'm thinking of putting that on one side then putting @ 40lbs of tools in the other box if not a second battery.  Jim specifies 200lbs of steel bolted to the main frames for and aft of the cabin.  Now I only need @ 120lbs, and I'll use that for final fore/aft trim on the boat.  Here I'm sitting with my back against the rear bulkhead with me legs stretched.  I'm only 5'8", but essentially there's a "Pilot Area" 4ft long and 45" wide  to hang out in.  A pair of 24" long coolers will fit perfectly in front of the batteries on each side.  Center aisle will be clear for walking the slot and full length stretch-out when sleeping.

A pair of flotation cushions puts me at the perfect height for seeing out the windows without bumping my head on the roof.

The tiller is right at the height of my knees if I stand in the aft end of the slot.  No hands steering standing up in the appropriate winds.

I can also stand further forward and reach back with my feet to steer.

Another angle on the cockpit area

I'll make hatches and a lid out of that greenhouse plexiglass eventually, but I bet I end up sailing this as a slot sop 95% of the time with all of those stowed.  I'll probably make some soft covers as well.  That's all down the road as I live with the boat.  Or maybe next weekend if the windows and the tarp haven't shown yet.

I also threw a few coats of Varathane on the "Temporary" mast stop I fabbed real quick the first time iI tried stepping it.  It REALLY helps to steer the butt of the mast during the process.  It's not quite straight due to the haste of the initial fabrication and placement.  Oh well :-)

I also measured up to get some high density closed cell foam matting to put on the floor.  Both to protect the wood and paint, and for a little "give" on the old knees.  It's OK if it's dense and heavy, it will act as further "useful" ballast.