Equipped with a well-made desk chair, the new helm station, now installed at the chart table in the saloon, welcomes you for hours without fatigue.
On the other hand, as far as visibility on the outside was concerned, there was something to be said for it..
This observation led to a new "slight modification"... on a large scale!
The front windshield
The two original front plexis were separated by a massive piece of polyester, an integral part of the deck (in terms of construction).
This deck came from a common mold for the Leopard 47 (sailboat) and the Leopard 47 PC (power cat). Also, this imposing part was designed to support, among other things, the "mast step" in the sailboat version. On the other hand, in the motor-yacht version, this appendage is not very useful.
Already leaks!
This imposing element was also in charge of keeping our two huge methacrylate panels (transparent plexiglass) in place with the required watertightness in such circumstances.
Alas, our brave Lady was far from being irreproachable on this point. To tell you the truth, she was leaking like a second-hand diaper..
Add to this already "annoying" inconvenience, the visual obstruction inevitably induced by this mass of laminate perfectly useless in the absence of a mast, here we are in the presence of all the necessary ingredients to take a firm and unquestionable stand: "We're going to get rid of all this!"
We attack with the discus!
This was followed by a waltz of chainsaws, saws, jigsaws and other shameful machines that worried Malou a lot, in addition to making her angry because of the dust that was "almost" everywhere.
"You don't feel like you're cutting a little bit much here."
"It's even the opposite...doubt is in my mind. Have I even cut enough?"
Surgery is not homeopathy. You have to "hit it" with vigor and determination, otherwise, you will never see the end of it.
But this was the ultimate in nuisance: the square open to all winds, dust everywhere... in short, a real construction site!
In two times and three movements... Well, okay, let's say in a hundred times and a thousand movements, a kind of panoramic wheelhouse appeared which made the Lady ten years younger and gave her a lot of fabulous advantages:
- glazing in "safety" glass
- electric windshield wiper
- cap against the greenhouse effect
- space for 600 watts of solar panels
- and above all a large clear view in the wheelhouse
The wow effect!
It's quite simple, every new visitor entering the Lady's Square for the first time invariably utters this interjection, "Wow!" That's telling you..
In the next episode, the author explains his choices to manage energy on board his motor catamaran intended for long distance cruising.
