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Can anyone tell me the exterior dimensions of the forward facing "window" on an X? My boat is 80 miles away.

Dan,
I just went out and it measured out at 18" across, and 19 1/2" vertically! Those are rough figures, and remember they are swept up to outboard, and biased corners!

Something I want to post with pics someday, is an idea I got and used for making inside curtains! The project was easy. I used black heavey-duty naugahide and industrial strength velcro. I made a template of each window, marked them, and took it to a gal who advertised on a bullitin board at a Marina, who said she did sewing.

It took her about a week, and I paid her $150.00, and $50.00 for materials, as I recall.

It turned out real well, as I used the 1" velcro and loop (fuzzy) side on the panel. On the boat I put the hook side and used the self adheasive type and removed all the nuts (have someone available to hold the screw head on the outside, if needed) and put slightly oversized SS washers on them. It has been on for over a year now, and works real good! Great for privacy at night. It keeps the boat alot cooler during the day also! I made the section in the head into two panels, and allowed extra for the wall transition.

When you don't need 'em, you simply stuff them under a cushion, easy and it really works great!

Sounds good, Tom. It's important to me to have totally opaque curtains so I can sleep in after the sun comes up following a long night. I think I'd put the fuzzy side on the boat, to keep things like clothes and hair from snagging to it when the curtains are down. I've also thought of using that reflective bubble wrap stuff for a liner.

--
Moe

Moe,

Thanks very much. My guess was that you would be the first to answer.

I need the measurements as I am thinking about installing a day/night solar vent in one of those windows to keep the humidity down. Living in NC it can be a bit much - day and night. And, with the boat in the water year round - keeping the mold at bay is an on-going challenge. I am also thinking about adding the bags filled with ??? that collect moisture.

We tried our first overnight last fall and it was too cold to leave anything open. By the morning, so much condensation had built up that it was literally raining down on us - INSIDE - the cabin.

I considered other locations for the vent - near the mast, forward hatch, etc., but it seems this location would be
a) The least likely for damage - the kids already know to not step on the windows, the forward hatch is sometimes not opened as gently as possible, ...
b) Easiest to install - their is no deck to cut through.
c) The largest spot - so I can install the 4" version for maximum exhaust.

Sorry, I got too excited.

Thanks, Tom

Please note that the forward window shape can vary depending on the model year of the boat. I have seen earlier Macs with forward windows that are basically square or slightly rectangular, but with rounded corners. Later boats often have windows that are "swept" toward the outside, as a previous post mentioned.