Looking For,,,

The fun job this winter is to replace the pilot house roof .

The Maineacks that built it did not bother with camber , so over the years ir slowly sagged and now is shot.

If time is left to the winter* (honny-do is a bathroom rebuild) I will be attacking the PH doors next.

The dream is a set of Dutch opening doors , any material,,
but second best would be 2* complete slide sets* (L&R), so we can change from hinged to out sliding.

Both will be rare , we look in New England , and will visit the local spots in FL,

But who knows what someone is liable to stumble over?

GOOD HUNTING!

Had to do my top. The roof sagged
I jacked it up from the inside then applied the top. ply wood and fiberglass.
When I unjacked the braces it stayed. I now have camber.

SD

Skipperdude did you remove core first? I'm getting ready to do my flybridge.

Negative.
*Keep in mind my boat is a work boat. My house is plywood covered with FiberGlass No core
*I just laid another layer of*3/4 oz mat. Wet it out applied the plywood and covered it with two more layers of 3/4 oz mat. Wrapped the edges*
then painted it with gell coat.

It was pretty cool jacking her up from inside the cabin.
I built sort of a false wall out of studs Right down the center of the cabin using a bottle jack.
after the*Fiber Glass*hardened I removed the braces and the camber stayed where I jacked it to.*

It would seem to me if you didn't remove the core but put a layer of !/2" devinicell over your existing surface and covered it with glass it would do the same. *
The devinicell weighs next to nothing so all the weight would be is in about 5 gallons of resin.**I only used plywood because I'm Cheap

Does*the fly bridge come*off your boat? *If so and you can get down to the cabin roof this could work for your application. Would sure be faster and easier. If you didn't have to restructure the top.

SD

-- Edited by skipperdude on Friday 12th of November 2010 10:07:39 AM

For a Californian 40 we laid up mat and woven roving on one side of 1 1/2 Nadia core , flipped it put spacers (2x4 and 2x6) under to create the camber and laid up the top layers .

Moldless GRP creation , a favorite.

The cost of a 12x 12 pilot house top was over a grand just in materials.

The top is worth it to the owner as it has no need for beams , so makes the inside cleaner , and the layup will handle a dozen or more on top.

It too some beer and 8 geezers to walk it from the shop to the installed position.
Probably only 3 -3 1/2 lbs a SQ Ft, but this is an older community.

For LUCY the expense was $15.00 for new blades for the band saw and 2x12x10ft for the roof beams , Under $10 each .

3/8 ply will be laminated , probably 3 layers as the top must contain large openings.

A layer of 1 1/2 oz mat or two in vynelester will finish the task.

I rebuild several sections of the flybridge on my old Mainship I, the style with the extended flybridge.
I first drilled 2 inch "test" holes to verify my moisture meter readings.* Then the fun began.
I cut the fiberglass skin only aound the affected areas and removed the skin, then the rotted core material with was plywood in some places and balsa core in the rest.
Most of it came out with almost no effort, simple sraping with a chisel by hand.
When I got to where there was an inch of still adhered core I stopped scraping.
I replaced the core with 5/8 ext plywood that was prepped with polyresin diluted with 30% acetone so it would penetrate and allow the ply to adhere.
Stuck the ply down with "bondolite" which looked and slelled like automotive bondo.
Aplied a layer of 1 1/2 ounce mat to the ply, then a layer of roving, then 3 more layers of mat. Knitted sections together.
(The method and materials (except the plywood itself) *were recommended and purchased thru LBI (Legnos Boat)in Groton, Ct. They are builders and suppliers of fiberglass products)
Then a very good friend came over and re-ground the entire crown with a 7 inch grinder and 36 grit.
I did small enough sections and not all at once so I did not need to support from inside.
I have a small PPT if someone wants it they can send their pvt e mail to me in a private message.
Jay

edit: The bridge was rock solid when completed.

-- Edited by jleonard on Wednesday 17th of November 2010 11:23:54 AM