Finally an Update!

Well, I am disappointed on what little progress I have made over the last couple of months, but summer vacations and heat have a tenancy to do that I suppose.  The raised cabin roof has been way more work than I ever anticipated, but I am going to keep at it while I move on to a new project....more on that later.

Here are a few shots of the cabin roof as of today.

View of Port side with 1-layer of mat cloth.  I will likely wait until the windows are cut out and then add a layer of mesh fabric so I can wrap around the thickness of the plywood to the interior side.

I ordered the windows a few weeks ago...still getting over the sticker shock.

Here is a picture of the window template.  The frames will be black anodized aluminum with a tint glass.  I will etch the existing window frames and paint them to match.

View from forward.  Got a little carried away with the fiberglass on the starboard side.

Template of window laid out for reference.  I tried to mimic the existing windows by leaving a 4" spacing around the windows.

A couple of shots of the roof.  The subject of most of my frustration!

A couple of shots aft.  There will be a big "tilt opening" window on the starboard side.  I ended up getting a car sunroof at a fraction of the cost of what the window manufacturer wanted to charge me to manufacture one.   I will also be making a door out of mahogany.  I purchased a standard RV sliding window with screen that will pretty closely match the sunroof.  I am going to leave the starboard side alone until I start laying out the helm placement and instrumentation.  I will likely build onto that area so the helm housing protrudes out a bit.

Now on to the next project!

The next phase entails removing the outboards and sleds and cleaning up the area.

My plan is to install a CMC tilt/trim unit in the middle and build a support system for the two outboards that will also be connected to the sides of the hull for support.

Here is a picture of the unit.  It came with a trim gauge, which is important as I anticipate extending the rear aft stern to cover the outboards.  However, I will provide access doors so I can get to the outboards.  The CMC unit was made for up to a 130 hp outboard, which can weigh up to 400 lbs.  Since the 9.9 Yamaha's weigh about 90lbs each, I should be ok???   

Stay Tuned

Filled in the Hole!

Today I made some progress toward filling in the hole from the companion way hatch and extending the roof.

I bought 2 - 24"x48" sheets of 1/2" balsa and cut to fit.

Notice I finally cut off the hatch rails and sanded the existing roof.

This is the underside of the roof extension.  Used temporary rafters to support the balsa.  In restrospect, I should have used a piece of luan to bridge the gaps between the rafters.  I think the balsa drooped slightly between.  Oh well that will get taken care of in fairing!

 The blue tape was just to stop any resin from leaking.

This is the underside of the companion way hatch hole.  I decided to at the mat and cloth in order to raise the balsa in line with the existing balsa.

Cut out the 1.5 oz. mat

Then the 7 oz cloth. 

Then the wet out.  Ended up using 2 alternating layers of each fiberglass.

I purposely left the curved piece of wood aft high in order to stop water from dripping.  Will likely form a gutter along the edge of the top as well.

Let the Fiberglassing Begin!

Well today I lost my fiberglass virginity.  I consulted with a local boat builder/supplier and went with vinyl ester resin.   I made too big a batch on my first wet out and it cooked with about half left.  Oh well trial by fire!

As suggested, I cut out all of the pieces first and numbered them accordingly.  This is the 1.5 oz. mat fiberglass

I used 1.5 oz mat and then 7 oz. cloth.  Left out the area that will be cut out for the window.  Why waste material?

Overlapped the joints between the port and forward walls.

I will add 3" fiberglass tape at all joints for extra strength.

That was a full days work.

Lessons I learned:

A roller works better than a brush on vertical surfaces.

Need to go to Harbor Freight and pick up some cheaper sponge rollers.  Home Depot is only a half a block away so I splurged!

When working alone, wet out the plywood first, then attach the mat.  You don't have time to place both mat and cloth with one layup.  I had to mix two batches for just about every strip area.

Let the residual resin cook and harden in the plastic container and pop it out so you can reused the container.

Latex/Nitryl gloves are worth their weight in gold.  Buy the 100 pack and change them often!

This is not rocket science, but I can see there are tricks to make this go smoother.







Ping Pong Tables Can Slow You Down

I bought my girls a ping pong table this past Saturday and they want me to play with them, so progress has been slow the past few days!

Started the temporary support structure for the 1/2" balsa core.  In this instance, I plan on fiberglassing the top first.  Fairly beefy door header.

Added the structure for the helm console.  I also doubled up ont the "arcs".  It is now 1" thick.

 Probably create a cubby on the port side of the companionway door.

This is the opposite side of the helm console.  Since I have no use for the drop down navigation table, I am likely going to salvage the wood to create the compartment  and door to access the mechanical and electrical system.

Shot from below.  The 2x4 in the middle is to help bend the aft piece of wood to conform to the shape of the existing roof.



Almost Ready for Fiberglass

Made some progress on Memorial Day and the last few days after work.  Replaced the luan with 1/2" thick marine plywood.  Using luan as a template was the way to go.

I used an elastomeric patch to fill in the gaps.  Somewhat unconventional, but just wanted to seal the join area so the vinylester resin does not seep through to the other side.

Used some screws to hold it togther temproraily unitl I fiberglass the inside.

I will rebuild a new door.  Not sure if the existing door is salvagable to build upon.  If I decide to leave the curved structure on the sides as shown, I will fix the starboard side so it extends all the way to the "bench" area just like on the port side. 

The plan is to build a console for the wheel steering and instruments where the old window was.   A new sliding window will take up most of the remaining area where the plywood is. 







Need to fill in the gap left by the sliding hatch and extend the roof back a few inches.  Will likely use 3/4" to 1" balsa to match the existing roof.  The hatch rails will be removed later.

The Vision of Headroom

Well Standing at 5'6", you wouldn't think that the Iroquois' 4'6" headroom would bother me so much.  WELL IT DOES!

Here is my vision, done with photoshop.

I am going for it!

Marking the cut lines

 

Making the cuts.....No turning back now!

Raising the Roof!!!! I will cut off the sliding hatch rails later. 

The view from inside...6' headroom, 5'10" at the sides.

Decided to use Luan to Mock up the sides.

Its a tad bulky looking for my taste, but in this case Function over Form.  If I am going to go through the trouble of raising the roof, I don't want to feel like I need to slouch!!  Also, I think the hatch rails are adding to the bulkiness.

Maybe a little paint will help it blend in better.  Can't quite see it, but I am copying the angles of the existing side walls of the cabin.  The windows will also mimic the existing ones.

In mocking it up, one thing I discovered is that it might makes sense to "pull" the curve aft in line with the cabin door to match it as you can see in this next picture.  I may re-visit that, as I like the way the curve blended better in the photoshop rendering I did.  Its not to late to change it.

I am also considering moving the main sheet traveler to the roof in line with the new bulkhead, so the added bulk as shown now would probably be better to take the loads.  I will definitely be beefing this section up for that purpose.  Again, Function over Form!

I did a little more Photoshop magic on the above photo and the more I look at it, the more I am tending toward "Form" below.  It just has a sleeker look and blends with the exitsting curves of the Iroquois.  I will probably wait until after I mock up the new bulkhead before I make the cut.