Cabi top repair, loooong

Posted By: Jerry, Newport 16' ,Lindenhurst IL,
Date: 3/28/07 7:40p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Mast problems (glenn Harris)

I've had the same issue with mine, although it did not happen with the mast mounted. DPO did a really cheesy job of fiberglassing over some cracks next to the tabernacle. With the boat sitting outside for a number of years a lot of water seeped into the core plywood. When I had the boat “split” in halves I noticed that the inside of the cabin roof felt really spongy. Further poking with a screwdriver revealed a plywood “mush”. What I did next was to cut out the liner of the roof, black dashed line on the picture below. With most of the wood inside deteriorated, the liner came off pretty easy. Below I found a jig saw puzzle of plywood pieces epoxied together. The blue and red lines in the picture. I dug all of it out, and made new pieces out of three quarter inch marine ply. The reason for the multiple pieces is for them to conform to the curvature of the cabin top. I alternated the plywood grain to hopefully make the repair stronger and also just for the hell of it. Once the epoxy cured I sanded it smooth and I put on a layer of cloth with unthickened epoxy. Next I cut a piece of quarter inch marine plywood to match the shape of the removed liner and epoxied it in place. Once cured I put on another layer of thick glass matt. Yes it sounds like a lot of work but it is doable, I have had the advantage of having the boats deck upside down. It made for a much easier work, e.g. when gluing the quarter inch plywood I just placed a lot of weight on it and it bends just enough to match the cabin curve. If, when you will be working from the inside of the cabin you could use a car jack to support the liner when epoxing it. By no means this is what you have to do, it’s what I did, and now the cabin top doesnt even flex one bit with my 200 lbs. on top of it. Maybe your damage is not as severe, and you can fix it from the outside. I hope this helps, good luck.