What to do with the roof

cdory25":3qx6m1a6 said:
UncleRichie":3qx6m1a6 said:
Do you have room inside for some bows/ribs my 22's roof is not strong enough to walk on but I don't have enough headroom to put anything in.
Richard
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Great idea! 6' 5" headroom leaves plenty of room for ribs. What do you think, glue or bolts? Wood or metal?
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Off the top of my head, here's what I'd do:

Use solid fiberglass sail batten material for the ribs, the kind without the wood centers, say 2'' wide.

If it's too stiff to bend, find some lighter variety that will and laminate several layers up in place one at a time overlaying them and bonding them with resin.

The thicker the material, the stronger it will be from the extra glass, of course, and the extra thickness will stiffen it up like a box section.

I'd test it out gently as I went for generating the support desired, deciding how many layers to add as I went.

The roof interior will have to be sanded down to resin to allow the lamination.

One could put a few layers of glass tape up initially to help spread out the load, then follow with the batten material.

If you thought the downward thrust on the outside ends of the resulting stringers was too great, through-bolting with machine screws to the cabin hull at the sides, not the top, could be used. Small washers on the outside and fender washers on the inside. Seal it properly!

The ribs can come down quite a ways between the windows, but only so far where the windows block them, an engineering considertion.

If one can't find a suitable batten material, I know there are products that are ready-made set-up fiberglass ribbons that are used to form hull and other shaped structures by bonding them together over forms. These would be an even better material than the battens to work with, if cost-effective. Does C-Flex sound familiar?

A second approach would be to reinforce the entire interior structure by laminating a core over the entire interior.

Sand everything down, apply a relatively slow curing resin (for work time), put up the core (many possible types), let it cure, then add an interior layer of glass.

Might be simpler in the long run.

However, any glass work inside the hull is going to be dirty, dusty, and somewhat difficult to do. Worst of all, you have to not mess up the interior hull cabinetry, etc.!

As a third alternative, someone with very good cabinetry skills could make cardboard templates of the interior hull shapes at various stations and laminate up wooden beams to glue/through bolt into place with resin. How about alternate light and dark banded wood laminate to match the flooring laminate (if you have it).

Would be a fun project!

Fortunately, my 1987 CD-22 Cruiser is near rock-solid on the roof, as it is everywhere.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
For those that remember the Flicka 20 sailboats.....

The inside of the roof has an arched lamination so no compression pole is needed for the mast. (making the interior roomier) Something on a smaller scale, (like the battens mentioned above) should work great.
 
These narrow beam, boats were not designed to have heavy loads on the cabin tops! Use the boats as intended, and forget about heavy loads on the tops. If you want a boat which will allow 400 lbs of beef on the cabin top buy a different boat....
 
thataway":x9ycnykg said:
These narrow beam, boats were not designed to have heavy loads on the cabin tops! Use the boats as intended, and forget about heavy loads on the tops. If you want a boat which will allow 400 lbs of beef on the cabin top buy a different boat....
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Bob-

Very true!

But do you think C-Dory 25's girls weigh 400? :lol:

" Problem is I can't keep the girls off the roof. They claim it's the only place to sunbathe!" -C-Dory 25

Sorry, I'll try to behave myself better!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
If they are all up there at once it's 400 pounds that's like 5 gals. Same problem I had in Lake Havasu on Kerri On. Had to move on down the road. Gave all the gals to the go fasts. George :cry
 
I would think it easiest if one of THESE were obtained and towed slowly. Sunbathing on the cabin top would only be done in fairly calm seas anyway! Solves the high weight problem. :roll:

And, as an added benefit, if they like to fish, give them each a pole or tie a line and string on toes to troll. They could even carry chum. Just don't do it in an area where there are sharks....:cry

Charlie
 
I have used md 5200 caulk ( the fast dry stuff) to glue things in place it works very good . You have to cut it off if you want to remove it . Maby some ribs cut to fit the curve of the roof and glued in place shure wood not hurt. A friend used some to anchor the foot of his crab pot puller divit , you can swing on that thing and it does not move at all. I have used it to glue some pole holders to the roof of mine they are very solid . Pics of them are in my photos ( C-Critter ).
Richard
 
Joe,
Maybe we better start a album of the "girls of C Brats"--sort of like the "girls of Wal Mart"....

No I was not referring to C Dory 25's "Girls" weighing 400 lbs, but two guys could easily hit that number.

Of course that is another reason to put more antennas, air conditioners, radars, loud hailers, lights etc up there--then no room for the "girls"....
 
I enjoy a recharge/snooze on the roof. I made a simple rack from wood. Painted it with latex paint. I have about $50 in it. It can be removed in about 5 minutes. Works well as a sun deck, canoe/kayak rack or anything else rack. The outer ribs double as hand rails for going forward. My large fenders cradle nice there as well. A bonus is it shields the cabin roof from the brutal Southern Sun. The rack just kisses the center of the roof. I U-channeled the parallel runners to straddle the original metal hand rails so the load is distributed well. It is all held on with stainless hose clamps. I weigh 195 and detect no flex. Since the 25 is wider you could add two more runners for and aft for greater weight distribution. Probably outboard of the original metal rails.

I made the prototype seven years ago to see if it would work. I haven't removed it yet, it still looks great (paint wise) and I couldn't be happier with the results. Some pics in my album. I have some somewhere with two yaks on top as well if your interested.
 
C-WEED":2cf91628 said:
I enjoy a recharge/snooze on the roof. I made a simple rack from wood. Painted it with latex paint. I have about $50 in it. It can be removed in about 5 minutes. Works well as a sun deck, canoe/kayak rack or anything else rack. The outer ribs double as hand rails for going forward. My large fenders cradle nice there as well. A bonus is it shields the cabin roof from the brutal Southern Sun. The rack just kisses the center of the roof. I U-channeled the parallel runners to straddle the original metal hand rails so the load is distributed well. It is all held on with stainless hose clamps. I weigh 195 and detect no flex. Since the 25 is wider you could add two more runners for and aft for greater weight distribution. Probably outboard of the original metal rails.

I made the prototype seven years ago to see if it would work. I haven't removed it yet, it still looks great (paint wise) and I couldn't be happier with the results. Some pics in my album. I have some somewhere with two yaks on top as well if your interested.
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As seen below, and click on the photo for several more!

Image060.sized.jpg

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
C-WEED":1ft1qltc said:
I made the prototype seven years ago to see if it would work. I haven't removed it yet, it still looks great (paint wise) and I couldn't be happier with the results. Some pics in my album. I have some somewhere with two yaks on top as well if your interested.
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I like it! How much do think it weighs? I like the fishing platform shown near the top of this page too. Maybe we can find/construct an aluminum platform that will fit up there. Small canoe seem like a viable option to a dingy too.

Thanks guys!

PS. The "girls" probably weigh 250 between the two of them.
 
Canoe is an option, but they are not as stable and don't generally have the load carrying capacity of an inflatable. Canoes do not carry as large an outboard--and can be difficult with a motor.

Inflatables are soft sided, and can lay by the side of the hull without bumpers etc. They deflate and roll up to be taken home or transported easily. They are easy to boost onto the roof of the C Dory. They do not row well. Taking dogs--the inflatable is by far the best option.

We have had about every type of dinghy thru the years, including a 16 foot dory, several different kayaks, a canoe and a number of inflatables, as well as hard dinghies.

Again--caution about too much weight on the roof from a handling standpoint in rough seas.
 
Definitely tie them down well if you keep them up there when piloting in rough seas!

Besides raising the boat's center of gravity, putting "stuff" up top might lower your mileage (wind drag) both towing the trailer and navigating on the water.
 
Since I don't weld, I think this weekend I will build a wood (oak) platform similar to the one shown by C-WEED. That is, unless I find something premade aluminum at Home Depot or an RV store.

Thanks for all your great ideas and feedback!
 
After researching this project by checking out local marinas and talking to suppliers and fabricators, I've decided to have an aluminum frame built and cover it with 8' teak planks. I'll post some pics as the project comes together. Although it will add a litttle weight (maybe 150 lbs.) up high, it will look really cool and add a lot of space to a fairly small boat. The adventure begins!
 
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