Wood Top For Boat

Like to put a wood top on my bay boat....just to HOT out there some times. What kind of wood should I put up ....that is Not Heavy and rain proof?

 

If you want cheap and functional, then AC exterior ply with fibreglass does the trick.

If you want nicer looks (and are willing to pay) there's always marine mahogany ply.

Any rigid top will be heavy. You want lightweight, go with aluminum frame and Sunbrella canvas. (Yes, that stuff is rain proof, if properly treated.)

 

There's a place in Fla. that uses the stuff for making trim for vinyl sided houses. It comes in a 50' coil from Home Depot and is vinyl coated aluminum, the drawback being it is only 24" wide or so. Since it bends, possibly seams are made to join for wider widths. You can pop-rivet the stuff and of course it comes in all those wonderfull colors of blah popular with vinyl covered houses. Sam

 

3/16" Okume or Meranti with some light glass (4 oz. or so) will make a very light top. Making the top is easy, fitting it to the boat will be the creative part. Are you going to make it removable?

 

Like to make it removable. Does 3/16 Okume/Meranti comes in sheets or strips? And most of all who has it?

 

We have the plywood (Okoume and Meranti) and its in 4x8 sheets - I dont want to make this an advertisement though.

http://plywood.e-boat.net/products.php?id=1

Shipping for one sheet normally does not make sense, so you should get it locally if possible.

Joel

 

Thanks for the info JR-Shine..........

 

If looks arn't that important to you.... there is an old guy here that goes up and down the river in a smal; boat with a peice of PVC pipe bolted to the back of his seat... he slides a beach umbrella in it... a pink one.

 

Meranti strip is good even without gelcoat coating.Just wash it down with the sea water.Won't last as long as teak..lots cheaper than teak. In Malaysia and Indonesia Meranti was used to built boats and houses.