Wood pilothouse for 20' boat, Need advice

New here, but been reading up a bit, hopefully everyone can chime in with their 2 cents.
I've got a 20' Shamrock walkaround with a bimini top and eisenglass enclosure. As rough as the water is around my parts, this isn't going to cut it. I want to remove the windshield, then build a pilothouse. It will have an open back, no need for full enclosure.
I've got limited fiberglass skills, but have a family member that is way beyond proficient with wood. So the theory is to build a wooden pilothouse, then put a clear glass and epoxy finish on it. The questions-what kind of wood might be best? I've got access to tiger wood, which is used for household decking and supposed to have really good resistance to weathering. But its heavy, and weight is a big concern for me. Also not sure how well it would take the epoxy finish. Any ideas?
Also, for the top I was thinking about just making a white hardtop, and then fastening that on top of the pilothouse. Think it might look good, white hull, clear wood house, then white top. I read a bunch of threads and would go with either foam, or thin marine ply, with sufficient layers of glass of course.
I'm sure I'll have a million and a half questions so feel free to post anything you think might help. Thanks guys

 

If your going to be running in the ocean and out of site of land an all white hull is very difficult to spot from the air. It took the US CG some 3 days of searching to locate the white boat in the gulf with the missing NFL players. If you should get swamped by waves and weather consider this and perhaps paint something in the international colors of red or yellow or orange. Just my 2 bits. Beyound that a wood pilot house is a great idea. Use 1"x1" hardwood materal for inside corners and studs, etc. and put 1/4" ply over with 3 coats of epoxy and a few coats of marine varnish for sun protection.
Here is an interesting pilot house https://www.boatdesigns.com/23-Barracuda-center-console-sportfisher/products/775/
A few more https://www.boatdesigns.com/Dory-Cabin-Plans-five-cabin-plans/products/318/

 

bump. Any input/advice would be appreciated

 

I would suggest a white pilothouse with wood (mahog./teak/etc.) from the windows up. the limiting of the wood will not only be more pracvtical, it will look better than all wood in my opinion.
I'd suggest 3/8" plywood over an oak frame (2 x 2s) for the structure.

 

What about the top, glass over foam, or glass over marine ply. Or maybe even straight glass? As you can tell, I'm new at this, thanks

Nevermind, used the search function and got a whole bunch of hardtop threads.

 

I'd keep it simple and go with a curved roof of 1/4" plywood and 6 oz or so cloth set in epoxy. You can make curved roof beams from spruce or similar 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" spaced every 18" or so, laminated in 1/4" layers. The curvature might be about 4" over 48", and having that strong a curve will keep make the plywood stronger, enough to stand up there if need be when necessary.

 

I have a similar project that I'm just starting, 20' center console that I'm going to mount a pilot house on. The Pacific NW is not an open boat friendly fishing region either, mostly from the cold and rain.

Mine will be somewhat similar to design "B" in the second link.

I picked up 1/4 and 3/8 ply with glass already on each side to build it with, it cuts down on the work needed. Both sides have a mold finish (white), so the seams and joints are the only areas that need to be reworked.

It may be costly to ship this type of product to where you are though.

 

Sounds like it could be a time saver. Do you have a brand name, or website for this stuff? You're probably right about shipping too, we take it in the neck anytime we want to get something out here. My rough hand-drawn plans ended up looking a lot like plan B from that site too. It'd be cool to see some pics of someone else taking on a similar project.

 

They may have some seconds (blems) that you may be able to get for a little less money, typically they just have minor cosmetic defects.

http://www.fiber-tech.net/