Looking for cabin re-design advice

I bought this 1965 Stamas 26' last summer for a song. The boat has been re-powered with a working and efficient, though slightly aged Isuzu 4cyl diesel. The cabin was re-built from the original and later added on to. Design is boxy 3/4" ply with glass over. Ugly but nice and roomy on the inside.

I patched a leaking rot spot on the roof and attempted to fill another soft area with epoxy to slow decomposition, but I already removed some mushrooms that were growing from the roof leak (it is the Pacific Northwest!) so I know the roof has gotta go in the next year or so. The second re-build of the cabin was uglier than the first and the roof line is not plumb and shows big glassed-over seams. Framing is inconsistent with original rebuild, etc, etc, etc.

Bottom line is: this is my first real boat, I love it for what it is (functional and efficient), and I want to tackle this job of replacing the roof and potentially the main cabin structure to 1) add more slant on the side walls, 2) additional windows, 3) camber in the roof and eaves all around for drainage and aesthetics, and potentially 4) a foward-tilt two-window windshield.

Am I crazy? Should I just call a professional and crush my ideal of affordable boat ownership and keep removing the mushrooms each year? Should I tarp the thing for the winter and get out the chainsaw? Can the forum recommend any good basic designs to go from or resources for starting out?

I want it to be functional and have a fishy work-boat look to it. I'm not a master carpenter or boat builder but I know my way around a woodshop and have the tools I need, boat budget is tight but workable over time. Right now it just looks awkward and is in need of some help to keep her dry in the future. Any advice offered is great.

Cheers to all!

 

You're going to get at least 18 answers - and given the calibre of the guys on here they will all be good answers, your job is to pick the one or ones that suit you best.

Overall you have to choose one of two routes;-

Pre-fabrication or in-situ repair.

You could for example make a roof panel out of foam or nidacore with a nice subtle curve (those materials bend easily), oversize by 2 or 3 inches at the sides to give you eaves for better rain runoff, and a curved brow/visor at the front to give shade and again avoid rain running directly off the roof onto the windows.

Completely wood free and will never rot and has good acoustic and thermal properties, while being a fraction of the weight and just as strong as wood. Make a disposable wooden former to keep the desired shape while you get a few layers of fibreglass on. This is a small enough job for a double garage or small workshop so no weather dependencies.

Get it to an almost finished stage and then in a single weekend, rip off the old roof, tidy the tops of the verticals, drop the new roof on - its 99% waterproof at that point, then secure at your leisure.

In situ repairs do have the advantage of being flexible but the boat is compromised for much longer - better done in a full size boatshed or barn so weather issues not going to stop progress.

 

Welcome to the forum.

3/4" cabin walls and roof is way over the top, in regard to what you need and it appears the boat is trimmed down at the bow as a result, which hurts performance potential.

You can repair what you have, but the roof only needs to be 1/2" and you could live with lighter (3/8" or 1/4"), considering the sides of the cabin are 3/4".

I don't see any "crown" in the roof, which is why you likely have standing water up there, which eventually causes trouble. Make the new roof with at least 3" of crown.

The reason folks use plywood (and solid) is because it's easy to find, most are familiar with working it and it's fairly easy. When people say, "wood free" or "no rot" what they mean is some sort of composite, be this a solid 'glass laminate or something else (foam sandwich for example). What they don't tell you is how much more cost and work this is compared to plywood. With plywood, you cut it out, screw it down and consider what to paint it. With 'glass you'll have a permanent or temporary substrate to form the 'glass over, lots of layers of goo and fabrics, lots more sanding and eventually it's smooth and fair enough to consider paint. Now before all the 'glass fabricators start to yell about how easy it is, lets remember this is his first boat, so we can assume he's a rank novice at working goo and fabrics. Sure, you can get pretty neat and smooth 'glass structures, but not the first time out of the gate.

I agree with Andy, you need some "eye brows" on that cabin. These will permit the water to drop clear of the cabin sides and offer a shadow line, to help hide the Winnebago parked on the deck look, going on there. Also consider breaking up the paint job on the cabin sides with two colors. The line would be about where the lower, forward cabin meets the base of the windshield. Paint this a contrasting color, which will visually help lower the cabin sides a bit. In fact, to take this to the logical end, the upper cabin sides should be the darkest color, with a contrasting horizontal stripe, as I just mentioned below it, then another light color on the hull. A lot of roof crown can also help lower the visual impact of the tall cabin sides too. If you go this route (my choice), make the roof crown 6" and cut down the cabin sides to match. You only need the full standing headroom on the boat's centerline, not over seating along the cabin walls.

As far as the structure, you have lots of choices, but whichever you pick, think light weight. Your boat looks a bit over wight now, so try to lighten her up as best as you can. For example the cabin walls are 3 times thicker than they need to be, ditto the roof. I'm not sure how many sheets of plywood there is on the cabin and roof, but a 1/4" sheet is in the 25 pound range, so a 3/4" sheet is 75 pounds and huge difference.

Lastly, slope the cabin sides inboard a few degrees. This makes the cabin much stronger, so you can use lighter (thinner) plywood. It also looks better.

 

Agree with PAR. If you keep the hull yellow, a mid grey would help make the cabin look much smaller. Possibly with the second 'stripe', maybe worth a little time playing with an elevation drawing and colouring it in. With a strong yellow in particular, only a few near neutral 'colours' work well, IMHO. Mainly black, white and grey(s), the latter usually best for large areas. Small items in black work well such as bollards, maybe a grab rail etc. White may be best on the cabin interior to keep it all light and airy. As a general visual rule light colours 'look' big and dark colours small.

Of course if you paint the hull a different colour....

3/8"th ply would be enough on the roof even to stand or sit on. 1/4" on sides plus a bit of reasonable framing and it should be plenty. I'm not convinced a forward slope windscreen would work visually but the eyebrow option would be much better and effectively be the same thing.

Good luck with her, Im sure you will get a lot more use out of the boat.

 

That boat is suffering a weight and COG disadvantage if the cabin is really 3/4 " ply, just overkill.

 

Thanks all for the replies!

This is the good advice and opinions I've been missing.

From the comments so far sounds like a full rebuild from the cuddy up will help lighten the boat and fix it's bow-down condition.

If I re-frame the cabin, can I use 2x2 doug fir on 24" centers? Or should I go 2x3? Is a 3-degree inboard slant enough for the side walls? For the roof framing with 6" of camber can I cut those frames from 3/4" plywood doubled up to be 1.5" thick?

If I got the color comments right, you all think the cabin sides should be a mild grey then the roof a blue color or yellow to match the hull? I know the color scheme is pretty funky now, but the whole boat is a work in progress!

Thanks again

 

Take a look at these 5 design from Glen-L you can
change the width and add length. http://www.boatdesigns.com/Dory-Cab...and with help lift it up and bolt into place.

 

1x2's (on edge) on 16" centers will do fine for your walls, with a 1/4" plywood skin on the outside. The roof beams can be made from plywood, but they'll take up a lot of room, so bending in beams (more 1x2's) on the flat, will use much less room. Conversely, you could make a temporary mold (read more 1x2's) to bend a 3/4" hunk of foam over and 'glass this (cored sandwich) or glue plywood to both side. Either of these approach will make a cambered roof, that can drop over the cabin walls and windscreen.

 

Hi Homestead..I have spent little time in the San Juans..are those pix off of Orcas? Great little boat for putting about/fishing/gunkholing.

Anyways a few years ago a friend had a similar boat and situation,we got the Sawzall going and had it off in short order.
He built a new house out of foam and glassed it,was similar in cost to the marine ply and the two of us with little effort lifted it on.

Plus he gained much R factor.
As well being out of foam,he could make it better looking with curves and such. Youtube has many vids on the simple technique-foam core boatbuilding.

Good luck and please post pix as you go along.

 

Thanks again for more ideas. I'll do some research into foam core construction. Is it really similar in cost to plywood?

Yes the San Juans are the reason for the boat! Photo taken at Eagle Harbor on Cypress Island. One of our favorite spots to tie up for a night or two, and just a 2-hour putt from Bellingham's boat launch!

Previous owner used her for tuna fishing off the WA coast. Often 60+ miles off shore. Has seen a lot of fish in her days. So far we've mostly been cleaning her up, cruising and crabbing.

 

IIRC 3/8 marine ply is about $130 a sheet..

 

welcome to the forum!

you could go for a real "retro" look, cut that ugly box off and rebuild it with an all wood cabin. A nice tug type of cabin would look nice and give excellent visibility. A lot of work but not difficult, nor particularly costly (particularly since you do not have much into the boat anyway). If the boat is just for recreational use, it will be a lot more pleasing to the eye to have a lot of varnished wood and quality finished surfaces rather than ugly plywood and fiberglass.

In the process you can redesign the interior more to your liking, use lots of solid wood and it will not cost too much. There should be souses of marine ply in bellingham, I know Edensaw woods in Port Townsend every once in a while will have marine plywood on sale for $25-30 a sheet. but you can also find hardwood locally and remill it to the size you need to make an attractive varnished interior.

You can fiberglass the outside, but it is not necessary if it is build properly and you cover the roof top with a traditional canvas deck (they have synthetic fabric now that is very durable, with modern paints and adhesives that give that canvas deck look, my favorite type of deck and cabin top).

You might look at these older free plans for construction details on how to make a cabin, you will see that 3/4" ply is way heavier than it needs to be. Many of these free plans were designed by very competent and well known designers from the past, so there is much value and experience in many of the designs. Study them to help you design a new cabin.

http://www.polysail.com/oldboats.htm

http://svensons.com/boat/

keep us informed about your progress and do not be afraid to ask questions. this could turn out to be a fun creative winter project for you, and for all of use to watch and help you with.

good luck.

 

You can also avoid framing the sides by making a sandwich of 1/4 plywood and styrofoam. It will provide insulation, which is a great thing in your side of the world.

 

I'm wondering about its gasoline consumption. How much does it consume?

 

Given he says it has an Isuzu diesel engine, I'm guessing that the answer might be none.....

PDW