cabinroof

[olavhm]

I am planning on mounting winches and cleats on the cabin rooftop. The structure is rather
thick - how is it constructed? Do I make fittings all the way through the roof (and into the
cabin)?

Olav Vega#1480

 

[D_Chown]

It is a sandwich of a few mm of fibreglass either side of rather more
mm of (I think) balsa. I would put a solid plate inside.

 

[pelagicasd]

On the series 1 the cabin top is a foam sandwich with a couple of planks
running through it. Not balsa which when used is laid up in blocks glued
together. The grain runs up and down to prevent water migrating throught the
balsa. If you need to through bolt equipment through the cabin top you need
to make it so the sandwhich can't be compressed. This can be done with epoxy
and thickener and is not difficult. Describing how is. I've explained this
at least three times in the past. Has anyone saved it? And if so can you
send Olav a reference to it? Walt

 

[vegatern]

Although Message #2488 relates to fastening the cockpit sole it
describes Walt's method of creating a solid plug of epoxy in the foam
core before drilling through for mounting hardware. The plug prevents
the foam from compressing, which it will when you tighten things down
(which was my experience)and also keeps water from seeping into the
foam and causing damage. I've used the system and it work well. You
will still need backing plates (stainless steel or aluminum) or at
least large fender washers, to distribute load. Also there is a wire
in the coach roof to power the cabin lights and it's location is shown
in the manual.
Craig Tern#1519

 

[vegatern]

I should have added that Walt suggests using a hole saw to cut
the cavity for the plug, but stop drilling when the pilot bit comes
through the overhead. Dig out the filler, tape over the small pilot
hole, and proceed. Craig

 

[olavhm]

Thanks a bunch!

Olav Vega#1480

 

[hheiduck]

When replacing the original winches with self-tailing ones 3 years ago I mounted one of the old ones to the starboard coach top, I also mounted a triple clutch assembly forward of the winch. As pointed out, the roof construction on my boat, V-1874, has a foam core. I used 1/4 inch Starboard, the white plastic board available at Boat US, cut to size, round for the winch and rectangular for the clutch, using S.S. 1/4 in. screws and cap nuts.
One point of caution though, the starboard side has a light switch inside and an electrical conduit pipe as part of the skin/core sandwich right about where the winch mounts.
The payoff is that I have the main halyard, forward and aft reefing all led to the cockpit (I currently only have one set of reef points). That, in combination with the furling Genoa, makes things a lot easier.
I'll try to post some pictures when the weather is better, maybe in a couple weeks.

Hans Heiduck
V-1874, "Flicka"