Possible wheelhouse

[LochTroller93]

Hi All,

so was out on my 16ft seasafe yesterday and noticed the roof was cracking along the seams so I was thinking if I cut it out and build a lightweight wheelhouse so that I have room to stand and then I can sort out cable steering

This is my boat:


this is a quick design I drew up:


gonna make it with 2"x2" for the frame and then some plywood and Perspex

Thoughts would be good?

Cheers Robert

 

[prv]

I would worry that unless you're very careful about weight, it will end up heavier than the original and make the boat unstable. Frankly at 16 foot, even you standing up in the thing is not going to be ideal. But you know how steady your boat is better than I do.

It will probably look ugly too, they always do, but maybe that doesn't matter.

Pete

 

[LochTroller93]

Cheers mate, as it is for stability I have ballast boxes on the floor filled with sand so the boat is very stable craft, heavy and bad on gas but hey.......needs to be functional not fussed about looks, like the rough look like old rusted trawlers etc.....going to tow the oat behind another once complete to sort of sea trial her

I would worry that unless you're very careful about weight, it will end up heavier than the original and make the boat unstable. Frankly at 16 foot, even you standing up in the thing is not going to be ideal. But you know how steady your boat is better than I do.

It will probably look ugly too, they always do, but maybe that doesn't matter.

Pete

 

[rob2]

Doesn't look ugly when you're standing in it out of the p+ssing rain! It may not be as durable as you hope unless you take great care in its construction and finishing, but there is a lot to be said for a structure where you can easily pull off a rotten panel and simply screw on a new one - especially as you could paint it at home before fitting.

I always fancied the idea of whipstaff steering for its simplicity.

Rob.

 

[Fantasie 19]

GRP/plastic sheets instead of ply??? Not sure of the comparative weights, but the plastic would last longer and I'm guessing might be lighter??

 

[AntarcticPilot]

GRP/plastic sheets instead of ply??? Not sure of the comparative weights, but the plastic would last longer and I'm guessing might be lighter??

I'm sure that GRP or plastic of the same stiffness would be heavier than ply, even though it would be far stronger. Plywood coated in epoxy resin , edges and all, should be pretty resistant - it's the preferred material for building rigid dinghies these days, unless you're into foam sandwich construction. Foam sandwich would be lighter, but probably too complex for this project.