*siboney 2.0* structural repairs - 1972 58' yachtfisherman

[MarioG]

from, this moment forward we were all cheering up do to the fact that we were finally constructing and not demolishing. it was nice and fun to see my grid system go up easily. they all snapped together like Legos. very satisfying.

[MarioG]

nice fit

[MarioG]

we made a mix of vinylester resin and chopped glass to make a structural putty and bonding agent.

[MarioG]

the grid with only the vinylester resin glass mix already gave the roof a much more solid feeling. we were definitely on the right track.

[MarioG]

sections of Cusa board and fiberglass was used to give structure to the rooftop to the salon wall sides meets. this is particularly important that this be done correctly because of the need to structurally reattach the roof to the salon walls and also very importantly the Cusa needs to reach deeply approximately 5 inches into the core that extends from the inside of the salon/rooftop and into the previously hollowed out and cleaned void extending outwards into the passageway overhang outside.

[MarioG]

once the cusa trusses were in place, we proceeded to glass in the cusa using 4 or 5 dayers 1708 and mat.

[MarioG]

fiberglass bonding

[MarioG]

once the entire grid structure was glassed to the roof and sidewalls, we began the coring process. this involved the use of approximately 2' squares of 5/8" scored and perforated 8 Lb closed cell foam to fit tightly inside each individual squares in the truss grid. NOTE, in my opinion, the foam board should be scored in a 1" grid pattern about half way deep and also perforated. the reason for this is simple, during the laminating process the resin will fill in the groves of the scoring and the perforations, essentially adding strength and structure to the foam internally. each square section was given two layers of 1708 and two layers of mat on the topside, then each resin saturated square was lifted into place into the truss grid. pressure was added evenly to each section by using a plywood square with plastic and a wood stud pushing it up. this process was repeated for each truss square.

[MarioG]

once all the foam boards were in place we were confident that all the support studs could finally removed. at this point, which is about 3/4 of the way finished, I got to finally climbed up to the flybridge for the first time. and for the first time, in a long time, there was no more sagging or soft trampoline like bounciness like it used to be. in fact the flybridge sole felt solid as a rock. with this great news we proceeded to finish laminating the underside of the entire grid truss system.

[MarioG]

more laminating