An alternate title for this could be "do it right the first time".

As I think I mentioned, the "deal" I got on ply for the cabin roof wasn't a good deal. It fell apart rapidly and made a real mess. This week I finally had a few hours to work on things and tried to rework and improve on this mess.

[Got up, got the bad parts cut off (the glue and fasteners held... that's about the only thing) and started putting the new wood on. It took me a little bit to find a good way to hold the new wood in place while I got it clamped/fastened. The plans call for three layers of 1/4", but this time I went with one layer of 1/2" and one of 1/4". The 1/2" was a bit hard to flex to the desired shape, but I got it worked out.

I wound up using ratcheting tie-down straps like you use to hold things on top of a car or something. After I hit on that idea, it took another bit to find the best way to fasten them. Wound up screwing a block to one end of the ply with the tie-down under the block. Then fasten the ratchet to the strongback and pull down. Worked well.

New roof

In the picture you can see the blocks and tie-down straps along the left side.

Got both layers on and an initial coat of paint on the top. I was pretty much finishing in the dark, but I was going to have some layer of sealant to help protect this one. I also got the seams epoxy sealed, at least a rough job, so that hopefully a bit of rain won't hurt things.

Nice to get something done again. I had reached the point of literally having nightmares about the boat rotting away while I couldn't work on it.