A25 Pilothouse soft top question

[Burton]

Slow Motion came with rotting plywood over the pilot house top opening, so there is no old canvas top to see how it worked. We made a (sort of temporary) cover out of that plastic cardboard stuff and folded it up when not in use, using the common sense fasteners to hold it down, with three 3/4” x 3/4” stringers underneath to give support.

Now, getting ready to do a sunbrella cover, I am mystified by the four half-moon shaped brackets on the front side of the pilothouse topside (above the front windshield). They are about 3/4” tall. Can someone tell me how the system worked?

[DesertAlbin736]

Picture would help. Are you talking about the stub mast bracket or something else?

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Now they did have small brackets the inside edges of the T top opening, usually on the sides, for a pair arched fiberglass slats to hold the canvas up such that rain water could drain off rather than puddle. If you go with fabricating a canvas top you'll need to keep that in mind & come up with some sort of bracing slats.

Back in 2015, a year after we took ownership of our boat, I went to considerable effort to fabricate a fiberglass layup hard top with teak opening hatches that has served us well & still holding up eight years later. I used 1/2 inch styrofoam insulation board to make patterns to take into account the shape and curvature of the roof opening & build a one-off mold using scrap lumber & masonite. Was a lot of work, but worth it in the end. Hard top is water tight, & I can stand up at the helm & stick my head up through the open hatch.

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Another alternative is to build or have built a full length hard top like the WillieC which you can see in is post on that boat being up for sale in Seattle.

[Burton]

I’ve admired the hatches you did— very nice. I’ve no time to tackle such a project these days, but maybe in the future,

I’d be happy to post a pic but I don’t know how. I’m not referring to the stub mast bracket, but there are one of these clips on either side of the stub mast and then also further athwartship on each side. I can’t figure their intended function but they look original.

I was planning on putting fiberglass rod battens runnng fore and aft in the new sunbrella top for support, this would allow rolling either or both sides in to the center. I love steering standing and looking out when the weather is good. We have a short season of sun and the ability to stand and steer in the breeze is glorious . Also a plus for docking.