This is all over my head...

[Stargazer14]

I am replacing the cabintop liner in my '67 Skiff.
Currently there is the basic perferated Nautilex white headliner, but I wanted to go a different route. I was thinking maybe some sort of waterproof canvas, or a nice twead Sunbrella,
or some other material that wont mold-away on me in a year. I has to be flexible to conform to the curves, and breathable I would think, so stiff stuff or mahogany ply is not an option.
So guys, whats everyone using as their favorite material over their heads these days?

[Bob Smalser]

Actually...nothing. Prefer to have interior surfaces with no ceilings or headliners where possible so's wood can breathe and I can see a problem before it gets worse.

Do a neat job building or cleaning up framing/decking/planking and it looks like a real wood boat when painted white for light reflection. Elec wires and plumbing can be neatly run in conduits painted to blend in.

But if I needed one I would mill some inexpensive flatsawn WR Cedar (or your local cedar) to 5/16" or 3/8" thick...thickness depends on how much spring you have to bend in and how you plan to fasten it....and shiplap the edges. Even cheap cedar fence boards if not too gross with loose knots could be highgraded and planed or resawn/planed to the relatively small sizes needed. Keep your widths to 4-6", not including the shiplaps. The drier the boards are, the wider they can be. A slight bevel planed in to the edges exposed to the interior for some pretty shadow lines. All the shiplap does is prevent a gap from showing as the wood contracts in the dry season. Flatsawn boards would need to have an equal coating of whatever finish material desired on both sides of the boards to eliminate any possibility of cupping.

Fastening could be anything from bronze or 316 small-headed nails or galvanized finish nails countersunk and filled with colored wax for varnish or putty for paint....to screws and bungs....or I might spring for copper rose-headed boat nails in a small size and leave the heads exposed.

And if I were concerned about venting, depending on how the cabin is constructed, I'd cut small decorative screened vents at the end of each bay formed by deck beams or carlins. The wife likes my little hearts...I like stars on a boat for a saltier look.

[ 10-23-2003, 01:56 AM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Buddy]

I don't know enough about your boats construction, but assume you've got fabric pulled, stretched really, and stapled to curved wooden "lands", then prettied up with battens over the fasteners? If so, stay away from Sunbreela or any acrylic- that fabric will sag with changes in humidity. Great stuff for the right application- just not right for here.
I had some Nautolex on my boat early on as a weight saving issue. Replaced it twenty years ago with four 4mm birch panels throughly painted on the upward facing side, formica sheet covered toward the interior. Varnished teak batterns hold the panels against doug fir furring strips (three 1/4" layers to get the curve) glued and screwed to the underside of the deck house which is a glass/wood/glass sandwich. Never had the slightest trouble with it and it looks as good as the day it went up. The only maintenance has been unscrewing and revarnishing the wood trim bits at the companionway where they get some sun. I was also able to work in some "hidden" curtain track betwwen two panel seams to install a curtain separating the forepeak from the main cabin offering a little bathing suit changing/ head compartment privacy for visiting lady friends of my wife ( who thankfully is not nearly so fussy when its just us.)

[Stargazer14]

Now were talkin' - the idea mill is starting to churn in my head...