[Public-list] Toe Rail

[George Dinwiddie]

My concern is that you'll be creating new problems for yourself trying
to fix something that "only" lasted 40 years.

The new boats actually seem to have more drainage problems than the
older ones, but all of them need some motion to drain all parts of the
deck.  All the boats I've seen (or, at least, noticed) sit a little low
in the stern.  Whether that's due to modifications in the design and
construction (using iron rather than lead ballast, for instance), or out
propensity to put stuff into the cockpit lockers and lazarette, I don't
know.

The older boats have large areas on the taffrail to let the water out.
This lets them drain much faster than the new boats when underway, but
it also considerably weakens the structure of the taffrail.  I've seen
them break under the weight of a foot.

If you raise the toerail off the deck, you're going to have similar
problems with sturdiness.

If you haven't pulled up and rebedded the toerail, there's no chance you
could have fixed any existing problem with the bedding.  Caulking on the
outside of a joint is only a temporary stopgap measure--it won't fix
anything.  I think that problem will go away for a couple decades if you
rebed well with a good caulk.

If you're concerned about standing water, you could add extra drains
under the toerail.  On the older boats, this is easy to do because the
drains consist of channels on the underside of the toerail.

Honestly, I think this is a case for "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 - George


On Tue, Aug 10, 2004 at 09:55:40PM -0700, Dan Pinson wrote:
>    George,
>    There  are spots on deck - especially aft - that don't drain well when
>    the  boat  is moored. Not pools or water but a some 'spoonfuls' at the
>    base  of  the  rails. Naturally, there is water on the deck under way.
>    So, it seems an uphill battle keeping the rails properly bedded to the
>    deck  and  one another at the joints when they're continually assailed
>    by  water.  By the joints in my taft rail, for example, I believe it's
>    not  the  first problem. On the other hand, my boat is almost 40 years
>    old. The rails surely haven't been replaced at all or too many times.
>    Mostly,  I'm  thinking  if  I  take  them  up - can I improve them (by
>    getting them up of the deck).
>    ..Dan

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