1977 Hunter 27 Toe Rail

[Ron Miller]

I am looking at a beautiful 1977 Hunter 27. She is for sale at a local marina. She has been somewhat neglected but she is structurally sound. However, if I make her mine I will have to totally remove her toe rail and do some sealing around her entire body. I've looked her over and the toe rail has what looks to be stove type bolts with rounded heads on her deck that run through the toe rail on top and through the lip of the upper deck pan and the lip of the lower hull pan to the inside and through nuts. It looks like I will have to work from the inside at removing the nuts from the bolts so that they can be removed. The problem is that there are wood cabinets etc. inside that appear to block access to some of these nuts. Is there anyone out there that has dealt with this problem in repairing an older Hunter? Will I have to completely remove cabinets etc. on the inside to access these nuts? Any advise will be greatly appreciated. I have written Hunter twice and have yet to receive any answers from them. Thanks, Ron.

 

[Benny]

I don't think Hunter Marine keeps diagrams

on those older boats. The boat is a Cherubini design. Try to contact John Cherubini the son of the yacht designer. He is an avid sailor himself and had kept all the diagrams of the boats his father designed. He was also involved with the Hunter operation in New Jersey. He used to be a contributor to these pages but I haven't heard from him for a couple of years now. Look him up in the owners directory and drop him an E-mail.

 

[tmason]

rub rail or toe rail?

You are describing the rub rail, which is aluminum on my '79 and sits atop the union of the deck and hull. The toe rail is teak and is screwed to the cabin roof. My rub rail is attached with phillips-head machine bolts. I'd need someone inside with a wrench and someone on the deck with a power screwdriver. I hope you aren't describing carriage bolts on yours, because that would make the job much more difficult. Even so, you should have access despite the cabinets, which aren't all that hard to remove anyway.  Also, what's the problem? Leaks inside the boat? Staining outside on the hull? If it's the former, the rub rail isn't a likely candidate unless it is leaking through the bolt holes.Leaks inside the boat can be coming from anywhere and carried by the fiberglass sandwich or headliner to the hull. Expect not only to recaulk mast wiring, toe rails, windows and more on a neglected boat, but also to 'glass them to keep water out of the deck's wood core. Check the archives for mast compression, which is another common problem of this boat.

 

[Misty-Q]

Toe Rail

My 77' Hunter 27 has the carriage bolts, and I know it to be called the toe rail as well.( I would refer to the rub rail as the piece on the outer side of the toe rail. N/A on this boat.Check Boat US Catalog- Rub Rail Kits!! )My boat leaks as well (different spots) You may want to try to make sure where the water is coming in first! My boat is next door to the Cherubini shop, I'm finding out for the first time he may have orginal docs.( I'll walk next door and check that out!) Thanks

 

[tmason]

my apologies

The toe rail is the rub rail in this vessel, and what I called the toe rail, I guess, must be the hand rail. At any rate, almost everything bolted to the deck on my boat was a leak, whatever else you called it.