Aluminum toerails...kindof

[DannyS]

My O'day 35 has molded in toerails that are capped with a beautiful teak accent. That beautiful teak accent is no longer beautiful and must be sanded and revarnished. I have no problem doing the work and have done it before on other boats by completely removing the wood and refinishing it and properly bedding it back in place. However, on the previous boat, the wood was the entire toerail so it needed to be there. The current boat as I said, has the molded toerail so the cap doesn't really need to be there. My question is this, anyone see a problem pulling the teak off and using it as a pattern for an 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum bar to cap the toerail? It would bed like the teak and be much more durable and no maintenance other than re-bedding occasionally. I even thought I could have them anodized. The other option would be to remove the teak and fill the holes, gelcoat and be done. Third option, redo the teak. Any opinions?Ignore me stumbling out of the boat an look down in the lower left corner of the photo to see the toerail.

 

[BarryL]

let me know what you do

Hello,I am in the same boat as you (ha ha). My previous boat had a nice aluminum toe rail that looked nice and allowed me to mount blocks on it, etc. My O'day 35 has the teak trim that must have looked nice at one time, but now needs to be refinished. If you find an easy way to mount an aluminum or SS piece, please let me know!Thanks,Barry

 

[PrincessoftheLake]

I like the slotted alum toerail

since they are so useful. I have had them on 3 of our 4 boats.By the way Danny OLO2 is looking good. I saw the results of your finish in Sailfest in the last issue of N. Breezes. Congratulation! We took 7th in our fleet and were pleased with that.Hope to see you on the lake this summer.

 

[Harlan]

toe rail T-track

I replaced about a 6' section of teak mid-ship with 1 1/4" T track. Looks good and is functional. Needed for spinnaker guy, sheet lead when reaching, etc. Left the rest of it teak. Would be really nice to replace the whole length with T-track but access in some areas was just too tough for thru bolting.

 

[Patrick S/V Shangra-La]

Personally I hate teak above deck

I'd replace it with aluminum if at all possible. That's why I like my Catalina 320, not a speck of teak topsides. No waisting time with wood. I'de rather be sailing then sanding ;D Not to mention the advantages of slotted toe rails utilitarian uses. The only draw-back of the aluminum toe rail is the price. Good luck either way.

 

[Landsend]

I see no problem as long as....

you use marine grade aluminum...not the cheap bar stock from Home Depot.

 

[DannyS]

Individual Thanks

Barry, I'll let you know what I do but read on to see which way I'm leaning. I haven't looked too far into this project so do you know if the caps are just screwed into the toerail or are they thru-bolted? thru-bolting seems like overkill for a teak cap.Princess, great to hear from you! I saw the Northern Breezes artical too but I have to admit something, with all the confusion with the finish results getting lost and all, we actually came in 5th not 4th. My freind on Integrity passed me mid race and I never caught him but the artical has him in 7th. Congrats on your finish as well. I'd love to go with the slotted toerail but the boat has molded toerails that are probably an inch to an inch and a half high but only 3/4" wide on top so I'm thinking the slotted might look kinda goofy sitting on it.Harlan, Great idea going with T track. My last boat was set up like that so I'm saying to myself "why didn't I think of that?" I think I'd just do the middle-aft section too. I'm sure access for thru-bolting will be tricky!Patrick, ditto the teak complaint! Once again, I'm not thinking of going slotted but replacing the existing 3/4 x 1/8" teak cap with 3/4 x 1/8" flat bar aluminum.Landsend,I looked into high grade aluminum. What series do you consider acceptable? I was able to find 6061 in the size I need. I was told that the 5000 series was more corrosion resistant but they didn't have my size. I'm in the Great Lakes so corrosion may not be as big of an issue.Thanks Everyone!

 

[Harlan]

just screwed

The teak is just screwed on. The fiberglass is solid at that point (not cored) so it's a pretty easy job. (I replaced the teak that didn't get done in T-track.) Can't find a quick photo of the track but it fits well - pretty much looks like that's how it should be!