Lifelines

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Sep 7, 2011
279
Hunter 1980 37c Illinois
Ok... As you know Drifter does not have any lifelines, staunchions, stern rails, or bow rail... I am opening it up to what I should put on the Drifter. For example a stern rail with built in davits. A bow rail that has a seat. You know more about this than I do. BTW... will need to know were to get this.
 
Jun 5, 2010
1,123
Hunter 25 Burlington NJ
Lifelines from scratch

Rb, you are in the enviable position of being able to start from scratch with a reliable and simple setup here. By proceeding thoughtfully you'll end up with a system that's an improvement on what most factories try to convince us are 'safe' and 'maintenance-free' setups.

Look under the flange; Hunter tended to provide wide backing plates, as part of the flange, for mounting stanchions. I would take advantage of these. One trick my cousin Dave uses is to build up a fiberglass plate upon the deck, epoxied in place, about 1/4" high to which he mounts the stanchions and other bits of deck hardware. This avoids deck water pooling around the fitting's fasteners and thus eliminates even long-term water intrusion. I would have done this on Diana but the skinny little side decks don't allow for the space for it.

There is a guy on eBay who sells new Asian welded-stainless stanchion bases for like $19.00. (Vetus' and Schaefer's are both several times higher; and I dislike Suncor's for their sheer ugliness and lack of quality and won't use them.) I forget the guy's name but he is in Rancho Santa something, CA and uses a turquoise background in all his parts photos. He's very straightforward and has lots of nice stuff. I mean to use his bases on Diana but first I want to send out the original stanchions to have their welded-on feet removed and the bottoms polished off. I just am not a fan of welded all-in-one stanchion-and-foot assemblies. According to Steve Dashew this leads only to misery when you whack a dock and the all-in-one foot wracks in the deck. Better to let the separate stanchion bend over the rim of its base and to get it fixed later.

I am doing the same thing with the bow and stern rails. The rail I got (from another boat) was footless and mounted on 60-degree rail bases, which I will use on the foredeck as well. I prefer to drill the rails and stanchions through and use 1/4-20 bolts and locknuts rather than the silly little set-screws which would need a phenomenal amount of torque (not possible to achieve when installed by hand) to dent the stainless-steel tubing of the rail or stanchion enough in order to be safe enough. Also this makes for easy removal. If I did not need running lights (which are on the rails) I would have the option, if it ever were necessary, of sailing without pulpits and still have both deck integrity and functional, safely-tensioned lifelines.

I should probably send you a drawing of my special, improved and perhaps overly complex and expensive lifeline set-up just so you can see where my (often overworked) mind is at on this. E-mail me if you're interested.

I heard a nasty rumor that Tops-In-Quality, the celebrated SS railmakers, were leaving the boatie business. This would be a great loss, if true. Source a local rail builder if you need new pulpits. At Cherubini we got a local guy who did tuna towers and once he secured the contract he came back at us saying that, because it was in stainless, he was doubling his estimate, with the net result that we lost money in reselling it to the customer. So, patronize the local guy(s), sure; but be wary.

You might also find a wreck. Very few people are conversant in which boats' railings also fit which other boats; it's not like finding out which car radiator also fits your S-10 truck. Take measurements on the deck where you want the feet (where the backing plates in the flange are) and go hunting. Remember nearly anything can be modified by a professional shop (or even just any good SS welder) if you give them accurate dimensions. I am having the front legs and a cross-brace for the pulpit seat welded on and so have to make up a mock-up of the deck in bits of plywood so I can mount the rail bases to it so the guy knows how and where to locate the legs on the rail. But this does not need to be complex at all. Most rail welders are used to working on 3-D and tend to visualize the shapes very well.

Let me know how you're proceeding on this! :)
 
Dec 2, 1999
15,184
Hunter Vision-36 Rio Vista, CA.
RB: It sounds like you may not be able to attend any boat shows. If you can you should speak with the folks at Garhauer Marine. They make great products, high quality at affordable prices. They may have some show prices this time of the year so I would contact them to see if they are honoring discounts.

The will also custom drill you bolt patterns so you can eliminate redrilling holes (if that is an issue). Raising up the base off the deck is a great idea. The stanchion bases are a very common place for water leaks on the H'37 (along with the chain plates).

I think you would be lookat at about $60/stanchion. I would use removable stanchions so you can take them off during the winter.

http://garhauermarine.com/

There are some other options for your pulpits (bow/stern). White Water Marine in Michigan can make your rails. The advantage of these guys is that they are in your neighborhood so you could save some freight.

http://www.whitewatermarineinc.com/
 
Jun 8, 2004
1,066
C&C Frigate 36 St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
Whitewater Marine

Rick, I got 3 replacement stanchions from Whitewater Marine and they were exact replacements (I see from the photo that you have at least one of the old ones left - I might have one more kicking around for you too). Quality and service was excellent and prices were OK too. I think they are in your area. I'll bet they could make bow & stern pulpits for you too, if you need those.

Jim
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
The H37C came with two styles of stanchion. Earlier boats like mine have a flat base plate with a starboard-like spacer under the deck part(pictured). Later models had a base plate shaped to fit over the toerail and down onto the deck. I don't see those on the White Water site: http://www.whitewatermarineinc.com/stanchion-base.html .
 

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Oct 25, 2011
115
Hunter 1980 H33-C Annapolis
I saved all of my stanchions when I removed my toerails. They are kind that are stepped to compensate for the toerail. I was planning on doing the reverse of what Ed has pictured with the outboard side having the spacer, However I was considering starting over. I still havnt had the chance to go to the yard and bring the toerails home, but if they are the same dimensions as yours I would be willing to trade the stanchions for raw tubing (I am not looking forward to modifying every base plate).
 
Jun 8, 2004
1,066
C&C Frigate 36 St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
The H37C came with two styles of stanchion. Earlier boats like mine have a flat base plate with a starboard-like spacer under the deck part(pictured). Later models had a base plate shaped to fit over the toerail and down onto the deck. I don't see those on the White Water site: http://www.whitewatermarineinc.com/stanchion-base.html .
Here is the spec sheet I used to order replacement stanchions from White Water Marine. What I got were exact replacements for the damaged ones removed from CALYPSO. They are the "stepped over the toe rail" type. I recall they were a bit over a hundred bucks each.
 

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Sep 7, 2011
279
Hunter 1980 37c Illinois
Redbeard... All my staunchions are trash... Most are sheared or cut off at the base.
 
Sep 7, 2011
279
Hunter 1980 37c Illinois
How do you foks deal with your dingys... I was thinking of davits built into the new stern rail I get fabricated. I havent seen any pics of our 37 with davits... Comments?
Rick
 
Sep 7, 2011
279
Hunter 1980 37c Illinois
I guess I titled this thread wrong- please read the original post. Can we change the title?
My question was- if you had a clean deck- what would you put on your boat and where would you get it...
rb
 
Apr 8, 2010
2,137
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
If starting over, I WOULD brace all the mid-ship stanchions and I would (!) Double-Brace the gate stanchions.
I did all this as an upgrade since I was removing all the stanchions to strengthen the bases and backers anyway.
PM me for the link to my article over on the ericson owners' site. You will love being able to watch crew grab the gate stanchion for safe boarding and not yelling at them or cringing!
LB
 
Jun 2, 2004
5,802
Hunter 37-cutter, '79 41 23' 30"N 82 33' 20"W--------Huron, OH
If you really like the idea of davits then maybe a combination arch with davits as part of the pushpit. Then you would have a future place for mounting the aft end of a bimini as well as radar, solar panels, wind generator, etc.
http://www.katomarine.com/sailarches-misc.htm
 
Sep 7, 2011
279
Hunter 1980 37c Illinois
I got the other toe rail off yesterday- I have one stauncion that looks to my untrained eye to be OK. Do all the stauncions have a bent back curve to them?
This one- where it leaves the base is as straight as an arrow- just not 90 degree from the base... I'll see if I can get a picture...
 
Jun 8, 2004
1,066
C&C Frigate 36 St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia
I got the other toe rail off yesterday- I have one stauncion that looks to my untrained eye to be OK. Do all the stauncions have a bent back curve to them?
This one- where it leaves the base is as straight as an arrow- just not 90 degree from the base... I'll see if I can get a picture...
Rick, I believe that all the H37C stanchions lean 'inwards' by about 7 - 10 degrees. Well, you have one out of eight required, by the sounds of it :)
 
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