Mounting Cabin-top Handrails?

[Jimmy Jenkins]

Once again looking for suggstions. I noticed yesterday that my 1978 30' has no cabin top handrails. I'm guessing that screwing the rails into the cabin top would not be the best way to go as far as strength. How are the factory-installed rails secured? Do the fasteners show inside the cabin or were they installed before the liner was installed. As far as materials go, any thoughts on using stainless 1" tube and off the shelf supports. I think I can do that about the same cost as the composite rails. I am inclined not to go with teak but have not ruled it out completely. The factory installed rails I have seen in photos seem to be about 10' long. I have found 73" to be the longest rails readily available.

Any suggestion will be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Jimmy
Port St Lucie, FL

 

[CKDK]

Once again looking for suggstions. I noticed yesterday that my 1978 30' has no cabin top handrails. I'm guessing that screwing the rails into the cabin top would not be the best way to go as far as strength. How are the factory-installed rails secured? Do the fasteners show inside the cabin or were they installed before the liner was installed. As far as materials go, any thoughts on using stainless 1" tube and off the shelf supports. I think I can do that about the same cost as the composite rails. I am inclined not to go with teak but have not ruled it out completely. The factory installed rails I have seen in photos seem to be about 10' long. I have found 73" to be the longest rails readily available.

Any suggestion will be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Jimmy
Port St Lucie, FL

Jimmy:
Check plasteak.com. Them manufacture handrails out of re-cycled plastic and will custom make them to your specs. Don't have any personal knowledge of them but am looking at them for replacements for my boat.
Craig

 

[Nereussailor]

Hey Jimmy,
Thanks for showing me the boat yesterday, you have a great project on your hands. I didn't even notice that there weren't any hand rails on the cabin top. Mine are just screwed into the cabin top with regular stainless wood screws. Nothing showing on the inside. The stainless sounds like an easy way to spend time sailing instead of maintaining, but it's a preference. I like the look of the teak. Just my opinion though.
let me know when you are going to be down there. If it works with my work schedule, I can help move your project along.

Dave

 

[Steve Dion]

Yes, they are screwed into the core material. This is probably not the best way to secure them, but most of them have lasted for over 30 years so what is to complain about.

If you want new ones, you can contact someone like H&L Marine in California. They will make them to your specs. My guess is that a previous owner re-did the non-skid and did not bother to replace them.

If you want to do it correctly, you should drill the holes (oversized) and fill with epoxy. Then redrill the hole and thru bolt them. The epoxy will keep the deck & inner liner from compressing and will also keep water from getting into your core.

 

[Jimmy Jenkins]

The Plasteak looks good. A lot cheaper than the white plastic ones. About the same as real teak and they look kinda like wood. At least it would add color to the white boat. Also, drilling oversize holes and filling before mounting sounds good. Better mounting and not a lot of work. Thanks Steve. Dave, I started cleaning paint off some of the interior teak today. Both sides I did the hand rails behind the seats and the trim around where the bottom cushions fit. I may give a another try tomorrow. Still no word on the title.
Thanks guys,
Jimmy

 

[Jimmy Jenkins]

Craig:
Reply from Plasteak:
Yes, if we made 10ft handrails, the material would be plenty flexible enough to bend to your cabin curve. However, shipping the 10ft lengths would cost about $85.00. Shipping 5ft sections would cost about $25.00 to ship. Let me know which way you want to go.

Thank you,

Derek Gribble
PlasTeak/PlasDeck
3563 Copley Rd.
Akron, OH 44321
800-320-1841

 

[Nelsonhow]

I replaced the wood hand rails on my H-27 with 10 foot 1" stainless tub from West Marine. Used standard fittings from WM 86 center fittings and 2 end fittings on each side. Came out great,

 

[Jimmy Jenkins]

How far apart did you put the supports?
Jimmy

 

[Jimmy Jenkins]

I got enough 1" stainless fittings off eBay to get the job done. Does that 1" stainless tube bend enough to follow the lines of the cabin top? I think I'll need a bow of about 8" or so. The alternatives are put them on straight or have two sections per side. I bought enough fittings to do either way. Allowing 24" between supports.
Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[rardiH36]

Dear Jimmy:

I didn't see your posting until today and it seems that you are well underway already. But if it helps, here are pictures of the SS handrails that I put on my 1980 H36C to replace the original teak. Breaking up the length into 3 straight sections and mounting along the profile of the cabin top gives the illusion of a curve. Another perspective item is that the handrail length forward is shorter than the handrail length aft. This gives a little better balance since the cabin top forward is narrower than aft. Small item, but it did help the appearance. If you would like more info as to what I did, let me know.

rardi

 

[Jimmy Jenkins]

Rardi, did you drill the oversize holes and fill with epoxy and just go straight into the cabin top with your screws? The rails look great(and useful).

Thanks,
Jimmy

 

[rardiH36]

Jimmy:

My fasten method is by wood screws directly into the top layer of fiberglass; fully into the core, but not through the interior FRP layer. This is how the original teak handrails were fastened by Hunter.

Certainly epoxy fill is the safe-and-sound method. And I considered. But I whimped out on doing it. Two reasons. 1) For the forward most screw holes, there was no wood at all between the cabin top fiberglass and inner layer. Any epoxy injected into this area would have just flowed away. 2) When removing the original teak handrails, I investigated the condition of the wood inside the screw holes; all was sound. Hunter didn't fortify with epoxy. I figured that since the the original screws didn't leak for 27 years, I could do the same. What I did do was put in a slight bevel around the screw holes so that the caulk would be pressure-forced in when the fitting was snugged tight. Also for the holes where did I encounter wood core, I flooded them with penetrating epoxy liquid. The idea was to saturate the wood around the hole with the stuff. When dry, hopefully it will prevent any moisture from migrating further into the core. MaineSail, who is an expert on the "Ask all Sailors" forum, has posted that butyl tape is the way to go for bedding fixtures instead of caulk. You might want to access this for yourself.

One time consuming aspect of my project is that the bottoms of the fittings are flat, whereas the cabin top where I mounted is curved. I used a bench grinder to the bottom of the fittings to make the "flat" concave.

The reason I switched to stainless steel handrails is because I needed to repaint the cabin top. The gelcoat had oxidized through to the FRP. The teak handrails had to come off for faring, sanding, priming and painting. I had decided that maintaining teak to brightwork perfection year-after-year would not be a labor of love. And I think that unless teak is maintained to a high standard, an otherwise well maintained boat looks a bit dowdy and weather beaten. Also, I wanted the boat to have a more modern appearance. Stainless steel was the answer. And the price was right, both for material and that labor to install was "me-free"!

 

[Ed Schenck]

Handrails on the Cherubinis

I took a slightly different approach to reinstalling the handrails. I drilled a 3/4" hole at every screw location. Then I epoxied 3/4" x 2" hardwood dowels into each hole. Next a small pilot hole for the screw. No more worries about water entry. I do apply a little silicone under each flat.

I also have the screws on top, not under a bung. With my cordless drill I can take the rails home to varnish. Takes about five minutes to remove them. I like the look but might have to switch to stainless, gettin' too old for all this work.

 

[rardiH36]

Re: Handrails on the Cherubinis

Ed:

Sure is a nice looking boat!