Rebedding Toe Rail

[Tammy]

My husband & I are in the middle of a total overhaul of a 79 H30. We have taken all the deck hardware off & filled the holes with epoxy in preparation for painting the deck & applying non-skid that doesn't look like lavender paint. Anyway, here is my question, Should we re-bed the toe rail? We are pretty sure that any leaks came from poorly bedded chainplates & those two crappy little aft scuppers. We removed the scuppers & sealed them up. So, if it ain't broke should we leave it alone or is there some rule-of-thumb that a toe rail should be re-bedded every so often?

 

[Paul Akers]

My thoughts

Tammy, unless you know that the hull/deck joint/toerail has leaks, I wouldn't touch it. I think it is factory-sealed with 3M5200, as well as being thru-bolted. But, you can try to seal any suspicious areas. Otherwise, I'd say "let sleeping dogs lie". Good Luck.Tammy, check the related link. You may be interested.

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

On the other hand...

As long as the hardware is removed, you have a rare opportunity to test the validity of Paul Akers' point. Selectively roll water along the rail and see if it pours into the cabin. That will guide you.

 

[Tammy]

Familiar with the link you provided

I showed your website to my husband about a month ago. We talked about possibly joining when boat goes back in the water. Does someone have to sponser us?We have done the water along the toerail bit & didn't see any water dripping from the bolts. We have never seen any water drip, but the survey said that there was moisture in the deck & we have seen stains. We are pretty sure that the problem lies in the bedding of the chainplates and will be taking steps to fix that problem. Sail magazine had a great article on bedding chainplates last fall & we are going to follow their procedure.