Stern rails

[matkinson]

Recently, the bolts holding down my stern rails popped while sailing. When I looked underneath, I discovered that there were no nuts or lock washers on the bolts! Will these rails hold on their own or should I (a) put nuts on all bolts or (b) use epoxy on the bolts

 

[Steve Dion]

I would put nut/bolts & lock washers to secure it properly.

 

[matkinson]

I would put nut/bolts & lock washers to secure it properly.

Thanks Steve... is it common to bolt the rails on just through the hull

 

[Steve Dion]

I would assume that the nuts fell off. That is why I would use lock washers.

 

[robertsapp]

A Hunter 25 is a pretty small boat and shouldn't have things like an outboard and davits hanging off the stern pulpit - maybe they're attached with machine screws threaded into embedded aluminum plates the way stanchions are handled since they don't have to carry a lot of load? Wouldn't hurt to add backing plates and nylock nuts though.