Toe Rail

Oct 29, 2017
88
ODay 302 Kenosha WI
Greetings

I have a ODay 302 and discovered the wood backing for the toe board is rotted out. Most of the port side and part of the starboard. The bolts that hold the toe board come through the hull and have a 1/2” wood backing. The wood backing is tabbed over with glass and is holding the water in from any leaking bolts and being absorbed by the wood.

Is this common for Oday 302?

Anyone done this repair? Looking for options on best way. Boat is on the Great Lakes and spend majority of the time in the yard.

Thanks
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Do you have a picture or two to show the type of damage you're describing?

I'm inclined to suggest a good bleaching to kill any and all rot fungus then rebuild with glass and epoxy, but replacing the wood might be the better option, I don't know.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 
Mar 24, 2012
66
O'Day 40 BC Coast
I'd look for an experienced structural composite person to get advice. It may cost a bit for the advice but probably save time and money. Having said that, what about removing the bolts, replacing the wood with vinylester or epoxy mix and re-drilling/re-bolting?
 
Oct 29, 2017
88
ODay 302 Kenosha WI
Thanks for responding nramsey. That is my intent at this time. Just seeing if anyone has insight if that will work or if I will need to remove the toe rail. I often start a project only to find out I needed to do something else.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
I have no experience with a large O'day like yours, but I have plenty of experience with leaking deck hardware. Yes, your toe rail is leaking. Yes, it would need to be resealed. Yes, you're going to need to cut out the glassed over wood and replace to do it properly. Yes, this is going to suck massively. :( I expect a vibrating multi-tool will be your friend as you use what I call a plunge cut saw blade to cut out the glass on either side of the wood to pull it all out. You could replace with more wood, because it's lasted this long, and if you re-seal the toe rail bolts properly, the wood should probably outlast all of us. Or you could replace the backing with G10 composite, which would be a bit easier to do, because you could probably just adhere it under the deck with a mixture of epoxy and structural filler, and not glass it over. Here is an article on rebedding deck fittings that will help you make sure the toe rail doesn't leak again. Key to this is countersinking the holes in the deck, so there's more surface area between deck and bolt for the sealant to adhere. Even 1/16-1/8" makes the seal better and longer lived, regardless which sealant you decide to use. Rebedding Deck Hardware With Bed-It Butyl Tape - Marine How To
 
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Likes: Will Gilmore
Oct 29, 2017
88
ODay 302 Kenosha WI
Thanks Brian for the response. I figured as much. Not too concerned with removing the old wood and glass. Rebedding the bolds should not be too hard. Not sure if the toe rail needs to be pulled and resealed. I would assume the toe rail is glued down. Pulling it up might damage the deck. Seem like the water is coming from the bolts.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
Not sure if the toe rail needs to be pulled and resealed. I would assume the toe rail is glued down. Pulling it up might damage the deck. Seem like the water is coming from the bolts.
If you review that how to article, you really need to seal between the deck and the bolt, and the toe rail smushing down on top of the works would give you that connection. Having the deck countersunk allows for a greater contact of the sealant between bolt and deck, as opposed to just a thin line of sealant between bolt, deck, and toe rail. The holes were very probably not countersunk, so this is why that thin layer of sealant is now leaking. To do it right, I would definitely pull up the toe rail to make sure there's a good countersink to get that sealant between the bolt and deck.

Imagine if you just sealed between the head of the bolt and the toe rail, and then water flowed under the toe rail along the deck and right back down in that hole. Also, if there's any coring under that toe rail, it would be wet and rotting too, so that would need addressed, if you were to do it properly.

If the toe rail seems really stuck to the deck, like 3M 5200 was used, there are 5200 debonding products that would help.
 
Feb 5, 2015
37
O'Day 302 Ottawa
Hi Voyager1 - An older post but I was wondering what you ended up doing. My understanding of what O’Day did here was to bolt through the deck overhang and then hull to make the hull joint. The aluminum toe rail was then screwed on through the hull over or on top of the hull/deck joint and covering the hull/deck bolts. As a backing for the bolts and maybe to have something more for the screws to bite or bed into, O’Day glassed in a ribbon of plywood bow to stern at the hull/deck joint. In my case, it looks as though water has followed the screws to the plywood and caused it to rot out. Now I’m wondering how to rebuild these areas. I don’t think I’m going to put wood back or re-glass. Just new backing for the bolts and screws. Thinking 1/8 or 1/4 inch aluminum strip or a plastic of some kind.
 
Oct 29, 2017
88
ODay 302 Kenosha WI
I used an oscillating Tool to cut the tabbing out an rotted wood. I did use 1/4” wood as a backing, would go 1/2” if doing it again. I epoxied the wood prior to installing. I wasn’t going to use wood but I needed something to screw the interior wood trim too. Did not replace the tabbing. Took a day two people one side. I wish I would of also cleaned the old sealant and reapplied. Had plenty of extra bolts and nuts, found several with the nuts snapped off. Good luck, let me know how it goes.
 
Feb 5, 2015
37
O'Day 302 Ottawa
Thanks for your reply and your solution. I forgot about the interior trim so, yeah, I will need something that will take a screw. After so many years, the fasteners and joint have loosened up. Going half inch wood would probably need longer bolts but I’ll size that up. If some of your bolts were snapped, a larger bolt might be in order as well. And new sealant all around. Will solve a lot annoying little leaks. Thanks again. I’ll let you know how it goes. Cheers,