Toerails holding water. What have people done to modify or correct this?

jssailem · Apr 27, 2019

Gladstone welcome to the forum.

Just guessing here (providing a boat make and model is always a positive idea), wood toe rails are usually unique to the basic boat. Water does get flushed over the rail. Most boats have a drain to let the water return to the sea. So if your boat is missing the drain you would be wise to install one. A drilled hole is, as you implied, inadequate.
You can make cuts in the toe rail and install “scupper guards”. If you are looking for ideas I’d do a google search for “scupper image wood toe rail “ as a start.

TomY · Apr 27, 2019

Gladstone said:
Hello,

I am helping my friend fix up his boat. I'll say up front I'm a woodworker, not a sailor so forgive me if I get my terms wrong or am missing something painfully obvious to everyone else. The toerails at the back of the boat are continuous and hold water and therfore are starting to rot. A previous owner drilled one small hole in the rail on one side but it clogs easily, is drilled a bit above the deck by a few milimeters and we worry the wood will rot inside the hole.

Is this typical construction for this boat (I see other brands have gaps in the rail to allow water to drain) and if so, has anyone done a retrofit or custom tweak to solve this issue?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Jason

I did a quick google and quickly found a C&C landfall which has deck drains. Does the boat have these deck drains or scuppers?

http://dainyrays.blogspot.com/2015/03/improving-deck-drains-blogpost-written.html

jssailem · Apr 27, 2019

Nice find Tom. He is doing the work for a friend. That is why I asked him for pictures and a boat manufacturer.

TomY · Apr 28, 2019

jssailem said:
Nice find Tom. He is doing the work for a friend. That is why I asked him for pictures and a boat manufacturer.

I assumed from his profile with the landfall that was the boat. Oh well, anyway,...

I just read the blog I posted. It seems the Landfall was fitted with inadequate deck drains. The scuppers (holes on deck) are small, 1/2" diameter, and clog with debris. Our son's O'Day Outlaw 26' has the same problem. This leads to the whole deck being a rain collector to fill the bilge in a deluge.

The work done on the Landfall sounds like a great improvement and not too hard to implement.

Deck drains have to be seriously designed or they don't work well and become a liability.

My old Alden has 4 deck drains. The bronze drain grates are inset in the deck over large diameter glass tubes glassed into the hulls interior. Even at over an inch in diameter, the outlet ports just below the waterline can clog with mussels late in the season.

Capt Robbie · Apr 28, 2019

Picture would help
However I helped a boat buddy correct his toe rail drain issue.
1) drilled a 2" drain hole through the wooden toe rail.
2) Côte and sealed the hole with multiple Côtes of west systems epoxy.
3) then installed an aluminum tubes which lined the hole. The tube was glued in place with caulk end both ends were sealed with life caulk.
He was also concerned with rotting out the toe rail, that's why we installed the tube. Thirty plus years later no issues.

kappykaplan · Apr 29, 2019

Gladstone said:
basically a large hole for running ropes through for the bumpers

They're called fenders. Welcome to the forums. :beer:

TomY · Apr 29, 2019

Gladstone said:
Oh, sorry. another thought/question: Are the toerails under any pressure? If one was to cut a section out would they open up or be wiggly? further to that, would cutting them weaken any structure in the boat that might be relying on them anything (really showing my boat ignorance here but I'd rather ask than have a catastrophe occur) .

thanks again,

Jason

I'm glad you asked that. Toe rails are under pressure in most instances. So much so that scarf joints have to be used to join shorter lengths of a large toe rail that might need to be 30 or more feet in length.

The scarf joints will be cut at 8,...12 to l and many are then glued together before installation. This is so the rails can be bent, fair, around the hull in one piece, and fastened.

Even a modest wooden toe rail that isn't very high will have some pressure in it especially around the more curved areas of the hull. If you cut it for a drain, it may cause a flat spot on each side. You may get away with cutting more toward the aft end where the curve is lessened.

Better to make the cut only in the lower area, close to the deck leaving most of the strength in the wood above to hold the curve.

Daveinet · Apr 29, 2019

I would take a small hole saw a cut two 1" holes about 2 inches apart. Then take a oscillating tool saw and cut out the center. This way you have a slot, similar to your grab rails. Put several of these along the edge.
BTY: Cool boat.