REPLACEMENT TOERAILS
BobB, et. al. I had hurricane damage last fall to my 1985 H31 which required replacement of both toerails (one of them to keep both looking the same). Assuming you have a 31 of the same vintage, you are right, Hunter no longer makes toerails where the vertical above-deck section is inboard (inside the lifeline stancions). The folks at my boatyard (COBBS marina in Norfolk - I highly recommend them) got the closest thing Hunter still makes and adapted it to my boat. There are a couple other toerail manufacturers but my insurance company (BOAT U.S.) and I decided to use "original equipment" or at least a rail provided by Hunter. Simply put, the new toerail looks the same as the old except the above-deck vertical section is now flush with the deck edge and the lifeline stancions are inboard. The removal, adaption, and replacement of the rails was not easy and required a few modifications (e.g.: The stancion bases had to be reversed, grinded to fit flush to the rail, and wedges placed under them to keep the stancions themselves vertical. The old mounting holes had to be filled in and new ones drilled to match the new rail, etc.). The final product looks very nice and I've actually gained a bit of deck space since the rail is now on the deck edge rather than inboard (harder to jam your toes in the holes- OUCH!). It wasn't a cheap repair, especially since it was entirely done by the yard, but certainly worth it. If you have any further questions please feel free to write me here or directly at: TIDETIM@AOL.COM Good luck! Smooth Sailing, Tim L. ("TIDE")
