After 41 years and several rock and roll raft up's, the rub rails on my WC Triton were ready for replacement. I didn't want rubber again and I try to keep away from wood that would require maintenance on the outside of the boat (like how do you get out of boat maintenance, right?)

While replacing my rails I learned more about the process used during the early building of the west coast boats. Mainly, the hull to deck fitting. It sucks. The deck was built with a lip that would rest on the lip of the hull (a common method.) So far, so good. What they did was coat the lips with resin, set them on each other, then applied fiberglass to the inside (at least where they could reach which is not every where because of the liner.) The lips were then covered with a rubber rub rail. The deck was held to the hull with at best, 2 layers of fiberglass inside. There seemed to be a lack of understanding during the early years fiberglass boat building on just how strong resin really was.

Sailing in sloppy conditions, common during the summer months around here, I often would have water on the cabin sole and could never figure out exactly where it was coming from. What happened over the years was, the resin originally applied between the 2 lips had long since crystallized and broke away leaving many large cracks. These cracks could not be seen as they were covered by the rub rail. My guess is that when conditions got really bad and I buried the rail, the cracks opened up even more allowing water to enter. When I removed the rub rail the cracks and lack of a sealant and an adequate fastening system was very obvious. I'm glad I never got caught in the Gulf of the Farallones on a nasty day with these joint.

I decided to beef up the hull to deck joint and use a new age material, plastic, for the rails (which should be very appropriate for a Plastic Classic.) a. Along the lip, I countersunk 1/4" SS flat head bolts, 3/4" long, and nuts every 18 inches. Modern day boats designed to go around the world in worse conditions generally place the bolts every 6 inches but I'm not going around the world. b. To cover the lip and fasteners, I used a new product produced for outdoor decking called Nexwood. It comes in a variety of colors and will sun bleach over time so I used gray. It is sold in 12', 16' and 20' lengths at your local lumber yard. It cuts like wood and fastens like wood. Very easy to work with. It is built with 3 hollow chambers which provides strength when used for decking. c. I ripped the two ends off leaving a 3/4" inside depth over the entire length of the rail then tapered the stem end. Using the 16' length, I ended up with 1 joint slightly aft of the beam. d. After grinding the lips down slightly to 3/4" or less, I installed the rail dry to verify the fit. e. I then placed masking tape above and below the rail, removed and flooded each rail with 3M 5200 (2 large tubes for each side) then clamped and screwed them to the boat using broad head screws. f. I the 5200 to rest and cure for a week then removed the broad head fasteners and replaced them with counter sunk 1" SS flat head machine screws.

Will they last? Ask me in 41 years; Is the deck/hull joint more secure ? yes; Will it solve the problem of water on the cabin sole ? Time will tell however, the first trek across 2 large Bay's and down the coast 20 miles showed very positive results. And, a year after installation, they continue to look new.

wcrubrail

wcrubrail

wcrubrail

wcrubrail