Gunnel replacement

[ukrsindicat]

How its going, gents?

I have recently began planning my deck repainting project. However, the gunnel rubber rail (rubber that covers the seam between the deck and the hull) is in bad condition.
What options do I have to replace it? What are you thoughts on this?

[paulk]

Replacing the gunwale bumper strip would probably be a good idea. The out-turning flange on your hull-deck joint is already getting lots of nicks and dings that are allowing water to get into your laminates and possibly weakening the hull/deck joint itself as well. You don't want the deck to come off the hull, do you? The trick is going to be finding a bumper that will cover the flanges properly and which will seat itself well at the same time as you bend it around the boat. You'll want to fill all the old screw holes - and any cracks or gaps - with epoxygoop after removing the old bumper strip. The sealant holding the old strip may be exciting to remove, but it needs to be done or the new strip won't seat properly. If you're not a professional at this, you might want to plan for several day's work to remove the old piece(s) and about a week to apply epoxy and attach the new one. You probably don't want to epoxy the new one in- use a more forgiving bedding compound/sealant. You can always feel relieved that you're working with a rubber or plastic bumper strip instead of having to craft one out of teak at $4.97/ft.

[Waltthesalt]

check out Seals Sails and Spars. They have gunnel replacement material for many older boats also good advice

[ukrsindicat]

Originally Posted by paulk

Replacing the gunwale bumper strip would probably be a good idea. The out-turning flange on your hull-deck joint is already getting lots of nicks and dings that are allowing water to get into your laminates and possibly weakening the hull/deck joint itself as well. You don't want the deck to come off the hull, do you? The trick is going to be finding a bumper that will cover the flanges properly and which will seat itself well at the same time as you bend it around the boat. You'll want to fill all the old screw holes - and any cracks or gaps - with epoxygoop after removing the old bumper strip. The sealant holding the old strip may be exciting to remove, but it needs to be done or the new strip won't seat properly. If you're not a professional at this, you might want to plan for several day's work to remove the old piece(s) and about a week to apply epoxy and attach the new one. You probably don't want to epoxy the new one in- use a more forgiving bedding compound/sealant. You can always feel relieved that you're working with a rubber or plastic bumper strip instead of having to craft one out of teak at $4.97/ft.

Wait, are you saying that when I remove the rubrail, the hull/deck joint will not be supported by anything else? So, those those small screws that hold the rubrail are the only thing that keeps my deck on top of my hull? I was planning to paint my boat and rip all the rubrail off to get EVERYWHERE with the two part deck paint. It sound to the me that I can't do this now since I don't want the deck to start sliding off...I am confused

[IslanderGuy]

No, the rubrail and screws to attach it are not holding the deck to the hull. I think what was meant was that in the photo, we can see that there are many dings and chips in the fiberglass around the rubrail area and could be letting water into the core of the hull and/or deck. The screw holes from where you remove the old rub rail will also let water in (The new screws will not hit the same holes if you reattach with screws, but I think an adhesive is recommended rather then screws.)

Letting water penetrate the deck through dings, chips and old screw holes is bad as it will rot the core and weaken the joint. So remove the old rub rail, use epoxy to seal up all the old screw holes and any dings or nicks along the edge so it is nice and water tight, then get a new rub rail and glue it on with an adhesive.

[tommays]

"Wait, are you saying that when I remove the rubrail, the hull/deck joint will not be supported by anything else?"

You would be supprised how weak and outward flange is that seen a few hard dockings as my starboard side flange required a good bit of repiar after removing the rubber