Transatlantic Sail

More rails (update Oct 29, ’16)

colin bastable Leave a comment

(Plugs in, cut and sanded. Pics below).

Rail bolt holes countersunk, shims shaped.

I had intended to finish it today but the sealant that I bought is permanent, rather than semi-permanent, so I shall aim to finish next week.

I also cut some plugs to cover the bolt heads. The ends of the rails need rounding off, and the edges too

Coachbolt covered with teak plug

Stbd rail with plugs standing proud.

Plug cut down with saw. I used a steel rule to protect the top of the rail from the saw teeth, putting the ruler between saw and rail.

Port rail sanded.


Just need to round the ends off and then oil. Or Cetol, which gets lots of positive support. It has a slightly amber hue, but will be good for two years, if looked after. And I have a new tin. So I think it will be Sikkens Cetol. 

Fitting the coachroof rails

colin bastable 2 Comments

Today (Sept 10, ’16) I drilled the holes and added the new rails. A couple of the holes were slightly out of alignment but the rails now fit and look good. I have to countersink the coachbolts, and one hole in the coachroof has lost is thread. i will fill the hole with resin and cut a new thread. Then I can cut the rails to length, round off the ends (is that “chamfer?” I shall check!) and perhaps round off the edges as well. 

I do not think there is enough depth to the rail for me to make and put caps over the bolt heads, but if there is, I will use the spare 12″ of teak to make them. Small circles of teak to sit over the bolt heads and hide them.

The next decision is – oil or varnish? Dunno. Oil is more practical, varnish more beautiful.

Off the rails.

colin bastable Leave a comment

(Updated 28th Aug 2016)

My new coachroof rails have been cut by Fine’s Lumber – I drove to Austin and collected them, and must now fettle and fit them.

The old ones have some inch and a half of curvature at the mid point. 

The profile of the original is asymmetric, more rounded on top than the bottom, whereas my new ones are symmetric. I will round off the top edges.

The new ones are also undrilled, so I have to get the holes lined up correctly. As Frank is 3 hours drive away, I do not want to be shuttling back and forth, and am not sure whether to drill and measure at the boat or at home, using the old rails as patterns.

Then I shall need to decide how to treat the new teak – oil, varnish, 

Update.

I have measured up the new rails to drill the holes, and will do the drilling at Frank

The difference in the profile:


The end of the old rail, on the left, is sloped out from top to bottom, and I have allowed one inch on the new rail, for cutting errors. I will match the emd slope, but probably not the profile, which is wider on top than on the bottom.

The holes seem to be offset from the centre line. This is most apparent when viewed from the underside of the old rail. The rail curves inboard,naturally amd the holes are biased to the inside of the curve:

A pencil fits in the holes just enough to centre the pencil mark for the hole, assuming that I have it in the right position! That is why we use pencil. Measure twice, cut once, they say, although I tend to measure several times and still get it wrong. 😉