roam Posted August 23, 2022 Report Share Posted August 23, 2022 Looking at sourcing rub strips for the keel and edges of a Catspaw 8. Would aluminum be a suitable replacement for stainless steel in these applications? Much cheaper and easier to work with than stainless. thanks, Hugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve W Posted August 23, 2022 Report Share Posted August 23, 2022 Personally, I think they are both a bit aggressive. If you have a dock they live against, maybe. But if you bump up against another boat and there is no fender, your going to leave a mark. I wish I had used the firehose like rub rail but I used wood that has held up well and is a bit kinder than metal. If you do use metal, aluminum is softer and easier to "dent" or distort on impact. Link to taylormade rubrail: https://www.westmarine.com/taylor-made-1-1-2inch-premium-gunnel-guard-3-4-round-173460.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw9ZGYBhCEARIsAEUXITVf0FZHA5FU-VbSsbTg1jNKZzJLmn6NdYvSsGG1k5abP7NDMTEBqYgaAoVREALw_wcB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aphers Posted August 23, 2022 Report Share Posted August 23, 2022 I used plastic for my keel strip. Cheap, light, doesn't do any damage to anything. I don't expect it to last forever but then again I don't drag the boat around on its keel. I just fixed it with sealant so it'll be easy enough to replace when the time comes. We're one year in, full time use as a tender to a liveaboard yacht, and only showing light wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Silsbe Posted August 23, 2022 Report Share Posted August 23, 2022 I agree about using fire hose or other rub strip. On the keel, somebody here suggested gluing a strip of 3/4” nylon webbing onto the keel. You soak it in the epoxy before applying it. Wears like iron! I might do this to mine this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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