HANDRAILS

[ken connors]

well, as long as this board has collectively slipped into a coma, ill take this opportunity to ask a really boring question. im getting ready to attach my rails to the cabin roof. most of the wood im leaving bright will be oiled, like coamings and rubrails. the hatches will be varnished nice and glossy because i can remove them and work on them in the shop at my leisure. i was thinking of attaching my rails without embedding them to the deck, so i can gloss 'em up and remove them off-season. anybody else have removeable rails? any problems?

[capt jake]

Well me? I figured that the cabin top as too low for the use of hand rails. I didn't use them.

Lots of help, huh?!?

[ken connors]

actually, that is helpful. if i install them temporarily, and observe that noone ever uses them, i can just leave 'em off the next season. besides, im gettin old. if i dont use 'em on the boat, i can install 'em in the bathtub

[capt jake]

Getting old?? Uh hem!!.......I take notice or offense or, I can't remember to that! Well take a look at how low they are in relation to the deck! For me ( 6' 00") way too low to be of any use.

BUT! They do look very nice!!! ;)

Ah, in retrospect, I must qualify this........Mine has never been in the water... YET!! :) As if that will make a difference???

[Barry Pyeatt]

Mine are removable.

Jake,

I'm taller than you are by a little and a handrail on the cabin roof will be a big help. I've found myself using them a lot on other small boats when it is rough and I have to move around on a very limited deck area. Others without as good a sea legs that go out with me appreciate them a lot.

When the boat is lurching around, you will most likely be glad you have them. But with all that firefighter training you know how to get around on a slippery moving mass.

Now I realize that at this point it doesn't matter at all and it is just something in the way that you have to dust. But I still have hopes of seeing it in the water with the sails on it and actually being used before it goes indoors permanently. :roll:

[Dave R1]

Ken, I didn't install the handrails because I wanted the real estate for cleats and fairleads for lines coming down from aloft.

They do look nice, though. If you're going to make them removable, consider how you'll mount them. Frequently, removable things aren't so good at staying on when someone pulls on them.

Perhaps install threaded inserts in the lower surface of the rail where it meets the cabin roof. A hardwood doubler on the inside would be a good backer. Flat washers and lockwashers under the head of the bolts so they don't vibrate loose.

Good luck. How about some pictures.

Oh, and Jake, if you don't get that boat in the water soon, you'll have to put it in a park and plant flowers in it. I know you've been busy with other stuff and I admire your discipline to stick to them to get them finished before you go play.

[Phil Gowans]

My handrails are removable, but I've yet to remove them. I attached them with through bolts (actually flat-headed machine screws) into wood inserts set underneath inside the cabin. This way I have nothing to catch on clothing or skin. They fit right into the rafters, so I have a very solid anchorage. I seldom use them moving forward on the deck since I'm usually standing. However, I use them a lot. I do use them while just moving around to steady my movements. I tie my fenders to them. Kids like to sit on the cabin and the rails give them some stability. I like them best when getting on and off the boat while it is on the trailer. At that they are perfect.

[Guest chris gekin]

Ken I would post pictures but I know how touchy you are about that. I think I will use rails because it might keep me from falling overboard and breaking my leg after too many Narragensett Porters. :oops:

[High C]

Mine are varnished teak, bedded with Sikaflex 291, and no, I don't use them. :oops: But the boat wouldn't look right without 'em.

[Knut]

Ken,

I made handrails out of mahogany and got help from Bob Cox with his router to create nice and rounded edges. The handrails are probably the most spotless, glossy varnished parts I made for the whole boat. However, when taking lines back to the cockpit (and I have one more to lead back) I found that I was better off without the handrails causing routing problems. They therefore never got mounted on the cabin roof and they reside on top of a closet in my bedroom.

With the rails that are guiding the main hatch I found that I have plenty hand-holds in that area without the dedicated grab-rails and if I had kept the boat, i still don't think I would have ended up installing them. They will go with the boat, but otherwise I could have offered some nice shiny low cost grab-rails.

[Capn Trey]

I found that on the Weekender the hand rails are useless as they would be much too low to be used. I left them off on my boat.

[MikeStevenson]

We've never bedded ours. They seem to work fine.

Mike

[tdrown]

I use the rails normaly to get on and off when the boat is on the trailer. If you add them it's important to through bolt with very large washers and/or a block of wood as they do get a lot of weight on them when and if they are actually used. I can't remember where I got on the boat from the pram that served as a tender when I had her moored for the week out in Pleasant Bay, but I certainly could have used them. I can tell I've used them a lot because of the wear on the bottom of the cabin roof, I need to add bigger fender washers and a piece of wood there after 1 season because of the indentation I see it is making already. My philosophy is that the more things you have to grab onto on a boat, the safer. Although haven't used them in any slippery situations yet, I wouldn't want to rid of them, Murphy's Law. ....Should be noted: my grab rails are not part of the hatch on my boat, and are out on either side by a foot.

On the other hand, removing them would probably be fine, they really are too low for a person standing on the deck to quickly grab, the standing rigging is closer and higher to grab in slippery situations.