limber holes in rails?

[john_manchester]

Got the topsides and cockpit glassed (or "Xynoled") but not quite painted. sigh. But over the holidays I did successfully test the cockpit for drinking beer (works great!). Today cut and fit the rails and the bowsprit. A small step for man, but there's something hugely satisfying about--like I may actually finish this thing! I'm afraid though that it probably looks a lot better to me than it will to you in the photos, but here goes.

I was wondering whether I need to worry about water collecting on the deck behind the toe rails, and if so what to do about it? The pictures of #1 on the CD show full length rails, hard to see if there are any holes drilled in them though. It'd be a nice excuse to put a foot or so gap in the rail 11' back from the bow if I put another cleat on the deck there. But if I got the boat level, the lowest point seems to be about another 3' aft of that. I also kind of want to keep the deck clean since I'm a bit clumsy (especially after the cockpit test), and I think the rail looks better anyway solid full-length.

[john_manchester]

Here's a shot of the massive galley glued up and with the fiddles on (faucet's just sitting there). Have to invite you all over for supper some time.

[Designer]

John,

You definitely need scuppers in the toe rail and I would spread them way beyond the lowest point on the sheer. Whether you you use shorter lengths of rail with gaps or drill a bunch of holes in the rail is a matter of taste.

Remember boats do not always sit perfectly level. Naturally they will trim by the bow when no one is in the cockpit and you will not always have the same amount of gear /stores/ fuel etc. always stowed in the same place. When it is on the trailer it will always be sitting off-level because of hitch height and unlevel ground.

[JetStream]

In the old days of some of the first fiberglass boats, (like the Bermuda 40 and other boats of that era), they put scupper drains inside the toerail. The drains were placed in 3 places (lowest point and then about 3 feet fore and aft). The drains were glassed to tubes below deck that drained through the hull just below the water line. The tubes and through holes were heavily glassed to the hull to make them part of that structure and not require a through hull seacock. They were nice in that they kept the shear looking unbroken and topsides paint clean. You never saw those ugly "drain streaks" down the topsides. One of the difficulties is keeping them clear. If mud wasps build nests in them over the winter, they can fill with water and blow out when it freezes.

[Charlie Jones]

Yep- my Meridian 25 had those. I felt them quite unsafe so I glassed over those tubes. I want NO opening below the waterline that doesn't have a seacock. Of course, on Tehani I wound up with no openings below the waterline at all.

The deck drains are a great idea though- so I brought the hose out through a through hull fitting just ABOVE the water line on each side.. I still am putting a cut off (seacock) on that before we sail her offshore.