I did a search and found a thread from a ways back, but did not get the answers I was looking for.
From the responses to the previous thread on this, it seems that Hinterhoeller only used the teak toe rail for a couple of years of production. We own hull #4.
I did not have any leaks but damaged the toe rail on a pile while the boat was unattended during a significant storm surge in the yacht basin. It actually ripped a piece of the rub rail out of the seam it is riveted to the inside of the hull to deck joint.
Further to that, the teak had been refinished(read aggressively sanded) enough times that the screw heads were revealed on at least half of the screws holding the teak to the fibreglass. This would only lead to potential issues with small holes holding water that would end up in and under the teak toe rail. For this reason, I decided I would like to replace the toe rail with the
To explain the construction, it appears that prior to setting the deck onto the hull, the factory used aluminium rivets to hold the rub rail in place. These rivets were put in through the top of the rub rail on the flat edge that inserts into the seam between the hull and deck constructions, so really it is the top edge of the hull. The rivets to protrude into the cabin. However, they have never leaked, likely due to the use of liberal amounts of what appears to be 5200 applied when they attached the rub rail and the construction method used which basically uses the rub rail as a gasket of sorts, pressed between the toe rail and the top side of the hull. To properly remove and clean and reseal this cavity in which the new rub rail will insert I will need to remove the rivets(there are about 2 for every bolt it appears) and fill the holes.
The screws that hold the toe rail down do not penetrate the interior side of the fibreglass( there is no core in this area) and were properly bedded when inserted, as one would expect from a builder such as Hinterhoeller. There are a ton of them(about 4 a foot) and if I were planning on reinstalling the teak, I would have been rather frustrated by now as the plugs are in some instances rather securely attached to the surrounding wood resulting in chips and chunks around about 30% of the holes. There is no aluminium toe rail under the teak.
My question is, on the later 30c’s and the 30U’s with aluminium toe rail, is it the bolts which hold the deck onto the hull that hold the rail down?
If this is indeed the case(which I strongly suspect it is), it seems I have taken on a rather large project, well not so much large as tedious. And I will need to find a smaller framed individual to social distance on the inside of the hull in various contortionist poses while I remove the existing bolts, and yet again when I install the new toe and rub rail.
The next question is more of a hope or dream, do you think there is any chance that the toe rail Mike Quill stocks have the holes in the same place my bolts are?
I have sent Mike an email, have yet to hear back, will call him tomorrow.
Any advice would be entertained.
Mark Richards
Beets Farming(formerly Fat Cat)
Sarnia Yacht Club
Southern tip of Lake Huron.