Guard Rail replacement

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

If you think that I am bending down there you have another think coming. Plus I often need to adjust them quickly coming into port or a lock when single handed so faffing about is NOT an option. Being single handed I need to fit quickly so a clove hitch to the top wire is the norm. I need to
be quick if I am to rig 6 dock lines & 6 fenders( 3 sets per side) before entering port. I often need to slide them along the wire to a better position. Cannot do that if fitted to the deck. If I am against another boat that needs my fender half way across my toe rail then I would not be able to tie them to the toe rail.
My stanchions are firm. If they are loose enough to leak due to a few fenders hanging on them, then they need re fiting sharppish.
So by now I think will see I do not agree-- sorry, but to each his own.

Yes you could enter port and tie up like that, then re-rig the fenders to the toe tail.

 

[Daydream believer]

we are just in the process of doing the same, however finding really difficult to do the eyes, on third attempt and cannot get it completely milked in, how did you do your eyes?

Surely you do not use covered dynema ? Would you not use plain dynema for guardrails?

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes you could enter port and tie up like that, the re-rig the fenders to the toe tail.

Once the boat is settled there would hardly be any need to

 

[Pye_End]

Yes you could enter port and tie up like that, the re-rig the fenders to the toe tail.

Always used guard rail, no problems. Much easier to hang. Impossible to tie anywhere else (teak toe rail). Perhaps some modern boats are more prone to deck damage?

 

[Poignard]

I don't have a toerail that anything could be tied to; it has no holes in it.

Initially I hang the fenders from the guardrail and if I am leaving the boat unattended for a while or, if conditions in the marina are likely to be rough, I attach them to stanchion bases and the midship cleat

 

[James_Calvert]

It's a really bad idea to grab the guard wires while boarding. It loosens the stanchion bases and causes leaks.
The accepted method is to board at the shrouds and grab onto those. This is what I try to ensure that all persons boarding my boat do.

Sorry I won't accept that.

The only time my boat had a stanchion base fail was when the cast base itself broke off from its fixing. The remaining through bolted fixing itself was perfectly sound. Result of a big engined workboat getting entangled and attempting to get free through raw power. The associated stanchion got bent too. No way anyone could exert any similar force just by swinging on our guardrails when boarding from a dinghy.

 

[dunedin]

Once the boat is settled there would hardly be any need to

Have you ever watched a boat in a marina in a F9+ gale, leaning over in the squalls and then trying to come upright in the lulls - when the fenders may catch on the pontoon.
There must have been extreme force like this on the OP’s boat to damage / break the guard rail wire, but that does happen. And for enough force to damage 5mm s/s steel wire it will certainly be more than enough to damage the bases of the stanchions when pulled from 12-18 inches up.
Hence for leaving the boat unattended, particularly in a winter berth, we attach fenders by tying round the base / root of the stanchion (as we don’t have alloy toerail).
I watched another boat wrecking its stanchions by fenders, which were 6-9 inches above the pontoon in a calm, pinned under the pontoon pressed on by one of the named storms earlier this year. Phoned the owner and got them moved to the toerail, and raised intermediate fenders to higher height.
PS. I also often sail singlehanded, but almost always move the fenders after arrival as the optimum position for docking (widely spread) is rarely the optimum position for leaving a boat for an extended period.

 

[Daydream believer]

deleted

 

[Cheeky Girl]

How old are they?

Not sure could be from when the boat was new 2004

 

[Daverw]

Surely you do not use covered dynema ? Would you not use plain dynema for guardrails?

It was recommended to allow for UV protection of the core

 

[Daydream believer]

It was recommended to allow for UV protection of the core

Dynema is readily available in a UV resistent version.

 

[Daverw]

I tried for hours to get mine spliced in doublebraid, the cover was really tight and I had the same problem, 'milking' the last bit was near on impossible even with a ludicrously expensive 'D-splicer soft fid' (which in hindsight would have been relatively easy to make)...
I changed tack to go with this video from Premuim Ropes:

and used closed end thimbles from here to avoid any possible abrasion: < Wire Rope Thimble - Closed Body - Stainless Steel | S3i Group >
I did buy the wrong size thimbles to start as I forgot that I needed the size for the core, not the cover !

Will give that a try, looks far easier to especially on the boat

 

[Daverw]

Dynema is readily available in a UV resistent version.

Did not know that, done eyes in single before which worked well.

 

[Pye_End]

Not sure could be from when the boat was new 2004

OK. Some would say they have done their job, others that they could last another 10 years or more. I think if I had to do one side, I would also do the other.