Dougal
New member
I’m looking for some advice please?
The build quality of my 30 year old Beneteau Evasion 32 is mostly very solid indeed, albeit not exactly cosmetic or aesthetic by today’s standards. However, the method used to attach the teak rail to gunwale tops is oddly extremely poor...
The hull to deck join is horizontal and less than 3cm wide. This is drilled every meter or so where a screw holds the teak rail from below. The rails extend beyond the hull, acting as a rubbing strake. This means that each time the boat is lifted using straps, the wood is often ripped clean out where the straps are. VERY bad news indeed. If I’m around, then I can place soft packing and spacing between the hull and straps to prevent this, but I’m not always there when she’s lifted.
I was thinking of replacing all the screws with small diameter S/S nuts & bolts. There is JUST room on the underside, if I grind back one edge of each nut.
Does anyone see any problems or disadvantage in doing this, or have any other ideas?
Many thanks for any help.
The build quality of my 30 year old Beneteau Evasion 32 is mostly very solid indeed, albeit not exactly cosmetic or aesthetic by today’s standards. However, the method used to attach the teak rail to gunwale tops is oddly extremely poor...
The hull to deck join is horizontal and less than 3cm wide. This is drilled every meter or so where a screw holds the teak rail from below. The rails extend beyond the hull, acting as a rubbing strake. This means that each time the boat is lifted using straps, the wood is often ripped clean out where the straps are. VERY bad news indeed. If I’m around, then I can place soft packing and spacing between the hull and straps to prevent this, but I’m not always there when she’s lifted.
I was thinking of replacing all the screws with small diameter S/S nuts & bolts. There is JUST room on the underside, if I grind back one edge of each nut.
Does anyone see any problems or disadvantage in doing this, or have any other ideas?
Many thanks for any help.