Rub Rails

Ken Juul · February 10, 2012, 10:37:00 AM

I'm tired of having to reset the rub rail after a less than stellar docking or departure. I'm considering replacing the insert that always pops out with some wood. Good idea? Bad idea?

I was thinking of using teak, is there better choice? An equal less expensive choice?

Also thought about putting a stainless cap over the existing insert, but worried if the insert compresses too much the cap will end up getting bent/dented.

Maybe the best option is the stainless cap over the wood. If I win the lottery that will definitely be the way to go.

Jim Hardesty · February 10, 2012, 11:24:04 AM

Ken,
How about Plasteak? or one of the other teak looking plastics

pablosgirl · February 10, 2012, 07:08:04 PM

Hi Ken,

Is your insert original? I had a similar problem with ours. I found that the rub rail hardens and shrinks with age and sun exposure. Ours was also chewed up a bit by hurricane Ike and it would almost fall out just looking at it. So we decided to replace it with a new one purchased from Catalina Direct. ($249 before shipping) We chose grey so that it would match the deck non-skid instead of the original tan color. The new rubrail really made a difference in looks AND it fit the channel really tight. We have had a few dock/piling rubbings since the replacement and the new rubrail has stayed put.

I put a description on how to replace the rubrail in the tech Wiki under the Hull->Repair->Rubrail Replacement section. It was a pretty straight forward job.

Paul

waterdog · February 10, 2012, 08:23:45 PM

Ken,

I had a teak rubrail on my last boat.

You are indeed crazy. If you replace it with wood of like thickness to put in the insert, you will end up with splintered bits of wood when you have less than stellar docking. (Plus a maintenance hassle). So you need to go to something much beefier in cross section - probably close to an inch and a half. It will change the look of the boat.

Put in a new insert from Catalina Direct and you will love your boat again.

Ken Juul · February 11, 2012, 05:19:43 AM

The rub rail was replaced about 6 years ago. First year or two it stayed in place, now it's acting like the 15 year old one I replaced. The track was cleaned and dents removed when the new one was installed.

Any other ideas?

horsemel · February 11, 2012, 06:52:49 AM

Ken I replaced my rub rail last summer. I replaced the original. Speculation, but the rail needs to be pliable and I wonder if you might have used a solvent based cleaner that degraded that capability to stretch and contract. The guy in our yard who does the fiber glass work told me that you need to be careful about what you clean them with.

Ron Hill · February 11, 2012, 05:32:34 PM

Guys : Pliable or not, if you hit a piling with any forward or reverse speed (even 1 mile/hr) the vinyl bump strip will pop out !!

The key is to hit the pile/dock with no fwd or rev speed. Sometimes easier said than done!

Kevin Henderson · February 11, 2012, 07:30:22 PM

The key is to hit the pile/dock with no fwd or rev speed. Sometimes easier said than done!

There in lies the "Rub".

Sorry but I had to do it

Ted Pounds · February 12, 2012, 10:11:40 AM

Actually I always thought the key is to not hit the pile/dock at all...

Ron Hill · February 12, 2012, 01:31:02 PM

Ted : You are so right, but there are times that wind and or current will eat (humble) the best Captain alive.

For those times just remember to have no fwd/rev speed as it slams you into the dock!!

Ron Hill · February 12, 2012, 02:26:51 PM

Ken : I've been planning to do a new rub rail for the reasons you mentioned. It's one of those projects that has not yet bubbled to the top of my list. I've thought about it for years and here's what I plan to do:

I'll remove the vinyl from the holder on about 2/3rds of the side. Take some TREX (laminate decking from Lowe's/ Home Depot) and rip it to the exact width of the aluminum holder. It should protrude out from the edges of the holder at least 1/4 to 1/2 inches. It must be thru bolted to the inside of the hull. Whether I can use the same bolts/holes that hold the aluminum holder - I don't know yet. Then I'll use some 3/4" or 1" stainless strips and screw them on to the outside of the TREX strip.
I haven't decided yet how the juncture of the vinyl to the TREX/stainless will look like.

Anyway that may give you something to chew on/think about.

I have the 3/4" stainless strips. Now all I need is the time, energy and complete all of the more important projects before I can get started on the rub rail!!

A few thoughts

r_bond · February 14, 2012, 02:09:41 PM

Ken,

We gave Trinity a "face-lift" this past fall. One of best things we did was to install a new rub rail. Product is from Barbour Plastics. Here's a link: http://www.barbourcorp.com/marine-prod-rubrails.htm
We installed the rigid w/ stainless steel insert type. It is absolutely beautiful and (according to the guy that did our work...has installed a number of them) extremely durable.

Rusty

Ron Volk · February 14, 2012, 03:07:12 PM

Rusty,

Could you attach a photo of a section of the rub rail you installed to see how it looks.

Thanks

Roc · February 15, 2012, 05:20:34 AM

Rusty,
With the rigid stainless insert, do you find if you bump a piling or something, it can permenantly dent? I would think a rigid rub rail would dent, but the rubber inserts are more forgiving. If my memory serves me correctly, I seem to think the new C355 has a stainless rub rail and my first thought when I saw the boat, the rub rail would end up getting dinged.

Ken Juul · February 15, 2012, 05:47:09 AM

I'm surrounded by Hunters at my marina. They all have stainless rub rails, have not seen any of them dented yet. I think they have a solid backing, I would worry about dents if applied over current soft insert.