So, I've been thinking on my rub rails. I don't like the abuse and quick wear on them and they are quickly becoming a point of constant maintenance and an eyesore. The thought occurred to me that either a braided rope of a heavy 2 or 3 strand rope attached along the rails would not only look very cool, but could also do a very good job. So, today, Warren gave me several copies of Small Craft Advisor to peruse and lo and behold, I see a couple of examples of my very idea. And they do look very cool! My question is: How could you attach it?
From what I see in the photos, I don't see any hardware fasteners and I'm a bit stumped. Could an adhesive do the job? Gorilla glue? I could do a section at a time with clamps. Seems plausible. Any ideas?
Paul will know for sure, but glueing won't do it. I have seen it done traditional years ago and this builder laid it into a wood channel, like a cove cut in a piece of wood. I forget how he fastened the whole to each other and the boat.
Both of the examples I see in the magazines has the rope sitting right on top of the rail; there doesn't "appear" to be a channel in it. I just did some more research on one of them and found that the boat was built by the Smith Boat Shop on Samish Island in Washington, a premier builder of Pelicans which is one of the boats I'm looking at in the magazine. I got their phone number and will likely give them a ring in the morning.
The proper way is to "let" it into a cove (groove). Then it's lightly tacked into place with bronze ring shanks. You can attempt to glue it, but you'll have to spring a batten around the rail (not an easy thing on such a narrow rail) so the line can be glued in a fair curve.
Rope is a lousy rail guard, though some think it looks cool. Metals and plastic are far superior to any kind of line. HDPE or HMPE make the best rail guards. These plastics are slippery, inert (no rust, no rot, etc.), extremely tough, come in many colors and the color goes all the way through so you can sand out damage or machine the edges and the color's the same.
Naturally metals are also very common. I use aluminum a lot, but stainless and bronze are also commonly used. These wear well and are easy to fasten down with screws.
Rubber, both man made or natural have been used and many extruded rails have them inserted into a chase (a groove) to lock them down.
At Lowe's/Depot you can get wooden trim that's done in a half spiral and looks like three strand rope. Just lay it in a bead of polyurethane or polysulfide and tack it down. It's available in long lengths too. Of course it's fairly delicate if you bash into things a lot, but it's easy to replace and find at the local big box store.
What ever you use, make sure it's removable, well bedded and not heavily fastened.
Been thinkin along those lines(rope)but undecided.
I know the rails,the whole side really,are gonna get beat to crap.
Would be nice to have somethin easy to maintain,with some give to it,some rope is pretty soft tho it will rot,
I like the idea but havnt thought yet how it might be done well,but my thinkin is slightly impaired at the moment.....
Keeping the rope in a fair curve, in the groove is nearly imposable. It will show every impact, bump and wave. It's the nature of the beast. Think of it as attempting to put a well cooked spaghetti noodle in a nice sweeping curve, while you smack at it with a spoon. It'll look nice the first day you do it, so take lots of pictures, because soon as you bang a dock, raft against another boat or brush against the trailer guides, the rope will be moved around, ruining the nice sweet curve you spent so long making (which is why you take all the pictures the first day).
The plastics are no maintenance and the metals need to be cleaned and waxed every so often.
An old work boat trick is to use rubber hose. They tack one end at the bow and then make a small slit to insert a nail. They drive the nail and move a foot and do it again, until they've gone around the hull. The razor slits seal up and hide the nails and the rubber hose can get beat to death will little concern. When it's ugly enough, they replace the hose.
A rubber strip would work as well, but the fasteners would be visible, but they are on metal and plastic too.
If you're a klutz or know how well people take care of and drive their boats, you'll probably want plastic or metal. If she's going to be a trailer queen and pampered, then you might be able to live with rope.
Hmmm...rubber hose comes in lots of colors
I didn't use wood at all on the edges and made a smooth clean edge.......would like to use rubber or plastic for a rub rail...where could I find some? some years ago I made portholes using plexiglass and "H" rubber a friend had....where might I find that as well?  painting the hull today.  milestone..........need trailer,motor mount,sails and rigging............yahoo!!!!!! be wet soon............bruce
Suddenly, my idea doesn't sound so hot. I was looking at rub rails in West Marine and that stuff is a bit pricey and though garden hose sounds kind of tacky, I think that perhaps soaker hose which is a dull flat black might look fairly decent.