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Thanks - I coated the inside with epoxy figuring water would enter, I'll think of a drain situation.

New question. I am hesitant to epoxy the rub rail on because if it gets damaged I want to be able to replace it. Thoughts??

You could leave the lower rub-rail off until you've done the fibreglass, and then attach it with some kind of bedding compound. But the trouble there, would be getting access to where you'd need to drive th screws from the other side... unless you do the fibreglass on the outside of the hull BEFORE building the seats and stuff. But then you'll have a lot of trouble getting to the screws if you want to take it off. I don't know what the best way to go would be... I glued mine and it's got some dings but it's nowhere near wanting replacement... I doubt it ever will be. I've never whacked anything hard enough to do significant damage to the rub rail. I'd probably just glue it if I were you. It'll add strength to the hull- it's like an outer stringer.

That area up front where the mast step is... you will find when using your boat, that a lot of wet stuff like ropes and the anchor, etc. goes in there. As well as any water that might get into the mast box. There are a lot of joints in the wood in that area. I got some stuff called "S-1" that is like a very thinned-out epoxy. It will soak into the wood and kind of harden it and protect it from rot. I slopped a bunch of it around in there and there is no rot even after 16 years or so.

Also, where the sides stick up above deck level- the plans call for the upper rub-rail, the plywood side, and some half-round to make a bit of a "sandwich" that forms a sort of toe-rail. In practice, water will get into the exposed ply end and cause it to swell, and crack. I put a cap-strip on top of this all the way down both sides. So now there is no exposed ply to take up water. If I were to make my boat again, I would cut the sides down flush with the deck all around, and make a separate toe-rail on blocks. This will shed water, and make the whole thing less susceptible to water getting into the wood. Way easier to fibreglass, too. When I sail my boat, the raised sides channel water back to the cockpit. I have installed drains in the deck that somewhat solve the problem, but it was a pain in the butt compared to just blending the sides and deck and then adding a toe-rail.

Thanks - I was also flirting with not putting the second lower rub rail on. I found it hard to get the lines straight and I'm not sure I want to drill the holes through the hull sides. Thoughts on skipping the lower rub rail?

I've seen pictures of boats without the lower rub-rail, but I think (this is just my opinion) that you should give some serious thought to just following the instructions and putting it on. I remember I had some difficulty making the lines, too, but I found in practice that once the wooden strip is bent around the curve if the hull, it becomes laterally pretty un-bendy and takes up a nice enough curve on its own. You can tack it in place, take a step back and check it out, and re-screw any part that you might want to move. I think you'll find it's one of those things that turns out pretty easy. Put both of them on dry first, then when they're adjusted to your satisfaction, take them off, mark the holes, and use glue. The holes won't matter, because they'll be behind the glued strip.

I'm not a engineer- PAR would have been able to give you advice here- but this whole boat uses weird little design tricks to give it strength, because it doesn't really have a "frame"... the outer keel, shelves in the cabin, and the lower rub-rail, all serve to give it some "beef" that an internal frame does on a more conventional boat. It's a very strong little structure in the end, but I don't think it's wise to omit any of the lumber. That's just my opinion.

(06-11-2018, 08:21 AM)michael_coletta Wrote: [ -> ]Thanks - I was also flirting with not putting the second lower rub rail on.  I found it hard to get the lines straight and I'm not sure I want to drill the holes through the hull sides.  Thoughts on skipping the lower rub rail?

I think that tabbing the seats to the inside of the sidewalls with fiberglass tape and then filling the area with pour-in foam prior to adding the seat backs will give the boat way more strength and stiffness than the lower rub wells will.  That's what I did and have had no structural issues as a result.  Of course I had to give up the cubby holes behind the seats but gained the bonus of a lot of flotation, which came in very handy when I swamped the boat in a capsize.  My boat is a Skipjack though.  YMMV.  The Weekender is different:  If I'm not mistaken the lower rub rails mate to the cabin interior's shelving.  This shelving is a structural element.

Thanks guys for the advice - I decided to follow the plans and mocked up the port lower rub rail tonight. I can see how it stiffens and improves the structure - sound advice - again thanks!! So I will also just epoxy these things on for good.

Here's how you mount the lower rub rail.

First cut and place the rail against the boat with a couple screws.  Do both of them to make sure they are the same on both sides.  Take your time on this, you are going to have to live with the results so don't screw it up now.  Now, scribe a line along both edges on both rails.  Take the rails off and drill guide holes between the lines through the hull from the outside in.  You should glue the lower on so you don't have to go nuts with the screws.  Now hang the rails back on from the ends and screw and glue them from the inside of the boat while the ends hold it steady.  Chop Chop. you are golden and no one had to help you. 

This is just my opinion.  I think you should glue both upper and lower rails.  These longitudinal braces make the boat even more rigid than it would have been and should not be neglected. If you are worried about garfing them up, you can always plane them down a little and repaint them.  I intend to cover the rails on Indie with a second layer of something that will be nailed or screwed on. such as brass or rope, or another layer of wood.  I kind of like the rope idea.

It goes without saying that all of this happens before the seat  backs go on.

Al

This is the most rewarding time in the build, in my experience. Now when you go to work on "your boat", there's actually a real boat in the garage, as opposed to last week when there was only a bunch of wood.

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