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  #51   IP: 24.152.132.140
Old 04-16-2018, 05:26 PM
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Here's another thought

According to your post where you said each handrail had seven fasteners, that makes them six loop handrails. I have a pair of six loop teak handrails available in good condition. If it sounds interesting I can take some photos and we can proceed from there.
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Old 04-16-2018, 07:27 PM
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I’ve found those handrails very optional, myself. Took off the old weakened wood ones, had new ones made out of grey Starboard...and they’re still in my basement. Planned to countermount interior handrails to them...will be nice, someday, but other projects have superseded this for years. I find no boat activity less rewarding than the futility of maintaining exterior brightwork.
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Old 04-16-2018, 08:33 PM
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Being contrary again

I see the handrails as essential. Part of my pre-flight briefing is to instruct guests that the lifelines are for decoration, the handrails are for their safety. With that policy the guest's weight is shifted inboard and low, the best possible position.

If you like your exterior teak kept bright (as I do) and detest the labor investment to keep it that way (also as I do), why not keep it covered? Mine is - all of it - and one varnish coat a year is sufficient.
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Old 04-16-2018, 09:39 PM
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Oh, you’re right, Neil, no argument that handrails are a useful safety feature. Handrail covers were one of my first sewing projects. They looked nice but added a few minutes to the underway/back in port routine so I stopped taking them off altogether. At some point somebody stepped on a rail and snapped it, and to my shock I realized while they looked OK there was no strength left in most of my rails after what was probably 35 years. The wood was weak and the fasteners into the deck were corroded (and not through-bolted). I took them off, filled the holes, had new ones made up and intended to replace them...maybe this was 2007? As a fair-weather day sailor I can’t say I’ve missed them. In any kind of wind we sail under genoa alone so there’s never anybody on deck in a blow.
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Old 04-16-2018, 09:52 PM
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We certainly sail in different conditions. A typical sail here includes 20 knots + in the afternoons. When I ordered a new genoa two years ago I specified a 110, it's puh-lenty of sail for my area. And when sailing with neophytes it seems there's always one who wants to go forward.

I recommend the interior handrails you mentioned. Mine are great but not mirrored to the exterior handrails. They have their own separate fasteners and are slightly inboard.
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Old 04-17-2018, 12:13 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ndutton View Post
According to your post where you said each handrail had seven fasteners, that makes them six loop handrails. I have a pair of six loop teak handrails available in good condition. If it sounds interesting I can take some photos and we can proceed from there.
Interested. Measurements of what I have:

Total rail length - 93"
Loops - 6
Inside Length of a single loop - 9"
length of space between loops(deck contact point) - 6"
Number of deck contact points - 7 including ends.
Width of wood - 3/4"
Wood height bottom to top of deck contact point - 2 1/2"

Outside rail and inside rail held on by same threaded bolt.

Pic is the end of the outside starboard rail.
Check your measurements and lets see if they match up.


I also brought home the inside rail that matches up the outside rail that broke. So can do more measurements off that if needed.

The use of cypress as a rail material came to mind.
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Old 04-17-2018, 12:32 AM
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Nope, not even close. Oh well, it was worth a try and look at all the shipping expense you just saved. I have a nagging feeling your substitute wood species will not survive the environment very long and you'll be doing this over and over again. Teak wasn't used just to be fashionable. The natural oil content in the wood made it superior for marine applications. Damn near impossible to glue though because of the oil, at least before the proliferation of epoxies.
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Old 04-17-2018, 12:06 PM
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Okay, stupid question, but has anyone opted for black locus or cypress for external woodwork? Both have superior rot resistance, both are more readily available than teak, and for the most part both are significantly lower priced. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison on strength between the the species to see if there is a significant difference, but on a quick look they seen to fall in the same approximate specs.

I was considering either before deciding on the AwlSpar finished oak. Part of the reason for picking oak is that there is a lumber mill that sells rough cut oak for a very good price near me.
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Old 04-17-2018, 12:18 PM
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I found a local wood shop that has cypress.
That wood practically lasts forever.
Called them. They have 1x4x8 cypress boards 8 feet long for about $12.
Going for it.
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Old 04-17-2018, 07:35 PM
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From my woodworking days back in Florida, if you can get clear wood closer to the core, aka "heartwood", it tends to be more dense. It also usually runs a darker shade of red. I've used it for handrails for outdoor staircases that are still in service 25 years later.[
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Old 04-17-2018, 09:34 PM
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Cajun, not as original or nautical, but I bought four 48"-ish (two for each side) power boat stainless hand rails from eBay I think, probably off a salvage boat. I have not installed them yet, but my inspiration was that newer Catalinas had 90"-ish long stainless handrails to replace the teak ones in later models than my own up on the cabin similar to the ones you and Neil were discussing. I was too cheap to shell out the $$ for those long one piece ones, so I bought shorter versions that I plan to install if I ever get around to other deck maintenance.
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Old 04-23-2018, 12:47 AM
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Time to go back to the boat has been iffy due to bad weather that just so happens to hit on the weekend. Weather clear blue during week, but bad on weekend. Go figure.

Did remove one of the teak rails.
Filled the open cabin roof holes with silicone till I could get back to it.

3 of the 7 connector bolts holding the outer rail to the inner rail had rusted thru and thru.

I figured if I could cut the head off the remaining 4 bolts, I could lift the rail off in one piece.

I was wrong.

First picture is one of the rail supports that cracked off, with an attachment bolt thru it.
You can see how I drilled a hole straight thru the rail then inserted a jigsaw to cut the bolt head. Should come off easy right?


After pulling hard trying to lift the rail off, the wood split.
This pic is what the bottom of the rail looked like that I could not see.


The thru bolt is so rusted it expanded in the wood hole and never would come out.
No progress on rails other than listed here.

Currently working on sewing together a Sail Rite main sailcover kit. Its never as easy as they say it is.
My ancient sewing machine died on me so went found a nice all metal Kenmore sewing machine on craigslist for $60.

Paid somebody else to cut the sunbrella material with a hot knife. Both halves of the cover are constructed. Just need to attach the throat collar and tail collar.
After that, put on the clasp attachments, and I'm in business.

Bought a new marine battery to replace bat2 that was just an old auto battery.
Didn't install it yet.
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Old 04-23-2018, 08:23 AM
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The result of hardware store steel fasteners in the marine environment. May as well have used 16 penny nails.
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Old 04-23-2018, 08:31 AM
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Really like the VW bus in the pics. Is that a '66?
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Old 04-23-2018, 09:54 AM
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Really like the VW bus in the pics. Is that a '66?
The local Walgreen store has an end row display where they sell toy cars.
According to the writing on the bottom of that model, its a 62. Good job knowing the year though!

I probably have a 4 of that type in different colors. Several 67 beetles as well. The company name on them is Kinsmart.
Not really a collector but I thought it was cute enough to buy for a whole $6.
Well made too.

These are sitting on my desk at work.


When I first saw the engine of this Ericson, knowing NOTHING about it, the fact it had points like my bug does, gave me hope that I could do SOMETHING to get it running. Was sorely lacking confidence. Then when I ran into you people...that was the icing on the cake. Ya'll really helped me get from a position of being scared to touch anything, to understanding it was just a basic 4 banger with a simple system. :-)

Current dubs are an 08 GTi turbo, 73 Convertible Super Beetle, 91 Cabriolet(rabbit convertible).
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Old 04-23-2018, 11:36 PM
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67 bus and a Tartan 34.

Sold bus, kept Tartan. Had too many toys.

The 67 was the first year of the back up lights and 12 volts, and the last year of the split window and reduction boxes.

I miss that bus but it was too scary driving with all the wonderful drivers out there.
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Old 04-23-2018, 11:45 PM
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That's a beautiful job of making the running rust look real.
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Old 04-29-2018, 12:41 AM
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Was beautiful today but didn't get out to the boat till late. Installed new sail cover. Fit better than a glove.
Edit: Went back to boat sunday 4/29. New photo here.


The old cover was worse than swiss cheese and will be donated to the garbage fund.
For comparison, clip of the old sail cover with a temp patch piece in place.



As usual, cranked the engine. Started right up. All interior 12v lights work. All interior 120v lights work. Hull rear white light works. Nose left side green works but red right side doesn't. Also light on mast does not work. That one scares me to try to fix.
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Old 04-29-2018, 01:28 PM
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I guess we’ll have to take your word on the quality of the fit but your photo is convincing that you were there late.

My mast and spreader lights have had issues due much more often to connecting problems at the foot of the mast than anything in the mast. Rule out the easy, accessible stuff before assuming the nasty. And even replacing a mast light bulb may not be as bad as you think. My spreader light bulbs can be fixed with a ladder.
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Old 04-29-2018, 03:04 PM
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Hey Cajunspike

Glad to see another guy from Louisiana. I see you are from New Orleans area. I've a few friends in Hawaii that owned Ericksons and they loved the boats. All were older boats 27 and 30 something footers. This was in 1993 to 1997. The boats were all early 70's and needed lots of TLC. They were all tough thick hulled boats and sailed well. Good luck on refitting yours. As you know I have an '68 Redwing 30 C&C. Poor boat had been abused and needs a lot of TLC. There was no bilge pump or blower for engine room evacuation of fumes, wiring in a real rats nest. There was no anchor light, steaming light or port and starboard lights. I got the boat on E-bay for $709.00 plus $300.00 handling fee by boat angel. I still consider it a good buy though. I've got all the lights and wiring done on the mast and the port and starboard light. Got the bilge pump installed except from the drain port. The old guy who donated the boat gave me a lot of spare equipment including a blower so that and rewiring is my next project. I have been doing leak location and sealing them during the time I was messing with the engine not starting. So you see I understand your problems and like you enjoy the work of bringing them back to good health.

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Old 04-29-2018, 07:09 PM
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Today was too nice to pass up. Went down to marina and untied the lines. Did a single handed trip just a few miles past the breakwater. Wind was too light to really sail but it was good enough to prove engine and front sail works as intended.
Didn't bother putting up main sail since wind was so light and the front genoa was so huge. Its actually bigger than the main sail if you ask me.

All of these are just random pics taken out on Lake Pontchartain.
I can shrink them down more if its a problem, but then you would lose some of the clarity.






Engine was stopped/started several times with no incident. Started with the flick of the key when needed.
I'm pleasantly surprised how decently quick the boat moves thru the water with the engine at dead idle
or just a bit more.
I was thinking the engine would have to rev up a bit to get the hull moving, but it slides thru the waves like butter with not much rpm.

Total trip time was about 1.5 hours covering a little over 4 miles.
Didn't think to start the track till I was already out of the harbor.

All in all, had no issues with the boat.


sailr, not sure how much I can help but I will if I can.
Have already learned lots in a few months.

Still trying to decide what I will do with the handrails......
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Old 04-29-2018, 10:56 PM
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Nice! Another boat on the water out sailing!

Looking good CSpike!
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Old 04-30-2018, 07:32 AM
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Anchors Aweigh!

Bill, what app are you using for nav?
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Old 04-30-2018, 09:39 AM
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Except for a vhf radio and 3 wind instruments that don't even power on, there aren't any electronics on the boat. So when I was figuring what to do about that, spending a lot of money just wasn't possible. I have a motorola z2 play(5.5" screen) with an add on extended life battery. I also hooked up a 12v power outlet that can reach the steering station.

I started with a free app called iNavx(still have it) but after reading reviews online switched to Navionics with a $9.95 annual subscription for the maps you can download.


Both work, but Navionics seems to be simpler to use to me.
That track came from Navionics on my cell.

See what ya'll helped me do? Boat went from a hole in the water to being a usable vessel!

Found the genoa has small 2" slice/cut/tear in a non stress area.
Whats a good way to patch that up?
Sew or tape?
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Old 04-30-2018, 11:47 AM
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Lookin Good

Way to go Cajunspike

I haven't had the chance to get mine out. I'm glad you got to do a little sailing.
You are right about the atomic 4 the 30 HP really moves the ole boat along just with a little above idle. Course clean hull always helps too.

I'm in a yacht club at Lake Charles and since the lake isn't real deep and the tides haven't really been too high I've spent a good part of the time locked in my slip. I have a 5 foot keel even though all the literature says four and a half.

As soon as the tides are right I'm going to move to a deeper slip and see how she sails.

I have a problem with the handrails on the starboard side on my boat. When the boatyard was raising my mast back onto the boat they broke part of it. I fund some good sources of teak on Amazon Prime and instead of paying a couple hundred dollars for a replacement I am going to try to rebuild the handhold using epoxy and plenty of clamping pressure. I've read that if you clean the wood ends to be glues with acetone to remove the oil from the wood that you can get a good bond.

Anyway good luck
Sailr
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