Rubrail Repair: Genius, disaster, or obvious solution?

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LordElsinore
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Rubrail Repair: Genius, disaster, or obvious solution?

Post by LordElsinore »

I figure this falls into one of those three categories, but I'm not yet sure which. Either way, I'll let you folks know. Lemme 'splain:

Accidentally backed As You Wish :macm: into the brick pillar of my drive way and ended up with this:

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The folks at Blue Water Yachts sell a replacement rubrail kit but mention that it is "very difficult to install" requiring "hard stretching" (probably for both my body and the rubber). There will probably come a day where I will try that, but it is not this day.

Image

In the meantime, I picked up some of this black LifeCalk on Amazon and figured I'd give it a try:

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It says it is 'sandable and paintable', so I'm hoping that once it cures I'll be able to shape it enough to end up with something that at least seals things up and makes the damage less noticeable until she has enough war wounds in other spots to where I can justify replacing the entire rubrail. The black goop seemed to go on ok, though I did not expect the back of the tube to explode when I squeezed it on, which made it get all over my hands, my shirt, the driveway, the dog, the dog's favorite toys... you get the idea.

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Not the prettiest, but already looks at least a little better. We'll see how the finished product looks after it cures and is sanded down a bit. Any predictions on how this will turn out?

As a side note: have any of you tried replacing the rubrail on a Mac yourselves? I'd love to know how it went and what kind of effort is really involved.

- Mike
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NiceAft
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Re: Rubrail Repair: Genius, disaster, or obvious solution?

Post by NiceAft »

The rub rail covers the area where the hull and the deck are joined. I say this because if there is damage there, be attentive to leaks when it rains, also while on the water in heavier weather.

If you do decide to get a new rub rail, a trick to make the material more pliable is to submerge it in a tub of very hot water. It will still be a lot of work; then again it has been done.
Ray ~~_/)~~
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Jimmyt
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Re: Rubrail Repair: Genius, disaster, or obvious solution?

Post by Jimmyt »

Never used life caulk before. I'm very interested in how it sands. If you can get a decent finish on it, I say genius! :wink:

Video of a guy replacing the rubrail.

Jimmyt
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opie
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Re: Rubrail Repair: Genius, disaster, or obvious solution?

Post by opie »

Lord E,
There are links in the old threads on this rub rail problem.
But my reason for replying was to amen to NiceAft's warning. My rubrail was damaged like yours onetime and I took in gallons of water at the underlying hull-to-deck joint before I figured out where the leak was. The joint is brittle b/c it has its two end surfaces sticking out into the rail.
Anyway can you pour some hot water on that section of rubrail and pull it out away from joint for an inspection?
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LordElsinore
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Re: Rubrail Repair: Genius, disaster, or obvious solution?

Post by LordElsinore »

Jimmyt wrote: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:16 am Video of a guy replacing the rubrail.
Thanks for the video JimmyT. That was super helpful. Seems doable to replace when the time comes. I didn't see any seal/fiberglass damage as I was poking around in there before, but I'm planning on giving it the old garden hose test after I try sanding this LifeCalk down and we'll see if there are any leaks. It's actually looking like it might turn out pretty decent.
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