Retired from newspapers and television, currently sailing Thelonious II, a 1984 Ericson 381.
Video update for the Ericson 381:
Forum thread searches for "aluminum rub rail" go back many years and tell the story of Ericson as a yacht manufacturing company just out of business, then picked up by Pacific Seacraft, then with owners left to their own devices. For a while, PS still had some factory rub rail. It became scarce, then nonexistent. A specialized extrusion, the original hasn't been available for years.
On the 32-3, manufactured from 1984, the rub rail is purely cosmetic (see Ericson 25CB toe rail replacement here). The profile is symmetrical, and designed to cover the flange where hull and deck join. The original rails were installed with a heavy bead of caulk to seal against the collection of dirt. Attachment was made by about 50 inch-and- a -quarter screws. End caps completed the look.
Mine were pretty bad off, and the first thing you saw approaching the boat in the slip. At the bow, they were deeply scored by previous owners who had retrieved anchor chain over the side rather than with the bow roller. And I know why--it's easier. At the aft scuppers, corroded aluminum disfigured the pleasant swoop of the Bruce King stern quarters. Overall the rub rails were dull and said at a glance, "old boat."
They came off easily enough, releasing a great quantity of the captured dirt that formerly weeped down the topsides. The revealed hull-deck joint appeared quite sound, even though the photo above seems to show gaps. I filled the old screw holes with epoxy.
The replacement is Taco product A11-0511, four 20-foot sections at $275 each from West Marine, which provides the necessary free shipping (shipping long items is very expensive). My purchase was back-ordered for three months, perhaps a one-time issue caused by a temporary dock backlog here. The Taco and Ericson profiles are quite different:
But all that's needed is a design that will cover the flange, which on my boat protrudes about 3/8th of an inch. (It could probably be ground away entirely if the boat were being painted). The new rail fit over the flange well, no grinding required. Even after the necessary bending it makes a good seal against the hull.
Twenty-foot sections are pretty long for the top of a Prius, but a 12-foot 2x4 on the roof racks provided the necessary support. Two colleagues came along to help, both certificated in yacht repair by the New York Review of Books. We had our hands full to wrangle the pieces into place, drill new holes, and drive a screw every eight inches for 63 linear feet.
To seal the rubrail against the flange I used Sikaflex 291, a white product the company specifically recommends for such applications. We first ran a heavy bead down the upper edge of a 20-foot section. That made it hard to handle, and by the time we drove the last screw we were running out of work time. A solution was to run the bead of sealer down the outboard side of the flange.
Clamps don't work to hold the rub rail temporarily on, which is why three of us were the right number. One person held, one drilled, one followed to drive each screw after dipping it in Sikaflex first. The sections butted together swell, one butt on each side of the boat.
What wasn't so swell was the Sikaflex. It's not easy to work with. Any over-application, when cleaned with paper towel, spread out rather than wiped up. The stuff takes a powerful grip even on polished aluminum. Once cured, it can only be removed mechanically, so clean-up needs to be done right away. Paper towels flooded in mineral spirits worked best and as well as acetone. The tube does say, "For Professional Use Only." [ Better to use Sikaflex 291 LOT ("Long Open Time"). It makes cleanup easier. Mask surfaces with tape.]
We finished the installation in about 4 hours.
The next day I returned to add the finishing touches, and this time cut the tip of the caulking gun very small. The occasional gaps between the top of the extrusion and the hull were filled, tooling with mineral spirits every ten feet. Even a light haze residue from the day before was difficult to get off the gel coat or aluminum. A plastic scraper worked best.
The result is a boat with new, polished rub rails which look like they were designed for it. They scratch easily. And even though the old ones were ugly, the new ones don't make much of an impression unless you remember what they looked like before. In the end, one of those jobs you feel obliged to do but don't really get to thank yourself for.
Update: I cleaned the original cast aluminum end caps, primed with Pre-Kote and sprayed with Rustoleum "Professional High Performance Enamel" in glossy aluminum. For the one missing end cap, epoxy thickened with colloidal silica in a plaster of Paris mold made a near-perfect copy. The paint matches the polished metal pretty well, or at least 'close enough for jazz'.
For Thelonious Blog Table of Contents click here.
Forum thread searches for "aluminum rub rail" go back many years and tell the story of Ericson as a yacht manufacturing company just out of business, then picked up by Pacific Seacraft, then with owners left to their own devices. For a while, PS still had some factory rub rail. It became scarce, then nonexistent. A specialized extrusion, the original hasn't been available for years.
On the 32-3, manufactured from 1984, the rub rail is purely cosmetic (see Ericson 25CB toe rail replacement here). The profile is symmetrical, and designed to cover the flange where hull and deck join. The original rails were installed with a heavy bead of caulk to seal against the collection of dirt. Attachment was made by about 50 inch-and- a -quarter screws. End caps completed the look.
Mine were pretty bad off, and the first thing you saw approaching the boat in the slip. At the bow, they were deeply scored by previous owners who had retrieved anchor chain over the side rather than with the bow roller. And I know why--it's easier. At the aft scuppers, corroded aluminum disfigured the pleasant swoop of the Bruce King stern quarters. Overall the rub rails were dull and said at a glance, "old boat."
They came off easily enough, releasing a great quantity of the captured dirt that formerly weeped down the topsides. The revealed hull-deck joint appeared quite sound, even though the photo above seems to show gaps. I filled the old screw holes with epoxy.
The replacement is Taco product A11-0511, four 20-foot sections at $275 each from West Marine, which provides the necessary free shipping (shipping long items is very expensive). My purchase was back-ordered for three months, perhaps a one-time issue caused by a temporary dock backlog here. The Taco and Ericson profiles are quite different:
But all that's needed is a design that will cover the flange, which on my boat protrudes about 3/8th of an inch. (It could probably be ground away entirely if the boat were being painted). The new rail fit over the flange well, no grinding required. Even after the necessary bending it makes a good seal against the hull.
Twenty-foot sections are pretty long for the top of a Prius, but a 12-foot 2x4 on the roof racks provided the necessary support. Two colleagues came along to help, both certificated in yacht repair by the New York Review of Books. We had our hands full to wrangle the pieces into place, drill new holes, and drive a screw every eight inches for 63 linear feet.
To seal the rubrail against the flange I used Sikaflex 291, a white product the company specifically recommends for such applications. We first ran a heavy bead down the upper edge of a 20-foot section. That made it hard to handle, and by the time we drove the last screw we were running out of work time. A solution was to run the bead of sealer down the outboard side of the flange.
Clamps don't work to hold the rub rail temporarily on, which is why three of us were the right number. One person held, one drilled, one followed to drive each screw after dipping it in Sikaflex first. The sections butted together swell, one butt on each side of the boat.
What wasn't so swell was the Sikaflex. It's not easy to work with. Any over-application, when cleaned with paper towel, spread out rather than wiped up. The stuff takes a powerful grip even on polished aluminum. Once cured, it can only be removed mechanically, so clean-up needs to be done right away. Paper towels flooded in mineral spirits worked best and as well as acetone. The tube does say, "For Professional Use Only." [ Better to use Sikaflex 291 LOT ("Long Open Time"). It makes cleanup easier. Mask surfaces with tape.]
We finished the installation in about 4 hours.
The next day I returned to add the finishing touches, and this time cut the tip of the caulking gun very small. The occasional gaps between the top of the extrusion and the hull were filled, tooling with mineral spirits every ten feet. Even a light haze residue from the day before was difficult to get off the gel coat or aluminum. A plastic scraper worked best.
The result is a boat with new, polished rub rails which look like they were designed for it. They scratch easily. And even though the old ones were ugly, the new ones don't make much of an impression unless you remember what they looked like before. In the end, one of those jobs you feel obliged to do but don't really get to thank yourself for.
Update: I cleaned the original cast aluminum end caps, primed with Pre-Kote and sprayed with Rustoleum "Professional High Performance Enamel" in glossy aluminum. For the one missing end cap, epoxy thickened with colloidal silica in a plaster of Paris mold made a near-perfect copy. The paint matches the polished metal pretty well, or at least 'close enough for jazz'.
For Thelonious Blog Table of Contents click here.
