Rail Repair

[dmksails]

My '86 Tashiba has a problem with the cap rails. In the area of a scarf joint there is some rotting that I will need to replace. Doing the whole rail is not in the budget at this time, so I want to cut out the bad section and replace it. Unfortunately, there is too much damage to simple epoxy the split.

Cutting it out will be interesting, but if I'm careful I should be able to get it out without damaging the deck joint.

As you can see from the picture, the builders used a very nice joint when initially building the rails. My skill are not at that level. I'm thinking that simple butt joints - well epoxied - will serve with bolts on each side of the joints going down into the deck joint. I'm thinking of keeping the repair area small - 12 to 18 inches.

I would appreciate any comments and suggestions on how to proceed with this!

[Cheechako]

That appears mostly cosmetic.
I'm thinking just remove/carefully saw the piece where the 4 plugs are in the pic and leave the genoa track in place. So you are just cutting the piece outside of the track. Then make up a piece to fit a bit over size and sand/grind flush to the existing cap rail.
Fit the left end to the existing joint and scarf the right end into the old bulwark cap.

You dont need huge screws to hold a repair piece in and glue it.

[psk125]

Looks like the boat banged up against something and cracked the rail. I'd be tempted to clean it out and try clamping it up with some epoxy before going to the trouble of replacing anything. The drawing shows a caprail essentially sitting on top of the hull/deck joint. The actual rail extends well down the sides of the flanges and looks like it is through-bolted. If the crack is in a section of the rail that is part of the scarf joint, the repair is not likely to hold up well. Dealing with the bolts or screws will be troublesome. Cheechako's approach might look better than epoxy, but would take a lot more effort and still be a short-term solution.

[markxengineerin]

I agree w/ other posters- doesn't look worth fixing unless you're going to go all-in with the permanent fix and make nice looking joints. My boat has a couple similar spots that have been repaired with epoxy/very skinny nails that are almost invisible, but hold things together for now. Years have gone by, no additional "rot" seems to be happening. Salt water spray is frequent, but if not, maybe pour some on it periodically.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by psk125

Looks like the boat banged up against something and cracked the rail. I'd be tempted to clean it out and try clamping it up with some epoxy before going to the trouble of replacing anything. The drawing shows a caprail essentially sitting on top of the hull/deck joint. The actual rail extends well down the sides of the flanges and looks like it is through-bolted. If the crack is in a section of the rail that is part of the scarf joint, the repair is not likely to hold up well. Dealing with the bolts or screws will be troublesome. Cheechako's approach might look better than epoxy, but would take a lot more effort and still be a short-term solution.

I do think it is worth trying to just clamp and epoxy the loose part on the bottom first. Clean it out good and see if you can devise a way to clamp it. It may be difficult though.

Those 4 big plugs seem to be part of the problem, allowing water ingress maybe? Prior repair?
With my suggested repair I wanted to get rid of those ending with 2 or 3 of smaller diameter.. Often they are problematic from the get go as there is such a radius through the plug that there is a gap at the top. (hole not deep enough)