Thinking of getting rid of my bow rail. Bad idea?

alk

alk

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On my 43’ Viking Double cabin. The stanchions for the rail are pretty much shot, 14 base stanchions, and 14 on the rail. And on at least half of them, significant damage to the toe rail, gunwale, whatever it’s called where they are mounted. Assuming my setup is original, Viking did a very poor job mounting this rail, in my opinion. plywood backing plates, stanchions SCREWED through the deck and into the plywood. And no access to the underside for a majority of them, without seriously hacking up the interior. I started working on the first one today, and realized how brutal a job it’s going to be - repairing the deck to the point it will hold a base securely, and getting them through bolted to a proper backing plate.

About the only two times I go up front are when anchoring, or docking. While I’d hate to take a fall overboard in either of those situations, I’m not all that sure a shin high railing would save me anyhow. Sure would be a lot less work and money to just repair the surface, and not worry about core strength, backing plates, etc. And the boat looks a lot cleaner without the railing. Might need a couple small cleats, to hang fenders, but otherwise don’t think I will miss it.

has anyone removed their railing, and did you end up regretting it?
 
Sounds like a very thought out workable plan to me.
If it is of interest, take a pic of it as is, and then, with your choice of programs, delete the rail and have a good physical and mental look-see!
 
I would never own a boat without a bow rail. Never. Ever. It s just too dangerous

Without access repairing will be tricky. For those you can’t access to add heavy fender washers or backing plate, you can easily use toggle bolts. I have used toggle bolts for this and they’re VERY strong

Keeping the stanchions and rails mean you don’t have to refinish the tow rail, you can just fill the holes with thickened epoxy and drill again

Assuming the stanchions are stainless steel (I can’t imagine Viking using pot metal) they should be re usable

Some pictures would help.
 
I guess all the modern big sportfishers you see, with the vast majority being rail-less, they pretty much never anchor, so no need to ever go up front?

i have more work to do than just fill the holes, drill and rebed. The previous owner threw shrink wrap over the loosening stanchions - the strain of the wind whipping the wrap must have put a lot of pressure on the screws - so the glass is all chipped up and cracked, under the bases and extending out. Two or three stanchion bases cracked in half, rest just look like like crap. And on the one I was working this afternoon, the wood core is wet. I’ll get some pics next time I’m over there, my phone was dead today.
 
The big sporties get people up front when docking, cleaning etc.. Me? No bow rail? Not for me. I could never ask anyone to help me dock on a bow like that.
 
Yeah, I’m somewhat reluctant to remove it. I do like the look, and it would save me a ton of work and few dollars. I wouldn’t trade that for safety, but where I’m not clear is whether or not a shin high rail would keep someone from falling overboard? I know my rail in its current state would not!

Has anyone, personally, ever been saved by their rail? I know I feel more secure when walking up the side of the boat with the rail up - but if I slipped or tripped would the rail do any good, or just bruise my shins ( and flip me over head first!) on my way down?
 
If it is that low it won’t prevent someone to fall over. Lousy design. But it does provide something to grab on. Over the years I have had to go to the bow or send a crew in condition where having a rail to grab and steady yourself was a big plus.
 
Accidents happen to all kinds of people. They could be really coordinated and caught off guard or a complete klutz that can't walk without falling down. Obviously the role of captain assumes the responsibility to judge capability and who does what.
 
One hand for yourself, one for the ship. What if there is no ship?
 
Is replacing your bow rail with a taller rail an option? It would be much more useful than the shin-high tripper rail.
 
Chesagansett said:
Is replacing your bow rail with a taller rail an option? It would be much more useful than the shin-high tripper rail.
Click to expand...

an option, yes. But a much more expensive option, I assume. Not where I want to be spending my time/money this winter.
 
A few pics of some damaged fiberglass, and the top and bottom fittings
 

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The bow rail project is somewhat nearing completion - took forever to get enough warm weather days to repair the fiberglass where the old ones tore out, and then repaint the toe rail ( my gelcoat color matching was somewhat of a fail!) - finally I’ve got half the rail sitting in place now, with the new stanchions held In place with machine screws.

but the screws aren’t attached yet. I can get to the underside on six out of the eight running down the starboard side - I think I’ll put in access panels for the other two, instead of using toggles. One is up in the v-Beth, and other is in a closet, so I’m not too worried about a big round access panel. The port side may be worse, but I’ll deal with that next week.

my question, what should I use for backing plates? Looks like Viking used plywood originally, didn’t glass over it or anything else to protect, and they used t- nuts. for the six I can see, three have decent plywood, and I will probably leave well enough alone, and just replace the t-nuts with large washers and nuts. But for the other three, or maybe five, I’m going to need new backing plates, and wondering what to use. I was going to use starboard, but have been reading that it’s not an appropriate material. Should I go with aluminum, coosa , plywood coated with epoxy, or something else? Thanks!

and surprisinly my rail is way taller than I remembered. I guess since it was so loose last summer, and I always knew when I was up there that I couldn’t count on it, I just assumed it was low. But it’s not, looks gigantic after seeing my boat sitting all winter without it being there.
 
I've used thicker starboard as a backing plate for cleats on a 26 footer with no problems.
 
Any will work. I ve used starboard for backing plates and it s just as good as anything else. Probably easy to find than alum. I try to avoid wood as much as possible on a boat.
 
Will 3/4“ coosa work? Because I’ve already got several scrap pieces laying around. But not sure if its engineered to handle that type of strain.
 
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