Teak toe rail

[Peter Binda]

The teak toe rail at the forward cleats is splitting, has anyone had this
happen? Any suggestions
for a fix. The guys at the Marina want to replace the teak at the cleat with
a piece of machined
aluminium that will match the profile of the teak (approx 16 inches long)
Does that make any sense.
Beneteau sells replacement teak toe rails, about $200 per section, I could
replace the 2 forward sections, not sure if that would look good.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Peter SV "Silver Sea" B473 #21

thanks

[John White]

I have had a lot of trouble with splitting of the teak toe rail in the region of the cleats on our B473.  In the four years that Rafiki has been in charter, we have had to replace the toe rail under every cleat.  I think this is a design weakness arising from mounting the cleat on top of the toe rail so any lateral strain on the cleat mounting will act to split the wood.  I think that the suggestion of your yard to fabricate a metal bed for the cleat is sound and I would be interested in trying it on Rafiki.On 3/5/06.


            John.

[Neil Flynn]

Hey there John, Cap, and Peter

 

I've had the same teak splitting problem with Kanaloa, and I initially thought the same thing.

 

Closer analysis revealed that the teak splitting was caused by expansion of the aluminum spacers that raise the cleats to toe rail level. The spacers expanded due to corrosion. The corrosion was the result of electrolysis between the aluminum spacer and the stainless steel cleat stud. I've had to replace 4 of the 6 toe rails that had cleats in them. I recommend you replace the spacers on all of your teak mounted cleats. Seems like it takes 4-5 years for the symptoms to appear.

 

I replaced ALL of the aluminum spacers with Starboard. I took a hole saw to a thick sheet of the stuff. It doesn't compress and is electrically inert.

 

The mid-ship teak panels were a simple screw-on replacement. The Bow panels required moving the cleats forward about 6 inches. It seems Beneteau moved the cleat positions sometime during the production run.

 

I happen to have some new toe rail teak rails if anyone in South Florida is interested ....

 

You would think Beneteau would know better than to put aluminum and stainless together.

 

Neil Flynn
B473 "Kanaloa", Hull #11
Dinner Key Marina
Coconut Grove, Miami 33133
neil...@hotmail.com

[John White]

Thanks for your interesting comments Neil.  What is "Starbord" and where is it obtained?

 

John

B473 #53

 

[Ivars]

"Starboard" is a synthetic / plastic product that comes in 4 x 8 sheets in various thicknesses and colors.  The marine industry uses it as an alternative to wood in cabinetry etc.   It  is sold by specialty suppliers.  I have seen it at West Marine in smaller cut pieces. 

[Dl...@aol.com]

In a message dated 08/03/2006 05:06:47 GMT Standard Time, neil...@hotmail.com writes:

You would think Beneteau would know better than to put aluminum and stainless together.

 

Neil Flynn

well, hardly - since this has been a problem for aeons - found on every boat i have ever looked at up to and including Swans.  However it does seem strange that they used alloy spacers without taking any preventative measures though - or used a stainless steel spacer - but then again is the cleat not alloy also - so fix one problem find the next one.

 

your synthetic fix sounds sensible

 

regards

 

David

[Peter Binda]

Neil

Thanks for the info, today I went to Silver Sea and removed the starboard
forward cleat, not easy
getting it off, the corrosion was the culpert, splitting the teak apart. Why
did you move the
forward cleats and where did you get the Starboard? Do the teak toe rails
come predrilled?
I placed an order today for replacement toe rails, of course they are not in
stock. Did you do
the toe rail replacement yourself. Hopefully it will look OK since I am only
replacing the forward
section. Not having problems with the other cleats. I'll let you know how
things turn out.

Thanks

Peter S/V Silver Sea B473 #21

> John.
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[Neil Flynn]

Peter -

Had to move the bow cleats forward since the replacement teak toe rail comes
pre-drilled. The rail mounting holes aligned perfectly, but the cleat holes
did not.

The boat looks a little strange now with 3 different variations of teak toe
rail. (Grain and color are not exact matches).

Scrap Starboard was obtained through "Sailorman" in Ft. Lauderdale, a great
marine surplus/consignment store.

Use polysulfide to seal the new toe rail. I used black "Silkaflex" for the
trim.

Good luck.

Neil

[Peter Binda]

Neil, how strange?

[Neil Flynn]

Peter -

The toe rail looks very strange.

I removed all Cetol from the non-damaged toe rail with a heat gun. Now I'm
waiting for all of the teak to turn grey. I then plan to clean and oil the
whole rail to see what it looks like. I'll varnish it if it still looks
strange.

Neil

Neil Flynn
B473 "Kanaloa"
hull # 11

Dinner Key Marina
Coconut Grove, Miami 33133

954-303-0570

[Bruce Byrnes]

We are starting to plan our summer cruise and intend
to sail out to Block Island for the first time. Based
on some cruising guides, it sounds like anchoring in
Great Salt Pond can be difficult due to the poor
holding ground and depth.

Can anyone with actual experience anchoring at Block
Island suggest the best type of anchor to use?

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