Side rail?

[jzumi]

My 2520 has a nice bow rail but it ends at the pilot house and this leaves the rear deck with no grab rail along the gunnel.

Please pardon me if I missed picking this up on my search of this site, but what insights do you have about installing a rail on the gunnel starting about 2 feet aft of the pilot house and running to almost the stern?

One big issue is to place the rail so that it runs directly above the inner edge of the gunnel to keep it out of the way of the rod holders and the down rigger. You could place the bases in the middle of the gunnel and have them angle inboard so the tee is at the gunnel edge. Or, you could mount bases on the vertical face of the gunnel and go straight upwards. Which would be better?

Lastly, is this something I should have custom fabricated or should I consider piecing it together with DIY parts? What would I be getting myself into?

I appreciate any thoughts you might have. I'm hoping other owners have some great ideas on this.

John

 

[miky2884]

I for one would not want a rail all the way around the cockpit of the boat but thats just me. Unless possibly you are using the boat for charters.

If you are planning on doing this I would not piece it together this is something you need to have fabricated no doubt.

 

[macomber]

If its just for something to grab onto while your under way. Consider these.

http://www.bjs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/se ... =118222132

Suction cup grab rail. They come in different lengths. I bought a set at Lowes yesterday for the tub for my wife who is having shoulder surgery next week. I put one on the tub and thought "this would be great on the boat!" There was no pulling it off once on. They can be moved around to any flat ,smooth surface for cleaning etc. Best of all, they are inexpensive. Not the prettiest thing but will do the job. I will be giving them a try this season

 

[RumRunner]

Look for Megabyte's post on Jan 21 in Introduce Yourself.