2500 SE Bow Rail Remove or not Remove

[BassTub]

Has anyone removed their bow rails? I think they look better without them and gets in the way of fishing. What do most do to fill the holes? Put screws back in, gel coat, would rod holders fit?

Thanks in advance.

Chris

 

[grouperjim]

Personal preference of course. On a SE I think the boat is more functional without them. To me, the SE looks better without them. That said I choose function over form every time.

The holes are too close to the lip for rod holders that will match the existing.

The way I do it is to countersink the top of the hole, tape the bottom side of the hole, fill nearly to the top with white Marine Tex. After cure rough up the MarineTex with 400-600 sandpaper. Mix up some of that original Parker beige gelcoat and use a toothpick to fill in the rest of the hole and texture as best you can to match the existing nonskid.

A little wax mixed in with the gelcoat or a little PVA afterwards will keep the tackiness down.

A sunny afternoon job.

 

[sydngoose]

Personal preference of course. On a SE I think the boat is more functional without them. To me, the SE looks better without them. That said I choose function over form every time.

The holes are too close to the lip for rod holders that will match the existing.

The way I do it is to countersink the top of the hole, tape the bottom side of the hole, fill nearly to the top with white Marine Tex. After cure rough up the MarineTex with 400-600 sandpaper. Mix up some of that original Parker beige gelcoat and use a toothpick to fill in the rest of the hole and texture as best you can to match the existing nonskid.

A little wax mixed in with the gelcoat or a little PVA afterwards will keep the tackiness down.

A sunny afternoon job.

concur with Jim. The special edition line up I think of for more inshore: bow mounted trolling motor, throwing a cast net...all would be hampered by the bow rail. I would personally remove it as well. For filling in the holes, sure....use marine tex, etc. Formula 27 (west marine or amazon) also works well. Use gel coat on top of repairs to blend/ fair it in to the periphery.

 

[blfuller123]

Removing the rails was one of the first things I did to mine.

 

[windknotnc]

I took the rail off my 23DVCC the day after I bought it. I filled the holes with thickened gel coat. I need to go back and redo a couple of the holes because some of the plug popped out. We bottom fish a lot and managing an anchor around a bow rail is not reasonable. IMO the bow rail is somewhat dangerous when loading and unloading at the dock. I guess they put them on there to keep folks from falling out.