CD 25D grab rails and stanchions

[John #126]

In order to renew the non-skid and deck/cockpit paint this winter, my paint/fiberglass guy is suggesting removing as much of the deck/cabin top hardware as I can.
A few questions:
1. Are the grab rails through-bolted? If so, looks like I will have to remove the grab rails in the cabin to get to the nuts.
2. Why are the bolts for the stanchions, etc. so long? If I need to replace any, can I use a shorter bolt?
3. Has anyone removed/replaced the cockpit coamings? I did, on my Sea Sprite 23, and it was easy off/not so easy on.

Fortunately, he is ok with leaving the forward hatch and portlights in place.
Any suggestions are welcome.

John

[steveg]

Hi John,

The exterior handrails are through bolted. To access the nuts you have to remove the interior handrail which is screwed in place. Anywhere there is balsa core exposed in the holes, it would be wise to drill them a size larger, gouge out the balsa as much as possible, refill with epoxy, then drill holes for the bolts, and rebed the exterior handrails.

No idea why the stanchion bolts are so long. I would shorten them when you replace them if you can.

Having not removed the coming, someone who has may chime in here.

It should not be too bad. Enjoy.

[Ken Textor]

John,

I recent removed the cockpit coamings on my CD 26 (1985), which is almost the identical boat to your CD 25D. In any case, the coamings were bedded with generous amounts of 5200 (or its predecessor), which meant that they did not come away from the gel coat in one piece. In fact, they came away in many pieces. So, unless you are willing to replace the coamings, I would suggest leaving right where they are. I was planning on replacing the coamings anyway, so it wasn't a big problem for me. I also have a lot of woodworking experience on boats, which you will need to tackle the replacement of the coamings. It's not as simple as it looks. Good luck,

Ken

[Frenchy]

John, I had a different experience on the coamings. They came off fairly easily. The caulk was probably something like
life caulk and by prying carefully, I was able to get everything off in one piece. If your boat is like mine, you'll have to
unbolt the forward ends from inside the cabin. I would try carefully prying the wood away and if it looks like the bond
is very strong, etiher give up or if you're very determined, try a heat gun or de-bond on the 5200. Good luck. I can
say that refinishing the wood is a lot easier off the boat. - Jean

[barfwinkle]

GM All

My take on the long bolts/screws was economy of manufacture. They only had to buy "one" size bolt for many applications.

JMTCW.

Fair Winds and Happy Hollidays

[John #126]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided to try removing the short piece of coaming adjacent to the traveler. Figured if it came off easily I would proceed. And it did.
It seemed to be bedded with Dolfinite or something like that.
And of the five screws, there were three different diameters/lengths. So much for standardized fasteners.
John

[spiritforadventure]

I have a video on youtube on how to remove the grab rails. I have been posting videos of my 25d restoration for a while, but have not posted in a while.

go to youtube and type into the search thespiritforadventure somewhere in there is a video of this. really easy to do just need 2 people.

-Kevin.

[steveg]

Hey Kevin,

It was not too difficult to remove the exterior hand rail without help. You just put one arm out the porthole to hold the screwdriver and the other inside on the socket wrench to remove the nut. Easier than removing the packing from the packing nut on the propeller shaft which involves getting into the seat locker and reaching into the engine area thru the access panel. Just one mans opinion.