This page describes:
- Why I reinforced my two piece stern rail.
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The two piece stern rail from Catalina Direct had a tendency to wobble
whenever pressure was applied to it. I had attached life lines to it which ran all the way around the boat. Whenever someone would put their weight on a lifeline, it would pull the stern rails inward. That was not acceptable to me. I needed to make them much more rigid. Something akin to a one piece stern rail but without welding them together.
- Where it is installed
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I added an eye bolt to each aft corner of the C22. They are as far outboard and as far aft as possible
- Where I purchased the materials needed
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The stainless cable, nicco sleeves and stainless eye came from SailNet. They were extra material I had left over when I replaced my shrouds and stays.
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The stainless eye bolts, nuts and fender washers were bought at West Marine.
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The turnbuckles were the originals from my shrouds which I later upgraded to the open body style.
- How I did it
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I drilled the mounting holes for the 1/4 inch eye bolts oversize to one half inch. Then I filled the holes with epoxy. After the epoxy cured, I re-drilled the holes to 1/4 inch. Then I installed the eye bolts with fender washers for added strength.
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The upper corners of the the stern rail have attachment points for life line attachment. To the rail's "stanchion" post which is mounted to the stern and outboard of the boat's traveler bar, I ran a stainless cable around and through the life line attachment point. To the other end of the cable I attached a turnbuckle. The other end of the turn buckle was then attached to the eye bolt.
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I attached a life line to the forward part of the rail and leading forward towards the bow and I attached another life line to the aft part of the rail which ran across the stern to the other stern rail. With all life lines tightened up, I then tensioned the turnbuckles on these reinforcements. That holds the stern rail from collapsing inward. The tension on the lifelines prevent the stern rail from collapsing outward.
- Important Notice!
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In order for this system to have maximum strength and safety, a lifeline needs to be connected between the two stern rails. And lifelines also need to run forward. The forward running lifelines could either run all the way to the bow or terminate someplace at the deck forward of the stern rail. And these lines all need to be tensioned against each other. Any slop could lead to potential failure.
- Pictures of the final installation:
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