Completing the Toe Rail

February 9, 2020

The weekend was marked for significant work to get done on the boat, but life got in the way.  With commitments fulfilled Saturday, I managed to squeak out a few hours on Sunday.  I spent the time completing the fitting of the toe rails, specially two portions of the toe rail on the aft quarters.

Ii selected a couple pieces of teak, and trimmed them to a rough finish shape.  Starting on the starboard side, I set the toe rail to taff quarter piece in position, and marked for further refinement.  Before sanding, I needed to remove a significant amount of material outboard.  I did this with a fine-toothed saw.

After removing the majority of the material, I began working the remaining surplus material with a small sander and by hand, and eventually dialed the small filler piece in.

I then moved over to the port side, and repeated the process of fitting and refining the portion of toe rail.

As I did for the starboard side, I also used the sander and hand-sanding for eventual refinement and fitting of the toe rail section.

The toe rail is now complete around the perimeter of the boat....the remaining issues are of fit and appearance. These remaining items would be addressed today, and in the coming permanent placement of the toe rails.

The bow cap had some gaps that required some attention.  The issue was where the toe rails terminated at the bow cap, and with material already removed, I needed to solve the problem by "adding" teak to the joinery.  In hind site, I would have placed the toe rails first, and then placed the bow cap.  The issues resulted in first placing the bow cap, removing too much material from the joints, and then placing the toe rails.  Templating off already placed toe rails would have ensured that I removed the correct amount of material. 

I should say first off, the amount of the gap is small....but it's too much for ME to bear, so I am addressing it.  

I applied to small portions of 1/4" thick teak to the inboard face of the bow cap toe rail termination joint.  I will no doubt have to fine tune this surface as I place the bow cap AFTER the toe rails are already in place, but this will ensure a tight joint....a better appearance.  Inching closer to completion!

Total Time Today: 3.5 hrs