Hi folks - a friend of mine owns a J/30 with teak toerails. Through-deck leaks have forced him (and now me, Heaven help me) to attempt the removal of the toerails and the effecting of repairs to the hull to deck joint. Apart from the always-to-be-expected pain of trying to remove old 5200, we're encountering terrible frustration removing the old adhesive from the joint because of its curved shape and hidden areas of contact.

Can anyone suggest any special techniques, tools or prayers to help us get through this? It the worst job I've ever undertaken on a boat, bilges included. We can't be the first to attempt this; help!

I removed my old toe rails. I decided to replace them. The question is - do you want to reinstall the same toe rails or put on new ones? I used a very thin guitar string (wire) to cut through the old bedding compound. It was slow progress and I went through quite a few wires before I was through. You have to start at one end of the toe rail and saw your way through. I only removed only one this way. I ended up using a chisel and cutting up the other ones in small pieces to get them off. I made new toe rails with a wood called Ipe. It is suposed to be very durable - and lesss costly than teak. I installed them on my J-30 (hull # 195). Time will tell wether they last 20 years or so like the old ones. I didn't use 5200 to bed them - I may want to take them off again to fix future leaks