J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment replacing companionway rails

Hi,

We own a J-30 on San Francisco Bay (Break Away, #462) and have been association members since 1991.

I recently bought aluminum rails to replace the plastic ones, which are all busted up (apparently not UV resistant) and give an ungodly screech when I slide the hatch door if there's the slightest bit of dirt in the rails.

But...when I tried to remove the lid the hatch door slides under, running a putty knife between the lid and the deck only chipped the gelcoat edges of the lid, so I stopped immediately. It came nowhere near separating the lid from the deck; in fact, this looks like an impossible job using conventional means. Any tips or tricks?

BTW, I attempted to register and got two error messages along with confirmation, so I don't know if I've registered or not. I suspect not, since I didn't get the promised password. Also, I contacted the Webmaster about the errors and just got a bounce reply for that email. This is my circumspect way of requesting email notification of replies even though I may not be registered.

Thanks. I look forward to your timely and knowledgeable replies.

Dale Mead
Break Away
San Francisco Bay

I did remove the hatch a few years ago. It was a job and I did chip some of the gellcoat but it did come off without any serious damage. .

Drew Dowling -Encounter - hull 434

I wonder if heating it gently with a heat gun would help. A thin wall scraper might then be persuaded to fit under the lid. Just a thought!

I removed mine and replaced with new plastic ones that I fabricated out of some UV resistant stock. Removal method was wooden wedges and steady pressure.Some chips of the edge did occur.You may want to try some piano wire tied around a couple of towels to help cut the sealant along with some wedges.

J/Boats still sells the plastic rails. They last 5-7 years.

Tom Donlan
Tiger
#341