Most of our boats have mahogany rails at the back, capped with a stainless steel rub rail; today I began the process of stripping these and refinishing/repairing them as needed. They appear dry (they ought to be after a long cold winter with the boat wrapped up in its breathable winter cover) Mostly they are in good shape, but the forward end of the starboard one is shedding some of its paint, and some of the holes for screws that attach the stainless pieces are clearly loose, so some work is in order.

The plan so far is to mask them off (all the surrounding paint is in good shape) and wood down the areas which require repairing, fill and fair as needed (I don't think I need to replace any wood from what I've seen so far) and then repaint the areas. I'm also going to fill the screw holes and re-drill them. The stainless parts just need a good cleanup and one has two holes where it ought to have only one, so I'll get the local metalworking shop to fill that and then grind it flush and polish it a bit.

I'm interested to hear any details of repairs done in this area by other owners. One of the things I noticed is that despite all the mounting screws for the stainless rail being SS, several of them rusted right below the head. Evidently enough moisture and not enough oxygen was present that they could in fact rust. I haven't decided what to put back in there; Sams do have Monel screws, possibly even in the right size, and McMaster have 316 stainless screws, although not with the square-drive Robertson head we all know and love.

I'm also mulling over what to use in the way of epoxy for this repair. Ordinarily I use West system for everything, with whatever additives it needs, but this area gets a fair amount of impact sometimes and I am wondering if FlexPoxy would be better. It cures up but still has a little give to it when it's cured- has anyone used it in this application?

These were last off when she was painted probably 15-16 years ago by Aircraft Refinishers in Cambridge, MD. Says something about their work that I'm doing it now, but I probably should have tackled it last year.