Port railing for 1985 43MY.

[IslandGirl43]

Received lots of damage to the port side during Ian. I need to either repair or replace the port railing and the port wing door and structure. Not sure if I should be looking in salvage yards for used parts or looking to fabricate new. Looking for advice or if anyone knows where I might find parts. Thanks

[rob71]

Yes there are salvage yards, I know of 4 in Fl.
But you are only going to find raw materials and parts.
Fabrication from scratch is the best bet. I rebuilt wing door frames and window enclosures on my older 43 DCMY.
At least you have a pattern to copy from the good side.
Finding someone with the skills will be a challenge !

[Retired1]

Please share their locations for us who have never seen one. I know plenty of places where boats go to die, but know none that one can pick parts. Marine Liquidators in Fort Pierce has a huge selection of eclectic parts, but I would love to see a actual salvage yard. Thanks.

[cww]

This is a common thing, people hit docks and pilings all the time, any good marina's carpentry shop can remake you the missing section of railing. I don't know that you're going to find a marine version of a pick-a-part lot where you can just buy one part off a boat. Marine salvage yards do exist, but they don't operate like that. They mostly do insurance salvage which requires them to either sell the whole boat or nothing to the highest bidder. I've never heard of one that has like 1,000 boats and you can pick them over for parts. Although if there was one I'd be there tomorrow, I don't think it exists.

[rob71]

The largest yard I know of is Don’s Salvage on Fl west coast near Clearwater.
They part out the boats and have acres of parts. Some stuff outside and several buildings.
It’s semi organized with plumbing, electric, appliances and furniture etc. in the same areas.
Ft. Lauderdale has Sailorman’s .

[IslandGirl43]

Thanks for the responses. I’ll definitely do some checking in Clearwater and Ft Lauderdale and figure out what I can find and what I need to fabricate. In the meantime lots of fiberglass repair to get started on.

[cww]

The largest yard I know of is Don’s Salvage on Fl west coast near Clearwater.
They part out the boats and have acres of parts. Some stuff outside and several buildings.
It’s semi organized with plumbing, electric, appliances and furniture etc. in the same areas.
Ft. Lauderdale has Sailorman’s .

Sailorman is freaking awesome, but whenever I've been there it's usually pretty obvious they buy leftovers or slightly used closeouts from other marine stores and marinas, I've never seen a section of sailorman where I can go and get an exact piece of missing railing for a specific boat. They have cool stuff, I missed out on a pair of brand spanking new Stidd helm chairs they got from somewhere, that I wanted for my boat. They were only asking $3k, but I was an idiot and wanted to think about it so I went to lunch and came back. Yep, gone. Still kicking myself over that one. Don's salvage sounds awesome and I will check that out next time I'm down there.