Inside roof grab rails

[Lawrence]

Want to put inside ceiling grab rails in my 22 has anyone done this and where did you find them?

[CAVU]

Lawrence,
I just started the installation of mine. I picked them up at the factory. I got the two pieces the long one for the port side and a short one over the Wallas. They are very spendy, $180. I am also going to reduce the size of my overhead shelf and bought a very small piece of teak to trim the front edge and it was $20. I think the installation will be straight forward. The outside rail on my 2002 had threads tapped into the short vertical sections: 5/16-18 threads, and the interior grab rail had short tabs welded to it for the bolts to go through. I simply removed the old flat-head machine screws and switched them out for regular bolts so the heads would bear solidly against the tabs. Good luck.

[Pat Anderson]

Patty here. We bought ours from Brooks Marine Fabrication in Anacortes, WA.

[Captains Cat]

Here you go Lawrence, I got mine at Brooks Marine too. They are a perfect fit and very handy.

Brooks Marine Fabrication
Steph Brooks
Ph/Fax 360-299-2956 or 800-723-0401

903 33rd St. P.0. Box 1262
Anacortes , WA 98221

Charlie

[New Hampshire Guy]

Otherwise the closest C-Dory dealer should be able to get them too.

[Mason C. Bailey]

I got mine direct from the factory that makes the stainless rails for the C-Dory. Contact information is below.

Bruce Bolton

Bolton Stainless Our fax # 250 545 6244
Phone # 250 545 6226
8176 Highway 97
Vernon, BC V1B3W6

I believe I spent ~$450, but that included the roof cargo rack as well.

Craig on McNaughty

[Moxieabs]

Take a look at the Widget album for a cheap way with stock handles from C-dory.

[westward]

The person who sold us our Dory had installed heavy-duty blue nylon strapping, similar in size to nylon ratcheting hold-down material. He used finish washers and the underside of the screws that attach the teak grab rail to the top of the cabin house. He simply looped the strap material down in between screw attachment points to form handholds. The straps are very strong(pull-up bars for the kids sometimes) and don't hurt your head when you brush against them. This may not work as well with the newer stainless top rails, because they may not have as many underside attachements as the older teak top rails. But this is definitely less expensive and maybe more effective for those who can use this system. Good wishes to all! Mike on Westward.

[C-WEED]

Teak is another option. Check West Marine catalog for examples and find them a bit cheaper someplace else maybe. They have one, two or three rung rails. Kind of like the old teak hand holds on the cabin roof. You might be able to match the screw holes with the cabin roof hand holds and just go with longer screws.

[Little Catelyn]

Hmmm, I've ordered my new boat without the cabin-top rails installed so that I can have a 'clean canvas' to mount some teak handrails on top -- gotta love that teak. I'll also be looking into installing inside handrails down the road. "Teak?" you ask. You betya -- or however you spell it.

Anyway, I have wondered how the outside and inside handrails will bolt together. I would think countersunk screw holes drilled all the way through the inside handrail at the mounting points might weaken it too much. Then I found these http://www.teakflex.com/hand.html. Hey, they might work pretty good -- or maybe trying to line-up all those little stand-offs so the bar still lays in the groove would get a little dicey.

Corwin

[Pat Anderson]

When I click on your link, it says "File not found on this server..." Bad link or did the company go out of business or something?

[Sea Wolf]

Little Catelyn / Corwin

I'm with you on the teak rails, in fact, I still like the teak wood grained Decagard door and interior panels much better than the white plastic version of Decagard they've used for the last 15 years or so. Maybe they should offer the teak rails and interior as a upgrade/option on new boats?

I'm speculating, but I think they converted to stainless rails and white interior to both make long term maintainence easier and to speed assembly in the factory as there are less posts with the stainless rails and the white panels don't have to be cut out of the original panels in such a way as to have the wood grain match on the cabinetry. Also, the larger diameter wood rails offer a much firmer grip to your hands than the tiny 1' tubes.

As long as we're discussing handrails, some folks have added extra ones on the boat to get a better grip when entering and exiting the boat and going up to the bow.

Red Fox has added some short teak rails on the forward cabin trunk along side of the hatch for the difficult transition in rough seas from along side the cabin roof to the bow pulpit area.

Yellowstone John added a second set of handrails on the cabin roof close to the edge for some additional safety grip as well as help store his boarding ramp.

Here's another handrail addition:

Getting into the boat from a dock with the stock set up ordinarily requires steping from the dock to the gunnel, then turning around and steping down backward onto the built-in step on the side of the hull, then onto the the hull floor, all the while holding onto the handrail at the side of the cabin and switching hands, very difficult to do while carrying things onboard.

I added a two-step plastic stool and a single horizontally mounted handle on either side of the rear facing lamp on the back of the cabin just below the roof and above the door to assist in getting in and out of the boat, as this set up allows you to step directly off the dock, over the gunnel, and onto the stool and directly into the cockpit. No hand switching or turning around required. The rails are about $15 each, and the stool about $8.

Those two handrails and the plastic Cosco two-step stool are more useful than some of the $500 additions I've made to the boat and save my knees and back a lot of grief and, at the same time, make boating more fun and allow for longer stays on the water. The stool also works as a make-shift seat once underway.

I also added a couple of smaller handholds (about $10 each) on the transom and in the engine well to assist in getting back into the boat when using the emergency fold down ladder at the port side of the transom. Sometimes the most valuable boat additions are the simplest and cheapest!!! Joe.

[Redƒox]

[Little Catelyn]

Pat,

Sorry about that link. teakflex.com should work. I had the page for their adjustable handrail on another window, copied the address from the address bar and pasted it onto my last post -- first time I tried anything like that. I like how some people have left links where the address doesn't show, but have a word like 'here' where 'here' is a label for the link. Boy, and to think that I used to write computer programs for a living years ago! But that was Unix not Windows -- too much crud going on with Windows, or most any Microsoft product as far as I am concerned. I like software where the bells and whistles are added AFTER the application works correctly.

Sea Wolf,

I'm with you on the interior teak option. It seems a waste to have the factory build cabinets only to rip them out for teak ones. However, one of the things that attracted me to the C-Dory (after its salty appearance, fuel efficiency, size, etc.) is the fact that it comes from the factory outfitted in a clean and simple fashion. As their literature points out, the cabinets are installed such that they will be easy to remove for repair or modification. While the teak option would be great, production might be slower and more costly if they offered too many options. And, if the boats came from the factory with more stuff -- like some kind of fabric lining on the inside -- we might just leave it and not make all those personal modifications. Heck, it would be like all the other boats on the market. No, as it stands the boats are great as-is for some owners, while others may consider it a good starting point for a work-in-progress.

Red Fox,

And speaking of a work-in-progress, Wow! I guess this stuff never ends! After I ever take delivery, I'll be playing catch-up.

Corwin

[Redƒox]

Thank you Someone once so eloquently stated: A C-Dory is like an "emty cavas" just-a-waitin' to be painted
Me to, I was drawn to the simplicity of these fine craft as well. After almost a decade-strait of mods' it's still a simple craft You know all the systems if you do'em yourself