Grassrails

[Terry Desilets]

I all set to make the grass rails on my boat. I am going with mahogany 4/4. What do you think is the best clearance for the slots? I'm thinking 3/8" by 8" long, 1" between slots. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

 

[Huntindave McCann]

Terry,

I went with 12" spacing for the mounting fasteners. Two inch long foot area for the mount locations which leaves a 10" space for the grass cutout. I made my cut out 3/4" high and am happy with it. Sure it takes a bit more grass to stuff it tight but I find I like the bulk and fullness of the finished look.

I used a corner rounding bit to ease all edges except where the rail mounting feet meet the hull. The grass will pull in much easier than if you leave the edges square.

 

[Dave Diefenderfer]

Terry, I think I would split the difference between your initial thoughts and Dave's suggestion..... couple of thoughts... I would go with the 2" mounting points, but use no more than a 1/2" space. 2 thoughts on this space....1, don't want a space large enough for a dogs foot/toe to go under when they are entering or leaving the boat... and the bigger the space, the more grass it takes to stay in place. For this second reason, perhaps mount every foot, but make a series of scallops in between each mounting point so that 3 bundles of grass would be placed rather than 1 long area to stuff? I have not done this myself, just thinking about the grassing straps on my dodger, and how they work.

 

[gcs]

On the boat I had that had grass rails, I believe the gap was 3/8", frankly, I find grass rails a pain in the neck. Takes a while to stuff them tight, and a pain to put more in when it starts breaking off and falling out, and while a lot of grass looks pretty, it gets heavy when it absorbs water. If your motor is just marginally big enough, it will slow you down.

My solution was 1/4" bungee cord with a cable clip about every 16", easy and fast to stuff, and easy to add more or different grass or vegetation.
If the white of the bungee cord freaks you out, dye it or dip in net coat.

 

[Chris S.]

I didn't make my grass rails for my sneakbox refurb. I had Boat Builder Bill Simonsen make them for me. He uses 1 inch mahogany the space between the cut out is 3inch and the cut out is 4inch and the opening is 1/2inch high. They look good and he has been using that pattern for 20+ years. The only change I would make would be a 2inch space between the cut outs rather then 3. I wouldn't make the cut out any bigger then 4inch it will take a lot of grass to fill. Both dave and dave made great points. Hope it all helps. Also where are the pictures of the boat you are working on? We like pictures. Here are a few pics. Good luck
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[RobertPammett]

I've always thought that "grass rails" should be high enough to get a good grip on if ever one goes overboard on a cold day; but I do see the point of narrow slots being easier to grass. I guess one could rig a rope along the thin opening ones, even with grab loops tied in at intervals.

Cheers,
Bob

 

[Terry Desilets]

Guys:
Thanks for all of the conflicting help! DOH! Really I appreciate it. I'm leaning toward 1/2" clearance with 10" openings and 2" pads. 1 1/2" overall height. I thought about the bungee thingee, I just want something a bit more solid. I have plans to make a dodger and partial cockpit cover with camo cloth. I've stripped out all of the old wood and am in the process of putting in a new transom board and a locking hard cover for the cockpit. First I have to find a jet ski trailer to haul it around with.

Here's the requested pics. It's 12' long, 52" wide. The cockpit is 9' long and about 33" wide. It will be powered with a 9.9hp 2 stroke Mercury.