Marissa and Chris Swap their Toe Rail for a Bulwark
By John Arndt | February 12, 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area | 2
Chris Neely grew up in a sailing family surrounded by small daysailers, as well as his family’s Mason 43 Sea Castle, which was berthed in Berkeley for 28 years. In high school, Chris convinced Marissa to crew for him in the annual High Sierra Regatta on Huntington Lake. They’ve now been together for a decade, got married, and live aboard Avocet, a Cheoy Lee 41 they’ve been refitting. Marissa wrote in about their recent project replacing the toe rail with a bulwark, and we published her story in the February issue of Latitude 38. But as is often the case, there wasn’t enough room to include all the photos Marissa sent us to accompany the story. So we decided to share some of the extra photos with you here.
“After some lengthy research and discussions with boatwrights and naval architects, we have concluded the simplest way to determine the correct technical term; a toe rail is a piece of wood, aluminum, or fiberglass that usually does not exceed three inches tall and is bolted, every few inches, through the deck. Anything bigger, which typically is bolted to the stanchions to support it, will be called a bulwark.”
“We wanted to use teak at first, but our wallets did not agree, so we researched alternative rot-resistant hardwoods. There were many great options like white oak, purple-heart, black acacia and mahogany, but after consulting with a contractor we were pointed in the direction of cumaru, also known as the Brazilian teak.”
“Chris used an accurate combo square, circular saw, Japanese hand saw, sharp chisels, an assortment of drill bits, 316 stainless hardware and marine glue to construct the bulwark plank.”
By reaching the Prada Cup Finals in the waters off Auckland, New Zealand, Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli and INEOS Team UK have arrived on the porch step of the America's Cup Match.
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LUCKY DOGS! Keep working, keep sailing.
aloooha
Jerry Kahana, Maui
Thanks Jeremy!