The rub rail runs along the length of the boat from stem to stern on the outside of the planking and along with the inner shear, sandwiches the planking to make a nice sturdy rail.
I was hesitant to dive into this part of the job because the rail was a fairly stiff piece of wood. It not only needed to follow the curve of the boat but also had to start high at the bow then dip to the middle and then curve back up again to the stern. However, with enough clamps, anything can be done!
I made a test fit by clamping the rails to the boat then I marked the ends for cuts plus made an alignment mark in the middle so I could easily duplicate the placement again. Once my cuts were made I roughed up the area where it would glue to the hull and applied a layer of epoxy and clamped
it up again.
Once it was back in place with glue I drilled a pilot hole every six inches and put a slight countersink on each hole. Then I screwed through to the planking and inner shear for a nice tight fit. The next day I mixed up another batch of epoxy with cedar wood flour until it was the consistency of peanut butter (but looked more like Fig Newton filling) and filled all the holes flush with the rail.
I also added a bronze bow eye for the painter line by drilling through the stem and bolting it on from the back side. Check it out below.
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