GB Europa Aft Railing

Good Morning -

I am looking for advice / knowledge on how the aft SS railing of the GB Europa comes apart. i am trying to remove it for a proper varnish job on the wood railing. Since the Port and Starboard vertical corners go all the way to the overhead we know they contain drains from the overhead platform so I am assuming there must be a couple of fittings that prevent water from getting on to the wood. if necessary I can provide photos of what I am referring to here but I would think some folks know what I am talking about on this model Europa. She is a 2008 47 foot model.
Thanks
Bob

GB Europa Aft SS Railing

All -

I went down to boat today and took some pictures of the vertical SS railing I am referring to in previous message. Sometimes photos help.

Thanks,
Bob

IMHO, it seems like a lot of work to remove the whole railing. I'd just tape the bases off and go from there.

Steve1.0 said:

IMHO, it seems like a lot of work to remove the whole railing. I'd just tape the bases off and go from there.

Click to expand...

+1.

GB Europa Aft SS Railing

Comodave and Steve1.0 -

I do not disagree with you that it is extra work but taking off all of the other rails was a total of about 4 hours by myself. The varnish folks state that the water gets into the edge next to the stanchion foot and therefore under the varnish. On this particular boat the rails are in great shape but some water intrusion has started taken place next to the stanchion feet causing the varnish to start peeling back.

So today I cut a couple of 2 X 4s (83" long) to place close to each vertical SS pipe and after taking the screws out of the entire stanchion was able to get about 1/8" separation. I could then easily slip a putty knife above both the top flange and below the lower flange on teak railing. What i discovered is that there is a metal pipe inside the outer SS stanchion pipe that holds the water. This makes sense because you would not want water hitting the lower teak railing - could never get varnish to hold there. The mystery is how did they assemble the SS stanchion with the teak rail. I believe they must have put the SS railing in place prior to putting the teak wood railing on in the aft area. The inside pipe is definitely longer than the outside pipe.

Bottom line is that the vertical SS pipe is not coming off but we can rotate all of the SS rail on each side to strip and varnish properly. Just glad we did not use too much force prior to polking around with the putty knife.

Bob

GB 47 Aft SS Railing

All -

Well as mentioned above we have rotated the aft railing CCW around the water pipe in the corner. Photos show this:

Nicely done!

GB Europa SS Railing

All -

One comment on the GB folks in Malaysia. They are extremely helpful when an owner is trying to figure out a situation on their boat. Every time I have asked for assistance they either provide the drawing that shows the design or refer one to the vendor that supplies the parts. I have been impressed with their responsiveness. Attached is the drawing for the SS Railing on the GB 47 Europa.

Thanks,
Bob

Steve1.0 said:

Nicely done!

Click to expand...

GB Aft Rail Removed

Hi All -

Well guess what - The aft rail does come off with a little jacking of overhead (about 1/4" to 3/8"). It turns out the upper fixture is pretty short and the lower one is longer. They have now been cleaned up and are ready to be re-bed on the newly varnished teak rails. See Photos attached.
Thanks,
Bob