We actually call the cabinside thin strips the "eyebrows" (rather than the ones at the aft end in the cockpit - never had a name for those).

You've kinda answered your own question. What you can do when you remove the wood is pretty limited:

1. one of our skippers put in the smallest screws he could find with finishing washers - he says they visually disappear

2. another finished with compounding and gelcoat and made them look like they were never there (I don't understand your "insert" comment because when you remove the wood it's just a flush cabinside)

3. another used tape - but his was red!:)

We, OTOH, like ours and have decided to keep them.

Greig,

I removed mine on my 1988 MKI, it eliminates the labor of varnishing these and I think it give the boat a more modern look with the eyebrows removed.

I too do not understand you comment about the inset, there is a bit of a moulded edge to the contour of the coach roof just above the eyebrow but, no indentation that I am aware of.

I had purchased some stainless steel tape that I was going to put on in place of the eyebrow but, after I removed the trim and cleaned it up I like the look better with no trim. I used a white two part epoxy to fill the screw holes and I am pleased with the result, not perefect but you need to look pretty close to detect it. The largest problem was cleaning the area after removing the eyebrow as it had years of scmutz and old varnish around the edge. I was able to get it fairly clean but there were areas that had streaks of varinsh stuck to the areas next to the removed trim piece. Varnish gets crispy in the sun, so I have used patience as much as elbow grease, I cleaned the area as best I could, then waxed the area, I let nature take its course with the remaining bits of varnish that remained and every time I wash the boat a bit more of it flakes off after about six months you could not see where the strip had been.

The eyebrow gives a more classic look to the boat, I again think it looks more modern without it and I would much rather sail than varnish.

The eyebrow on the port side was damaged in Hurricane Charly so I removed both of them and replaced them with 1/2 round stainless steel of the same size as the teak ones.

On our 28 we pulled the teak eyebrows off, filled the screw holes with epoxy and then put a 1" navy blue tape stripe over where they used to be. It looked great and eliminated a concern I had over water getting into core through all those little stripped out screw holes.

A previous owner had removed the teak strips and placed some blue striping tape over the holes. It looked ok for a couple of years, until the tape began failing, revealing the holes underneath, which had not been filled.

Not only did it look bad, but I did not like the idea of moisture incursion through the holes. I removed the tape (using a hair dryer), and filled the holes with small screws and finish washers, with a little sealant (not epoxy)on each screw. I had to special order the screws and washers from West Marine, because they didn't stock them. I got this idea from another C36 or C34 owner who posted something on the C36 or C34 site, and who specified the size of hardware to use.

It looks great, and gives the boat a clean and modern look.

--Nelson

Greig:

I'll take a photo this weekend and send it to you. I'll see if I can find the size of the hardware, too, but I think it was as you described.

Are you in the Canadian Gulf Islands? Never sailed there, but spent a week on Galiano Island (Montague Harbor), and loved it.

--Nelson

Very timely post, I was examining mine just today. Other than being a PITA to varnish, after 20 years mine are also beginning to rot a bit along the top edge where moisture apparently collects so there's a question if they can ever be made to look really nice. I'm putting on my thinking cap and you folks have given me a great start. Nelson, I'd love to see how the "screw/cup washer solution" looks. Can you either post a pic or send me one too? Not sure if you can do it through a PM, but my email is [email]Homewest@socal.rr.com[/email] if you get a chance. I will forward beer. ;-)

Mike

Attached are a few photos showing the boat with the screws and washers installed. The screws and finish washers are #4 size. West Marine had the screws in stock, but had to order the finish washers. There are a lot of them, so bring your cordless drill with a bit. I put some silicone sealant on each screw.

Overall, from 15 feet, you can hardly see them. Up close, they look good, and almost like they belong there. It makes polishing that area of the coach roof very easy. I'd recommend this fix.

--Nelson Lee

A hole filled with a screw is still a potential source of water intrusion into the core, personally, I would fill those holes with epoxy and either gelcoat it or use a tape stripe over the works. Tape stripes are cheap, last a long time if you buy good stuff and are relatively easy to apply and change when a makeover is required.

I was just reminded yesterday about water intrusion and what it can do. Sad tale follows, get kleenex.

Admin: Because of its importance, we have moved the main part of this post to a new thread "Moisture in deck". Apologies for any inconvenience.

Has anyone found a source for an exact replacement?
Gary

Thanks for the pics Nelson, and thanks to Catalina for spacing the original screws so nicely.:) This looks pretty good.

Mike