INSTALLING TOE RAIL STANCHION BASES ON A GRAMPIAN 26
I am a large person (6' 4") with large feet (size 13) and I found walking down the side of the Grampian 26 a bit of a challenge and have always wished there was more space. Well I found the answer! Holland Marine in Toronto, ON (www.hollandmarine.com) have developed a replacement stanchion base that mounts on the toe rail rather than the deck. (N.B. This only works on the aluminium toe rails, not the wooden ones.) The stanchion bases can be obtained for 7/8" or 1" stanchions. The impact of installing these bases is to provide more walking space on the side of your G26. I only installed 2 on each side but Holland Marine state that most people install three on either side. I found 2 to be sufficient for my needs.
They are simple to install.
Remove the existing bases that are held in places by nuts and bolts through the deck.
Clean the area where the base was. You may find a thin rubber membrane there that needs to be removed.
Fill the holes with epoxy or some filler you are familiar with working with.
Place the holders on the toe rail in the same location as the deck ones you removed.
Drill holes through the bottom of the toe rail and deck corresponding to the holes in the stanchion base.
Place stanchion in the base and you can either drill a hole through the stanchion and upright part of the rail corresponding to the stanchion base or use one of the toe rail spaces and just drill through stanchion corresponding to bolt hole in base.
Seal the holes drilled through the toe rail and deck with epoxy or sealant of choice.
Put bolts through stanchion base, toe rail and deck and place a washer on the bolt before you attach the nut and then tighten both.
Place bolt through upright part of base, the stanchion and rail and tighten bolt into threaded hole on inside of base
You have just added a considerable amount of space to the deck area on either side of your boat