If you aren’t successful in finding a used one, it’s not difficult to get
one fabricated. I put a stern rail on my old C&C 25 for $100 to $200.
First, take a look at some other boats and decide what you want. A single
rail is easier to do. Usually, you have stainless steel pipe that rises about
24 inches vertically on one side of the cockpit, then bends to a horizontal
position and curves around the stern before ending with another two-foot,
vertical drop on the other side. Along the stern, there usually are two pipes
that run vertically from T fittings on the rail to bases installed on the deck.
Buy some cheap metal conduit at Home Depot and take it to your boat. Bend
it to roughly how you want the stern pulpit to look.
I decided to use 7/8 stainless steel for the rail. I went to the local
chandlery and bought all of the hardware I needed, like rail bases and the T
fittings. Then go to a metal fabricating shop and have them duplicate the model
you made in conduit. It shouldn’t be more than $50 to $100 for the pipe and
work. Make sure you place the T fittings on the pipe before the guy bends it.
Otherwise, you won’t get them on.
The fabrication guy does not have to make a perfect model. Believe it or
not, the pipe can be bent with a little help from Archimedes. (Lodge the end of
the pipe somewhere and push or pull until it is shaped exactly as you want.)
Install the bases, making sure you overdrill the holes, fill them with
epoxy and then drill smaller holes that fit your bolts. This way, water seepage
won’t rot the deck core. Bend and maneuver the pipe until it fits into the two
outside bases. Once you’ve done that, it’s a matter of bolting together the
rest of the parts.
