Putting Aluminum Gunwales on a Spark

(Tired of refinishing and/or replacing the wood?)

Materials:

  • 24 ft 3/4" square x .065" wall square aluminum tubing
  • 24 ft 1/2" x .065" wall square aluminum tubing.
  • #10 x 1.5" stainless steel sheet metal screws.  I used countersunk Philips drive for most, and hex-head screws for the last 3 ft of the back deck.
 Side view

Procedure:

All he aluminum must be bent to match the original contour, so I  did that before I removed the old gunwales and thwarts.
I clamped the bent 3/4" square to the inside of the hull, matching the top edges.  I used the original screw holes in the hull to drill (#30 bit, I think) through one side of the tubing. The original holes in my hull were at 6" intervals.  Once the holes were drilled in one side, I removed the tubing and drilled through the other side.

 Right front