1985 OUTRAGE 18 Railings, Cover, San Francisco Bay Area

[Liemitout]

Hello. Please give me the name of a local shop in the San Francisco Bay area that can sell and install new railings on a 1985 OUTRAGE 18.

Also give information about buying a cover for a 1985 OUTRAGE 18 with a T-Top.

Back story: I purchased a 1985 Outrage 18 with a T-Top in 2019. The last owner was a diver so he removed all the railings. I want to install new railings. I live in San Francisco bay area. [The 1985 OUTRAGE 18 boat has] an old cover with large tear due to the T-top. The T-top can fold forward for storage and transportation. When down the T-top can cause damage to the boat if not tied down with padding. I have decided to just leave the T-top up. Now I need a new cover. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[Deleted a survey question directed to all Boston Whaler boat owners. Please do not ask questions which seek to conduct a survey of all Boston Whaler boat owners.--jimh]

[biggiefl]

A cover [for a 1985 OUTRAGE 18] can be fixed or bought from many vendors custom fit, but not with T-top however. Cover can be altered to fit the top as well.

Which rails are you looking for? Bow? Stern?

[jimh]

There was never a factory option for a T-Top on a c.1985 Boston Whaler OUTRAGE 18 boat, so any T-Top on your boat was probably fit by some prior owner using either an off-the-shelf product or something custom made.

T-Tops are effective at creating shade on a boat when the sun is directly overhead, and are popular in areas of low latitude where the sun is generally at very high elevation.

T-Tops create considerable aerodynamic drag and their mounting points exert considerable force onto the attachment points at the hull. Unless properly engineering to withstand the turning moment forces from the wind load on the T-Top, the attachments points can fail.

T-Tops create a problem for a boat cover. Since there were no OEM T-Tops for an OUTRAGE 18, there is not a standard cover pattern that fits an OUTRAGE 18 with a T-Top due to the custom nature of each installation.

[jimh]

The farther you are located from Edgewater, Florida, the more scarcity in finding used OEM railings for older Boston Whaler boats.

[Liemitout]

I am looking [for] an OEM-style railing for the bow and stern. I understand that it will be difficult for me to find OEM railings. I have seen some online sites that have railing for sale but they are for 17-foot and smaller boats.

The previous owner had the Fishmaster folding T-Top installed on the boat. It looks like I will have to purchase a universal T-Top cover. Thank you for the response.

[Jefecinco]

For the long term you will probably be happier with buying a locally fabricated cover for your Outrage. This will allow you to choose any options to make your cover more convenient to use such as the locations of tie-down loops and how far below the rub rail you want the cover's bottom hem to extend and the location of any extra padding at wear points. A locally fabricated bow rail would also be preferable and less costly than an OEM rail if you can find one. Custom also allows you to make choices to make the rail more useful.

[biggiefl]

The stern rails are pretty generic and any marine surplus store or e-bay would probably have something that would suit.