Regarding the deck seam and toe rail

I know that the Ariel/Commander deck seam is fiberglassed on the inside and sealed by some early variant of 3M 5200, and though occasionally leaky, the seam is structurally sound.

Upon delving into the prospects of painting the topsides and decking, i removed the stainless steel rub rail to reveal the old adhesive, with all its holes, gaps and paint.

http://i1354.photobucket.com/albums/...psq4pslqa4.jpg

What is the course most have taken to paint this area of the boat?

It would seem that the best course would be to cut out as much of the offending caulk, fill with new, prime and then paint. However, I am considering building a wooden rub rail and not sure about screwing a solid wood, probably mahogany, and am not so sure about screwing into 5200...

Page 36 of the ACYA manual has a discussion of repairing the hull to deck joint. A search of hull to deck joint should turn up additional information on the board. Use the Google search method described in the Off Topic forum's "stickies."

man, i thought i checked the ACYA manual... found it. however, my question about screwing a rub rail into the caulked deck seam remains. any opinions one way, or the other?

Fastening the rub rail through the caulked deck seam has been done in the past, and I don't recall seeing any negative comments following the fix.

I think the only variant I have run across is Tim Lackey once tapped the holes and used machine screws. I don't recall the boat he did this on, and, I may have the facts wrong anyway..