All-around grab handle before all-around maintenance?

Again there has been a blip in Roach’s schedule of improvements and just general maintenance. Family commitments have meant that I have had to halt any work on her for the time being. But here is at least an idea of something that I have started and that that I am thinking of making an all-around grab handle that will go on the inside of the toe rail. Athena, a cousin ship to Roach has such grab handle and they really work well on flush-decked yachts. Not only is it a last resort if one slips on those rather shiny decks, but they are handy for tying springs and fenders too; not to mention a flogging foresail.

So in this picture you can see the nice plank of Iroko I intend to fashion the handrail out of. I will also make some little oblong wooden pyramids that the handrail will sit on. At present it looks like I will need to laminate the handle in two. I would steam it, but Iroko has a nasty habit of splitting. All varnish up in Skipper’s Varnish, the whole thing will look a treat.