big gaps in dried out carvel hull

[NLOM1]

I've just taken on a 22ft hull which has been left in the sun and wind for at the last 2 or 3 years. All the ribs seem OK but there are significant see through gaps between the planking especially towards the bow. It would seem that these sections have been previously caulked and sealed with red lead. The small gaps in the mid section and towards the bow have been sealed with a black rubber-looking compound whichhas dried and is falling out. All I have done so far is to scrape off flaking paint and put 2 coats of primer. I next intend to check all copper nail plank fixings and relace all bolts with silicon bronze. Cannot decide best action for sealing hull. I am a cpmplete novice but reckon these are my choices in ascending order....

1. Using screws and flexible compound, fix soft wood battens on the inside. Caulk with cotton and Pur-flex. Might be able to remove battens after hull has taken up?

2. Use a router to take off the bevels on the planks and epoxy glue softwood splines into the gaps?

3. Sink her for six weeks and re-assess ?

Any comments much appreciated

Norman

 

[Scarboroughsloop]

Definitely option 3. I think you may be surprised how much the gaps will close up as the planks absorb the water.

 

[Mirelle]

What is the planking timber?

A less dramatic alternative to sinking her is to arrange some sacking and a steady drip of water from a hose.

 

[kds]

Certainly don't do anything with the gaps until you have soaked her through. And it takes a lot of time !
Ken

 

[squidge]

As a young lad i have happy memories of helping my father bail out his wooden boat each year after its launch, i remember him chucking a bucket or two of seawater into the bilge a week or so before.
Give her a soak and see what happens.
Do you know what she is?

 

[DanTribe]

When I were a boy the operation of soaking boats to get them to "take up"was known as "plimbing". I haven't heard that phrase used for years, was it just a local saying or was I having my leg pulled?
Dan

 

[adelaidem]

If shes that dry spline the gaps then sheeve the hull with glass and epoxy!
The only water she will take then will be from the gland packing and if u can get that right u will have dust in ur bilges! but do insure that ur deck and all deck fittings are water tight to perfection as u dont want the rain in.

 

[chibb]

When we first launch our wooden carvel folkboat, it leaked like a sieve... we later discovered that it had been on land for 3 years !!! We removed anthing that could be damaged from the interior, and filled her up with water from the inside. Looking back on this, it may not have been a good idea, as the planking is obviously built to withstand a force in the opposite direction... it worked, but perhaps someone can suggest if this is a terribly risky idea !

 

[Parashandy]

NMOL1, if you decide to add tap water to your dry hull be sure to add salt to it as fresh water rots timber; salt water 'pickles' it.

 

[Strathglass]

Don't use epoxy.The expamsion of wet wood and wet epoxy is very different.

The gaps are normal when ashore

Don't fill the hull with water. Hulls are designed for external pressure pushing the hull together. Filling with water has the opposite effect

Get some hesian bags. Put them in the bulges. SOAK them with saline. (water with plenty of salt). Leave them for a week and KEEP them soaked.

Look at your gaps now.

It would be nicer if you could sink it, in sea water, for a couple of weeks.

You now have to calk the hull. Read up how to do it.

There is a slight shortcut you can take.
In the past I have filled all the gaps with a soft mastic and just launched it (after soaking) on a carvel yacht that did not require calking.

This is all very well if you are prepared to spend the next 48 houre on board pumping. Until the hull takes up.

Best of luck

Iain

 

[NLOM1]

Hi All

Thanks very much for all your considered responses. Luckily the hull is on standing just 30 yds from the shore and only a five minute drive from home so my plan is to line the inside with as much sacking I can get my hands on and keep it soaked with sea water. I can continue with reaming out the seams and sorting the bolts until the planks, ( can't decide if they're pitched pine or larch), take up. Nobody knows the history of the boat, it was stored for years at the Abbotsbury Oyster Farm after having been bought at auction from the Ferrybridge boatyard for £50!! I fell in love with its lines( dangerous I know!) when I first saw it 2 years ago. Luckily, for me, it was about to be disposed off to make way for new resturant owners. She has an approx 4.5ft draft and a beam of just over 7 ft and looks uncannily like the 26ft boat originating from Poole ( just down the road) featured on the cover of last month's Classic Boat except for the raised glass section on the coachroof. I have no spars. One very odd thing though is that an additional lump of lead has been added forming a second keel under the deadwood at the very stern.... what's that all about ??? I'll post some pix after the weekend.

Thanks again for your comments, I really want to get this right and am more than grateful for any advice I can get.

 

[Lakesailor]

Each year when the char boats that are used as hire rowing boats on the lake are brought out of storage and launched they fill up with water. The guy in charge has a petrol powered pump and just keeps dropping the strum box on the suction hose into the next boat that's about to sink to empty it, then moves on to the next most full.
I don't think they ever actually sink as the wood is nearly bouyant and there isn't any ballast or much metalwork on them.
Yachts are heavier, they sink if you don't pump them out.

 

[ccscott49]

I agree with you, I have seen mastic put in the seams, when the hull has taken up, the mastic is ripped out and the hull caulked and filled as usual. Red lead below the waterline, white above.

 

[tim3057]

You never saw the Laurel and Hardy film then? They did this having bought an old fishing boat to check for leaks. Of course it got too full of water and burst apart.. "..another fine mess you got me into"