Edge glued Carvel

[Ifraser]

As you may see from an earlier post I have now bought a 1960 Storebro Royal. I've had a bit of a nightmare getting her home with broken throttle cable and a blown manifold but as a friend of mine says...welcome to the world of vintage boating!! He is of course correct and had they happened locally then I would consider them minor problems. What I have found is that although she was very dry when I viewed her she is now taking a considerable amount of water. I suspect the rough passage strained some weak seams. Anyway being edge glued carvel can anyone recomend a repair that doesn't involve being out of the water for months to get her dry enough to apply epoxy to the seems to replace the glue. I've seen posts on here that suggest none setting mastic for caulked boats....I know it may be a bit of a bodge but could that be used to keep me boating through the summer. I can dry her out anytime on the tides as she does come with legs....any ideas anyone..??

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[Peterduck]

The fact that it was dry when you viewed it prior to buying, but is now leaking when at sea, suggests to me that the hull is "working" when at sea. This may be due to either the frames / ribs not being wholly sound or that the fastenings may have loosened a little. If either of these apply then it is unlikely that any temporary fixes will be satisfactory; it will continue to leak. Frames and/or ribs can be checked visually. While checking those you may find stains on the inside of the planking which suggest where water might be entering. If the planks are riveted to the ribs you may need to try tightening up a few rivets there to see how much they take up. Can you see the shaft log to see if there is any water entering there?

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[Mirelle]

I agree with that diagnosis!

You will probably find that it is something very simple.

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[Ifraser]

Thanks for that guys I will check for those things. My concern is that if she was edge glued then maybe I have to find a way to re-glue those edges where she is leaking. I was considering hauling her out for a few weeks applying the american penetrating epoxy to the seams then smoothing slightly thickened epoxy into the leak areas, my theory being not to encapsulate anything, but to force the epoxy into the leak area to replace the glue.....any opinions on such a remedy??

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[Mirelle]

I'm not very keen on that.

Edge glued carvel works because the planks expand ever so slightly so the seams are in compression. The seams are never meant to be in tension, because wood is very weak in tension across the grain - if the seams come under tension the planks themselves will split if the glue does not fail.

If I were going to put anything in the seams it would be something flexible, like Sikaflex, rather than something hard like epoxy.

Can you put your finger on what has changed, in the boat's environment, since you bought her?

The first step is to definitely locate the leak(s) - get the floorboards up, get the bilges as dry as you possibly can, using up a few paper nappies and kitchen rolls in the process if necessary, and see just where the water is coming from.

Good hunting!

<hr width=100% size=1>Que scais-je?

 

[rjp]

Are you sure she's 'edge glued' not splined? In splined construction wedge-shaped splines are glued in to seal the seam, effectievly giving an edge-glued effect. I believe that the standard treatment for splined construction is to route out the seam and glue in a new spline. Some people have a special tapered cutter made up to approximate the wedge shape of the original spline, others seem to use a parallel cutter and then cut rectangular section splines to suite.

I may be facing this job myself in the future!

John

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[Ifraser]

Interestingly she seems to be getting drier day by day so hopefully ( fingers crossed ) she got disturbed on the passage and is now taking back up?? I'm considering a good auto bilge pump and being gentle with her for the rest of the season and then giving her a good refit through the winter. As far as I can see the main change since I bought her is that she has been taken off her mud berth and then taken on a relatively rough passage...force 5 - 6 in the Solent. I've taken on board the thoughts earlier in this thread that she may be working in a seaway and over winter I will be checking the fastenings. Everything so far has been very helpful and any further views will be gratefully received....cheers Iain

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[tritonofnor]

just a thought, but when I first bought my boat she hadn't been used for ages, and during the tow from Ramsgate to Dover prior to re-engining her she took on a fair bit of water from around the stem. This had been exposed to the sun for years without being wetted and had dried considerably, allowing water in from the bow wave when moving. Lots of recaulking later and she's almost dry - I've just got to repack the stuffing boxes now!

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[Ifraser]

Every time I take the boat out she takes a lot more water then settles back down again.....so it definately seems to be "working" while underway. Several of you on this thread have said about tightening the fixings which are copper nails with roves. Are there any visible signs if they are loose...signs of movement etc..or do I have to unplug and tighten them all??

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