Help!! My woooden boat is drying out

[cannon]

Hello folks
My boat is mohogany 6.7mts she is a sail boat.
i have had her out of the water for 9 weeks and am ready to put her back in today.
Problem is she is drying out and i can see daylight through the seams at a few points, of about 1mm i plan to put her in the water hanging off a crane, and put in pumps.
Is there any thing else i can do, and do you think it will seal up again, she was always dry before. ?????
jim

 

[sarabande]

Judging from previous reports on the forum, you stand a good chance of everything taking up within an hour or two.

Would it be worth spraying the exterior of the hull with water before you put her in, to reduce the time needed for the planks to expand ?

best of luck - and stick up a picture when you are back on the water please !

 

[ccscott49]

you can fill the cracks with soft soap, this will reduce the ingress, but still allow the planks to take up, makes lots of nice bubble too!
Main thing is dont worry, it will take up, it did before it was hauled.

 

[kds]

My friend's Stella took 2 weeks to plumb up to watertigt - mind you, it had been out of the water for 2 years.
Can you find a mudberth for it ?
Ken

 

[KenMcCulloch]

My boat is clinker mahogany, last winter she was out from mid-December to mid-April, and on first going in the water the float-switch operated pump was running about every 20 minutes. After 24 hrs that was down to once an hour or so, after a week to every few hours and after a couple of months I found that if I left the pump switched off she only made perhaps 3 or four litres of water over a couple of days. The previous year when I took her over she had been in a shed for 18 months and fairly copious amounts of water came in for the first couple of days afloat. An automatic pump and access to a a reliable supply of electric is all you need.

 

[cliffordpope]

Having had an automatic pump fail I would say that if leaking at the rate you fear you need two independent pumps, or else to live aboard or inspect every few hours until the seams have taken up substantially.

 

[Reninportishead]

you might want to try a sawdust box when you put her back in. I was advised by some old boat builders down in Hamble that they always use them on wooden boats.
Mine went back in after 3 years out, stripped caulking, re-caulked and red lead putty ................. so far so good. Down to about a litre every couple of days I guess. Not bad for a 1931 cutter !
Useful to check the bilge pumps works and the outlet isn't blocked ............. found this out the hard way ! Otherwise, it's amazing how much they can take up once back in the water.

 

[SmileyGiley]

Face this every year with Eider Duck.

For sure get the hosepipe in and wet her down inside & out...just don't fill her up or she'll burst! When you launch have buckets & an extra electric pump too (always good to have a spare with crocodile clips you can bung on the battery in a pinch)

Expect to stay on board for a while so you can check she will take up.

One year we launched Eider Duck very late (6 MONTHS out of the water) and in a rush so we didn't wet her down first. Trailer rolled down the slip, water came in, pumps on, buckets bailing madly.... but no float!. Simply had to sit there, made sure the water didn't come up too high, and then made sure we pumped her out as the tide fell. Next tide she floated just fine (tho with two pumps running) 24 hour later she was down to once an hour & then she went tight as a drum as usual.