laying up wooden boats

[Guest]

anybody know how long it is safe to lay up a wooden boat ashore for? I have an old Hillyard with a
copper fastened pitch pine on oak hull and am leaving the country for a year...

 

[EASLOOP]

I'm no expert by any stretch but the following might be of interest to you. I bought my East Anglian sloop from a mudberth near Dartmouth back in 1994. She had suffered considerable damage from rot etc. She is 27' 10" OAL built in 1962 of mahagony on oak frames with a laid teak deck and wooden spars. My father and I sailed/motored up the channel to the Medway that year and she was moved ashore for major repairs. She is still ashore !!! and is now closing up on a re-launch date of late summer ( interior still stripped out) if only to re-pickle the hull in salt water. She has remained tight all of that time even though I have given her a thoracotomy and major surgery. I am in the process of a complete re-caulk using cotton and lead putty. Where re-fastening was required I have used copper rivets and roves and where screws have been replaced I have used A4 stainless. She has been kept outside all of the time covered only with an arrangement of lightweight plastic tarps so as to ensure copious quantities of ventilation.
I believe, and have been told, that the original build quality was very high which is in part the reason for her shore bound survival.
Hope this helps a little.
rgds
John

 

[Mirelle]

The perfect solution is to lay her up inside an unheated shed. Assuming this to be impossible, then try to get her into a corner of the yard where she is less exposed to the wind, eg in the lee of a building, and try to get her lying North/South so that the sun does not beat on one side all the time.

Be careful about chocking her and be very sure that there is no risk of chocks sinking into wet ground.

Fit a good quality cover, over a ridge pole and A frames, with the sides coming down over the topsides and the ends open for ventilation. If possible, take all gear off the boat and leave all hatches, lockers and doors open. Lift bunk bases and floorboards for ventilation.

A counsel of perfection - but well worth it if you can do it - is to wash the boat out from end to end with a fresh water hose, using LOTS of water, and then air her dry. This stops little accumulations of salt from forming their own microclimates and rotting and corroding things, and keeps everything fresh. It will not cause her to rot.

Try to get a friend to take a look and resecure the cover every couple of months.

Should be OK thus for several years.

 

[Guest]

I'll bow to those with knowledge superior to mine - but a surveyor told me that it's essential not to lay up wooden boats in a shed with a concrete floor.

 

[burgundyben]

why not leave it in the water?

I am gonna spend it on wine, women and song, and blow the rest.........

 

[MapisM]

Why? Can\'t see whats wrong with it! nm.

 

[Guest]

Moisture!

I was advised not to do it by my surveyor, who has about 35 years' experience of wooden boats. He thought it would create too dry an atmosphere and therefore heighten the risk of problems and damage.

My boat (originally mahogany on oak, but with a fair bit of larch these days) was in a shed with a hard earth floor having been out of the water for four months to have a really good overhaul and a lot of new planking.

Depends how long you have to take her out for, I suppose. But that was the point of the original posting. I know that the advice I've had from this source (ie the surveyor) has been excellent.

But, as I said, I'm aware that many posters have been in this wooden boat game for a lot longer than me, and freely accept that there's a lot I don't know (my reason for calling in an expert in the first place...)

 

[MapisM]

Got the point, but...

...I'm not sure that the concrete floor in itself means a more dry environment.
Guess that the heating could be much more "dangerous" in this respect.

Besides, is a (reasonably) dry atmosphere really that negative?
In my experience, also a high degree of humidity can produce damages, inside the cabins for sure - probably not that much for the hull structure.

Anyhow, since I'm considering to put my boat in a shed next winter (for 6 months or so), and that shed does have a concrete floor, I would also be interested in hearing the viewpoints of some experts around.
I know there are some in the forum!

 

[Mirelle]

No expert, but....

My boat managed two years in a shed with a concrete floor. She is afloat even as I write and is fine.

I would agree that an earth floor would seem better, but I cannot really see that it makes very much difference. The earth would be dry inside the shed.

Undoubtedly, from the boat BUILDING point of view, an earth or ideally a wooden floor is miles better, because you cna secure the moulds and brace the centreline much more easily. But storage does not raise that problem.

 

[Guest]

Re: No expert, but....

Interesting, because mine was being stored/worked on in just that place - a boatbuilding shed right on the water's edge with an adjacent 'wet dock'.

I'm also keen to hear the views of others about this.

 

[milltech]

..or you could lease her to me! n.m.

.

John

 

[Guest]

Would you be interested in buying her?

I'm thinking about selling her. £1850 if you're interested. It's in Southampton.

 

[milltech]

I\'ve sent you a private message n.m.

.

John

 

[firstspirit]

Have similar experience, may I suggest to wrap the vessel in tarpaulin, keeps out the wind, which dries the planking too much.

Regards,

Firstspirit

 

[mtb]

Re: No expert, but....

Does it not depend on the type of shed .
the structure can either alow air flow or creat a damp atmosphere
If the concrete floor has no damp proofing then chances are plenty of moister will come up through the floor.
Also if you put a wooden structure thats wet into a shed where's the water going to go .

I recone an open shed thats not open to the sun and fairly sheltered from the wind is ( in my view ) the best option.
Cheers
Mick

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/boats
I want a big steel ex trawler / tug v / cheap or swap for tug

 

[Guest]

i have a 1935 moter sailer which i left out of the water for 18 months i left her with about 1 foot of water in the bilges and when relaunch i had to recork
a useful tip when you firs t relaunch throw some saw dust in water and whilst she is swelling saw dust will fill leaks

 

[sekyd]

Within one week of laying my boat up at Universal Marina, Hamble the main cockpit winches were stolen - Lewmar ST40's.