Preventing rot from fresh water

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m1taylor

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Hi, as a new comer to wooden boats, I have been reading various threads for useful advice. I guess the obvious is that saltwater is ok, but rainwater rots! So, if some rain water gets into the bilges, would it be useful to ensure that is is saline by keeping salt in the bilges - or is there a reason not to do that?
 
Well, regardless of whether salt in the bildge can be a problem or not, if rain water finds his way in the boat then you'd better find and fix the leak anyway.
In fact, before arriving to the bilge, it is likely to stay also somewhere else, and possibly create root anyway.
 
Rainwater leaking through a hull to the bilges will be a problem until the leak is stopped whatever the source. Keeping salt in the bilge is .... well, bizarre.

If you keep your boat in fresh water you should be aware that types of wood react differently with different water qualities. Teak for example doesn't like freshwater and quickly goes black. Sapele and mahogany can be disaster areas for underwater planking on the Broads. It seems to depend on the alkali contanet of the freshwater but i) you can't get decent pitch pine anymore - reclaimed is good. ii)Many of the Baltic pines available don't last long at all. iii)Larch has many freshwater followers. Remember, the best cure for a deck leak is to put a bunk underneath!

Save your salt for the tails of little birds. Good luck, Old Frank
 
Perhaps I should clarify my thinking. Yes, I must cure any leaks, but it may simply be the driven rain getting through small gaps between the cockpit cover and cabin roof. So with the best will in the world, rain will get in to any older boat - that's my experience to date. I could replace the manual bilge pump with an automatic one, but even then bilge pumps leave a couple of centimeters. The boat is mahogony on oak frames with a teak keel and will be used on salt water only. My thought was simply that is some water is inevitable from time to time, was there any merit in making it saline.
 
My Grand Banks had rock salt regularly scattered in the bilge over many years by the previous owner. Apparantly this was not uncommon with wooden boats, although it was the first time I'd heard of it. I haven't continued the practice but the hull, which is mahogany, is as sound now as it was when it was built 35 years ago. I don't know to what extent the rock salt contributed to this state.
 
Try registering and posting your query on the USA Wooden Boat Forum. Our 'cousins' over there seem to have tried most things (but I suspect they say the same things about us!).
 
Re: Wooden Boat forum

I can't see how it could possibly do any harm, unless there are any problems from salinities greater than seawater's.
I do recall reading once that old wooden ships used for carrying salt, or salted fish, were notably free from rot. I have certainly heard of packing bags of rock salt in inaccessible places like counters.
 
Salt etc.

During a search of the above-mentioned forum (which can be found by clicking here) I discovered a re-post by someone who claimed a dousing with antifreeze had a miracle effect on wood, with numerous possible applications in boating, and, apparently, also solved his wife's bedsores and a rash on his penis (!).

Leaving aside any anatomical questions here, does anybody know any more what this is about? I couldn't really follow the article on the WB forum, but I think it may have been discussed here before...

/<
 
Re: Wooden Boat forum

The Grand Banks schooners used to salt the fish they caught to dry it and thus preserve it. In the process, they preserved the ships as well. It is this capacity to absorb moisture that gives salt its rot-killing reputation. I don't doubt that in addition it is highly poisonous to rot fungae. You could also use one of the air-drying packs that the swindleries sell to keep the ambient moisture on board below a satisfacory level.
Peter.
 
Re: Wooden Boat forum

There must be some chemists out there who can recommend some water soluble salt we could chick in our bilges or spray about with a garden pressure sprayer. Something like copper sulphate perhaps?
 
Re: Salt etc.

I have tried ethylene Glycol, I think its more relavent to stabilising wood by replacing whatever liquid is in the wood (sap etc) with molycules of glycol. I believe its used quite a bit by wood turners to rapidly season wood. Look for it as PEG (poly ethelyne glycol?) and you should find information and properties for it. In my case the experiment was unsuccessful.
 
Re: Salt etc.

It certainly is interesting, thanks for the link Casey.

Prevention is better than cure, though, and I might throw a few bags of salt about in places like the lazarette, bilges and a few naughty water traps scheduled for removal when I remodel the forecabin, some years down the line. I also intend to overhaul the ventilation paths through the boat, somewhat earlier.

/<
 
Re: Salt etc.

Across the pond ethylene glycol based anti-freeze is regarded as a standard anti-rot preservative. If you want more info, I suggest a search on the Woodenboat.com building and repair forum.
Getting back to the original question, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper to occasionally flush the bilges with a few buckets of sea-water? My boat has a bilge-draining cockpit and its inevitable that rainwater will find its way into the bilges... and find stringers etc where it can puddle.
I flush through with seawater whenever I remember.
 
Every now and again I flood the bilges on Hermees with sea water,and a bit of Detox than pump out, keeps it clean and fresh /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
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