relaunching an old boat without it sinking???

[kyleabingdon23]

Hello there.
I am new to boating and have little knowledge on the subject but i am a carpenter and understand wood. Me and my wife have found a boat in our price range that needs "some" work.
Its has a double diagonal teak hull on oak frames. The hull has been sanded back to bare wood and then primed. With some sort of silver oil based paint.
The problem is that it has been out of the water for about 2 years and where the teak has dried out there are up to 2mm gaps ( in some places) in between planks. does this mean she needs rechalking and if so whats the best/easiest stuff to use? i know that once the vessel is back in the water the teak will swell and close the gaps but how does this happen without ruining the paint job?
The current owner says he has sprayed the hull reguarly with salt water, but i dont know how regular?
I thank you for any help anyone might be able to offer...

 

[Lakesailor]

If you don't pump it out regularly for a fortnight this will happen

and you'll have to get these guys in.

 

[kyleabingdon23]

Blimmey.... Can anyone recomend a reliable electric bildge pump?

 

[twisterkai]

You are SO cruel!

 

[tillergirl]

The 'silver' paint is probably International or Blakes primer which is good. I'm afraid you can expect the paint job not to look perfect for the first season until she has taken up again. But you will only see the seams when close up. I'm afraid I can't advise on caulking on double diagonal construction but I'm sure Mirelle or another will comment.

 

[Mirelle]

Double diagonal teak...

Double diagonal construction is not caulked. When built, there was a layer of oiled calico between the skins, which were laid with tight fitting seams.

This creates an "interesting problem" if the boat is left ashore for a long time - basically the only thing to do is to let her swell up again, which she will, eventually, do - but be prepared for an awful lot of pumping in the meantime!

As Tillergirl says, the silvery paint is probably a metallic primer, which is the right sort of stuff.

 

[graham]

Im sure your knowledge of wood is greater than mine but I am surprised that the teak, being a stable wood, has shrunk so much .

I would not just take the owners word for it that it really is teak planking as double diagonal planking out of less durable timbers can cause difficult to repair problems.

The best solution to allowing the boat to "take up" after launching is a mud berth.ideally one where she will only float for a few hours each tide until your confident to put her on a deep water mooring.

I havent tried it but Im reliably told that throwing sawdust into the water around the boat immediately after launching helps slow down the leaking by being sucked into gaps as she takes up.

 

[Mirelle]

The sawdust trick actually does work, but it is more a means of helping one bad leak than a multitude of smaller ones. Don't throw the sawdust into the water, put it in a bucket, shove the bucket, upside down, under the boat in the region of the leak, turn the bucket right way up...

...you have now spotted the flaw...

...but I have seen this done by a traditional boatyard which kept a tin can, cut through diagonally, on the end of a pole, for the purpose.

It worked!

 

[Shipwrecked]

Congratulations on joining the best hobby you will ever have.

I suspect that the silver paint is 'Aluminium' paint, it acts as a barrier coat and can be bought off the shelf at DIY stores. It's pretty good stuff and I would have undercaoted the hull in the same way - the big plus is it is cheap as well as durable.

To combat the fact that 'your' boat has been out of water for some time - you will need to get it back in the water for the planks to swell properly - a good mud berth is ideal as the boat sits on a 'mud pack' and a cheap one can be found at Cantells in Newhaven if you're located in the SE England. You can also negotiate use of the slipway so you can paint and prepare the hull a low water after the planks swell - this will negate really expensive lift out costs.

You don't say how large this boat is or where it is - do factor in lift out charges as they are frighteningly expensive. Whilst she is out it is also a really good idea to renew/refurb all the skin fittings, check the keel bolts etc etc.

One last hint that I think is just the best - when you are ready to anti-foul, tip a large commercial bag of chilli powder into it and stir it in, as a slow release paint, fresh chilli gets exposed over the year on your hull - nothing wants to grow on that /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Good luck and good planning,

Regards

Jonathan /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[kyleabingdon23]

Thanks for your advice everyone.
I will get on with the painting and find a mud berth until i am a more secure in the boats ability to float. I am in the south east so i will have a look at newhaven, thanks for the tip. I will also hire an industrial water pump from hss and keep the boat in slings for a few hours on launch so i can have a good look round her.
I have some more questions but i will start another thread for them.
Thanks again, I really appreciate it /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif kyle

 

[grumpydog]

A suggestion

Peter Leonards Boatyard is a good yard. They offer mud berths at pretty reasonable prices. They are in Newhaven, just up the creek from the marina. Type that name into a search engine and you will get their website.

 

[trouville]

Re: A suggestion

Ask to stay in the slings for a few days,some yards have an old crane to do this,otherwise launch in as shallow place as possiable and buy a garden pump 5000gallons per hour type? or 2200gallons?
The one i use i bought at a garden center and paid about 50euros the hose out is about 4inch diameter it also has a float switch which i possition to stop it snagagging and turning it off. the pump is 230v and submergable. It ran for a week almost none stop on my folkboat. After the first two days it wasent pumping too much water but more than my bilge pump would like long term,
Ive seen lots of other wooden boats do the same
On another boat in the med i hosed it down for a week several times a day then launched through sawdust and pumped with two bildge pumps for a day and night then one pump the second day, after that just pumped every hour or so for the next few weeks.
That was out from march only but i couldent get time untill june to go back in not long but june is very hot for a wooden boat to be out of the water!!

 

[kengill]

It works on steel boats as well until you can get them hauled out to re-weld the errant seam.

 

[lilianroyle]

Try Tallow

I used to have a clinker folkboat. to reduce the leak to a manageable amount while she took up we would put tallow on all the seams. It worked brilliantly.