Question:
I am interested in discussing with, my seniors in wooden boat repair,
options to traditional repair techniques. Traditionaly, two inch hulls
like the Sunnie Daze are scraped, cleaned caulked and sealed then painted.
The Sunnie Daze has been out of water for over two years and has opened
considerable. The hull is remarkably strong. I have located aged wood that
can be planed to the correct thickness. I not interested in adding glass
or replaceing wood with glass. I am interested in a expandable seal that
could be applie in between the hull planks. 2" georgia heart pine, 8 to
15" by 6 to 10' long. Anything noncompressable will crush the bottom
boards when she expands at launch (or so I am told). I don't want to
experiment with this 50' 1946 Classic Chesapeake Bay Dead Rise. What is
being tries in your boatyard?
Answer:
I owned a wooden 32' boat and I would recommend cedar plank ( which is
a soft sood) leave about 1/4" space around the plank. Than use cotton
caulking with proer caulking tools. Than would thumb press hard into
seams slick seam (marine caulking made from special waxes)
This is what I would probably do; but still check it out with a
ships carpenter.
