Caulking a wooden row boat

[rowNtennessee]

I just bought a wooden row boat. I'm going to renovate it and, being a newbie at this, have some questions.

First, it's a 40 yr old 12-ft Old Town rowing/outboard skiff. All wood seems to be in good shape with one small exception that I'll explain later. Hull is red cedar, frame is oak or ash.

1. The bottom is planking and the boards are fine, but the caulking is coming out in places. I plan to remove all the old caulk and put in new. The question is "what do I use to caulk it with?"

2. The lapstrake also seems to be in good shape and tight. However, should I caulk it just in case? If so, how and with what? Can I run a bead of caulk around the edges inside and out?

3. The screw heads are caulked, but the caulk seems different than that used on the bottom. What should I caulk the screw heads with?

4. There is one soft place in the top section of one of the ribs (either oak or ash). My plans are to chisel/drill the soft wood out and epoxy a new piece of oak in. Is there a better approach?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. Sorry if these questions are elementary. Also, can anybody recommend a good book on restoration?

Al Johnson
Tennessee

[lumberdude]

rowN, I have to say I can't help you much with your questions, but I can't stand to see a big fat zero on the replys on a new forumite.

The only question I may have at least a suggestion to is your last one. The books, "Wooden Boat Renovation" by Jim Trefethen and "Buehler's Backyard boatbuilding" were both highly reccomended. I'll confess I haven't read them yet, but I will eventually. No really. I will. Another one is "Boatbuilding Manual" by Robert M. Steward

Welcome aboard the good ship Wooden Boat. You will find it is a one-of-kind place.

lumberdude

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Al, apart from anything else, if she's lapstrake you shouldn't need to be caulking her at all.

I'd start by carefully reefing out all the old caulking below the waterline, then floating her and see how long she stays visible LOL. If the plank edges haven't been damaged by previous caulking attempts, what should happen is that the timber swells and the joints "take up" and become watertight. It'll probably take a few days for this to happen, and you should try to ensure that sand and silt doesn't get sucked in during the process. ((If you're on tidal water, float her over an old tarp so that she can bottom out on it instead of the bottom itself. And of course make sure the bed is free of rocks and so on first.)

If you're away from the water and the boat's on a trailer, you can at least start the process by putting some water inside. But be careful. Make sure she's properly supported on the trailer, and level, and don't try to fill her up to the water line. Boats aren't designed to take pressure from the inside. Just use enough water to cover the garboard strake and the next one (ie the two planks nearest the keel on each side.) Throw in a few handfuls of salt while you're about it. Despite what others might say later -- this is a bone of some contention on this Forum -- salt water is better for boats than fresh water.

My next comment is, don't be tempted to use epoxy anywhere in the planking. It doesn't move when it gets wet, and the result can be permanent plank damage.

By all means get rid of any soft timber anywhere, (and then a bit more, to make sure.) If only the frame is affected, not the planking underneath, you can just scarf in a new piece. But I hope Dave Fleming is reading this and will chime in here with his boatbuilding expertise.

Good luck. Mike.

[ 04-29-2002, 09:20 PM: Message edited by: Wooden Boat Fittings ]

[Dave Fleming]

Yeah, I been keeping an eye on this one. I am concerned about my "butting in" to too many threads on the Forums.
No really, I mean it! Some folks could think that I am just a big blow hard when in real life I am just a small blow hard. :D

My advice is to go very slowly with any repairs to this small craft. You admit you are a green pea so do your research and gather your thoughts before doing anything irreversable, ya folla?

The WoodenBoat store has a ton well several pounds of books on repair and restoration. Look 'em over and make some tentative choices then come back here and ask the ****collective opinion*** of the members about them choices.

[nedL]

oh, I guess I'll jump in here with a bit of the 'been there done that' stuff. First, welcome to the WBF rowNtennessee, glad to have you. Years ago I had a 1954 13'6" Old Town lapstrake outboard runabout. Real nice little boats(!), take good care of yours. You may already know this, but if you don't, for a nominal fee Old Town will send you the original date of manufacture & the original ship to address for your boat. All you need to do is send them the hull number which is carved into the inside of the stem up forward & also on the knee between the transom & the keel (along with their current fee).
unless Old Town changed construction between 1954 & when your boat was built, the hull is totally screwed together (which you know)- no rivets or bolts for hull fastenings. In 1954 Old Town used brass wood screws (which I had to replace 20+ years ago as mine was a salt water boat. - Brass & salt water = N.G.) As some others have indicated there was no caulking used in the original construction & ideally should have no caulking between the planks. Given the age of your boat you may need to do some screw replacing for her to be tight without caulking. I would recommend pulling a couple of screws randomly around the bottom to see what condition they are in - brass doesn't last forever even in fresh water where you are. A proper job would most likely involve turning her over, carefully removing anything resembling caulking, inspecting all the lapped seams, & replacing the screws in at least the areas where the seams are not nice & tight (probably with the next size larger screw so they will get a bite in the wood). Please do not use anything like cotton or oakum in her. she is a lightly built runabout that is only srewed together, those will only cause damage. If you want a bit of a shortcut that will not do any damage (ok, I confuss to doing this), once you know everything is mechanically sound you can scrape down to nice clean wood on each side of the actual seam & lay in a fillet of a polysulfide type caulking. You can finish it off by running a putty knife , or your finger along the seam for a nice smooth job. I would recommend something like "Boatlife" caulking as it will stay quite flexible, but (with work) can be removed at a later date with no harm done. I would NOT recommend something like 3M 5200 as it is such a tenatious adhesive you will 'never' get it off if you want to.
The screw heads were originally puttied over with a common surfacing putty (above & below the water line).
As for your rib problem, if the soft wood is right up at the gunwale as you seem to indicate (& for only a few inches or so), there is really very little structural about it at that point. Given Old Town's open gunwale construction you will just want to make sure that what you do will look ok when you are finished as it will be seen.
Have fun!

[rowNtennessee]

nedL,

Thanks for your detailed reply and suggestions. This boat was built in 1961. The previous owner had apparently contacted Old Town as the paperwork I got included a copy of the original shipping document and a couple of new Old Town decals for the transom.

I wondered if the caulking on the flat bottom was original or added later. Sounds like it was the latter. This boat had been stored in a barn in KY for 20 years so ANY caulking would have looked old. I haven't flipped her over yet for a thorough inspection, but I can see some loose caulk between the bottom and the first side board just from lying under her on the trailer. (I'm sure there is some better nautical terminology for my description.)

rowN

[nedL]

rowN, I would suspect that any caulking you find was a latter 'addition' as the orm for lapstrake construction is no caulking at all. (Maybe a thin layer of bedding compound as she is being planked, but that would be squeezed to less than a paper thin layer as the laps are fastened.)
You have me a bit curious when you say "I can see some loose caulk between the bottom and the first side board". is she lapstrake all the way down to the keel or is the bottom a different construction than the sides?

[rowNtennessee]

nedL,

It is a flat bottom skiff with lapstrake sides. The bottom is composed of 8 or so boards running the length of the boat. The boards appear to be beveled on the edges with the bevel filled with a flexible caulk of some kind. The same type of caulk appears to be used between the last bottom board and the first side board (garboard?). There is no obvious caulking in the lapstrake. What I don't know is if the bottom caulking is original or added later. In my limited under-trailer inspection, all the boards looked good, but I haven't removed the caulk to see if there are any gaps or bad wood. (It's been raining since I got her, I have one higher priority garden project in progress, and I just haven't had a chance to flip her over yet.)

rowN

[nedL]

rowN, I follow what you are saying for construction, & yes the bottom would normally hae some caulking in the seams. (Sounds like quite s different beast than the typical Old Town skiff, I'd love to see some pictures if you can post some.) The bottom seams would have been caulked with something. Use something that stays flexable but not something that is advertised as an adhesive (Boatlife should be good). If the seams are open a ways a strand of cotton caulking might be layed in the seams using only a caulking wheel(not a caulking iron & mallet)before the seam compound.