seams on carvel hull

[felthamscruiser]

the seams on my carvel boat look nasty they are cotton etc but the seams stick out so i want to sand them down and and try and make the hull look smooth at the mo you can see every plank really clear whats best to use have been told to go with life caulk for out side and below water line but how about inside etc ??a friend of mine he used epoxy resin filler to fill cracks in seams but i dont trust that idea mine is in the water at present and to big and heavy to come out local

[kulas44]

How bout some periods ? Maybe a break somewhere in the thought process. :)

[felthamscruiser]

not sure what you mean if you mean age of her she was built by alan feltham in 1961 ?

[Oscarvan]

No he was referring to your rambling, unpunctuated sentence. If you want answers from the knowledgeable people on this forum, of which I am not one, you will have to ask properly worded questions.

Also, they will need to know what they are dealing with. Type of wood, construction, state of frames, size of the seams, etc. etc. More information is better, and pictures are worth 1000 words.

I do know that epoxy and life caulk are NOT the answer. There are no ointments for big problems.

[PaulC]

Your post does seem to run a bit. But welcome to the forum. We really do try to be a helpful bunch.

[felthamscruiser]

Was just wanting to know how to fill my seams on my mahogany planked boat, its not leaking lots just weaping ,
my friend boat is the same build but his is smooth..

[Oscarvan]

Well, here's what I've learned so far:

Get her out of the water and clean out the seams. Let her dry a little.

If the planks are solid, and the fasteners holding them to the frames are in good shape and tight, and the sides of the planks are in good shape and the seams are the proper v-shape and not too large, then you paint the seams with red lead and then caulk them with cotton, paint them again, not enough to saturate, just enough to keep the cotton from puffing out, then the seams are payed, or filled out with a flexible mastic or compound.

If the planks are not as described above, there's a whole other story.

If you put goop in without the cotton under it being in good shape it will not do the job.

Arlsford does not return anything on Google maps, but I suspect you're somewhere in Sussex. Head down to the coast and find yourself a local wooden boat yard. Ask if you can pick someone's brain and watch the process.

Also, there are numerous good books on the subject. The Ship Building Apprentice by Greg Rössel comes to mind, not sure if you can get that over there. If not, there are plenty of others. I suggest you visit amazon.co.uk

Again, there are no simple fixes. Caulking is not just gooping up the openings, it is a structural part of the boat. Planks swell with moisture and need some, but not too much resistance to tighten up. Cotton, applied properly, provides the seal. The goop after that is only a small part of the equation.

I hope this helps.

[felthamscruiser]

i will have trouble getting her out of the water due to no were local to do it for me and lac of funds. every one i have spoke to and shown the boat say that its in good shape but weeps alittle and the recon life caulk will solve this last bit of water weeping in ,??? and can be done on low tide between tides

Arlesford ,essex

[rdrishel]

forgetcleaningouthteseansandjustcaulkitwithordinar ylatexcaulkfromthehomestoreifthatdoesnotworknailso meboardsovertheplaceswhereitweepsontheinside

[Ian McColgin]

There's not enough information here to provide specifics but it's quite clear from the question that a few glittering generalities might help.

Carvel planking is a skin under tension. The purpose of cotton or oakum is to make it that once the planks have swelled, they are tight against each other. If you rely on some flexable goo to fill the space, she might not at first leak but the planks will be working against their fastenings and she'll start to leak pretty soon. Underwater seam compound (not 5200 or lifecaulk or epoxy) goes over the caulking just to seal it up and give a surface for the paint.

In the normal run of things you cannot fix a seam leak from the inside. Since leak water travels, even if you have a good idea of where any weep is coming from, it takes a lot of luck and skill to find it on the outside, much less find it on a tide with a probably dirty bottom.

So, as a start, if the leak is only a hundred gallons a day or so, keep to a pumping schedule, make notes on where it appears to come from, and look ahead to a real haul.

From the avatar it appears you might have a motor boat. Whatever, let us know everything you know - sort of boat, age, last haul, repair schedule, your cruising or sailing plans, etc.

[BETTY-B]

Weeping? You can see this? Under the water line? Pictures too.....

DAN

[felthamscruiser]

yes she is a motor cruiser she was built by alan felthams in 1961, i have watched the water slowly run down from the rear around the horn timber / rabbit sorry not to clued up on names and parts of wooden boats as this is my first one.
This beam my rudder is fitted through ..

[Ian McColgin]

Put a cup under the stuffing box and be sure it's not that simple.

[felthamscruiser]

sorry do not understand your answer?

[Lew Barrett]

Stuffing boxes are located where the shaft exits the hull. They are usually bronze fittings with some sort of screw thread or bolts that allow the inner "tube" to be incrementally tightened and thus ride down on packing material. They are expected to drip a bit. Ian suggests you locate yours and see if the dripping from it comprises the bulk of your water intrusion.

[Ian McColgin]

We learn from another post that you may also have trouble around the rudder post. There should be either a tube coming up above the waterline that surrounds the rudder post, or there should be a stuffing box. They symptom of visible leakage when the rudder post is wiggled is consistent with the tube or stuffing box being loose on or disconnected from the horn. It's also consistent with a stuffing box of a slightly large size with the packing worn or gone. A correctly sized stuffing box should give barely any wiggle when the packing is gone. Anyway, check what you have there first.

This note, that could as well go with the other thread you've so helpfully started shows how valuable a systematic look at the boat and then an orderly description to the rest of us can help us aim our remarks at the actual problems.

G'luck

[felthamscruiser]

yes it does wiggle and move there is no water coming up the tube were the steering comes through ,but you can move the timber left and right only millimetres but enough to make the water show were its coming in ?..
will try and take a picture of the bit which is leaking ...

[Plover]

Hi Felt,
I've been reading both your posts about this issue, to me it sounds like you have a pretty large problem! None of that wood or any timbers should move at all! No space aged goo is going to fix it, sorry to say. sounds like you have a fastening issue or rotted boards or timbers. You will have to pull a plank or 2 and see where it is bad and go from there. I do understand from your posts that money is an issue for you and that is a problem. Most of the work that has to be done can be done by you with a little reading and some really "Great" help from the guy's on here. If you can't haul it right away I don't think its a good idea to go crashing around out there, if you loose a plank and you have no way of getting it out right away she'll go right to the bottom for you, and that will be that! On the other hand, if its something you like to hang out on and drink a beer or two with the guy's then I suggest getting a coffee can attached to a broom stick, fill it with fine sawdust, invert it at the water with out looseing the sawdust keep it inverted untill you have it right under the problem area and turn it up right and let the dust's bouyancy float it into the problem seams. The leaking seams will suck it right in. That's only a quick fix to stop it at the dock. With the boat moving it will wash right out and have to be done again at the dock. I've used this method when putting a boat in while the planks are soaking up I haven't used it on a boat that's already wet but if there's a leak the sawdust will find it! I wish you the best of luck!
Paul

[felthamscruiser]

have heard about this sawdust trick will give it a try....cheers