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Sasha
08-14-2001, 01:12 PM
I have purchased and almost completely restored 1955 36' mahagony sport fisherman. She is a beautiful boat.
She used to belong to the Maritime Museum in Bath, ME. Now she moved together with me to Ukraine and will be sailing Black Sea at least for a while. I have been able to get a good working team, rebuilding everything from deck and up. The problem I am having though is a lack of fancy materials (sealants, putty etc). Even bronze fasteners have been difficult to find.
Can somebody give me a formular how to prepare putty to fill seams between 1" mahagony planks over waterline. I would be happy to use white lead, drying oil because I have it. I need a mix that will stay and sustain wood drying cycles. The boat is fairily dry and has been out of water for more than a year.
Thanks a lot

Bob Cleek
08-14-2001, 09:17 PM
I'd recommend you obtain a catalog from Davey and Co., London, and order a suitable material from them. Is Ukraine in the EU? If so, you shouldn't have any import duties or customs hassles. Sounds like your boat is too nice to be using home-grown caulking compound on her and the cost of the proper material is negligible compared to the labor involved in applying it... let alone what it will cost to undo the half-assed job when you get back home.

Sasha
08-15-2001, 03:14 AM
Bob, thanks a lot. I oredered the catalog via e-mail a minute ago. Ukraine is not EU it is actualy a different world. Customs would be a big pain. Do you know of any on-shelf compound sold in the US which I could order on-line using my credit card?
The boad is nice indeed. I had to replace 40% of wood though. Nobody wanted the poor creature and I have decided to take this enormous load. So far I have been able to find relatively economical ways to fix it by using local qualified help, oak instead of mahagony. I have managed to recreate the old shape and to preserve her aging buity. The task is huge and the reason to look for cheaper but workable solutions is explainable. I am sure I am not alone on this road.
Below waterline she is covered with West System Epoxy. Two half-rotten planks along the keel have been replaced and covered with Russian Epoxy. It is good stuff, people here build cold mold sailing boat out of it. Othewise below waterline she is healthy. Above waterline I have tighetened every screw and cleaned the hull to bear wood. I am planing to varnish it after I solve the seam puzzle.
Thanks.
Sasha