Questions re: caulking dried out 40' Chris Craft

[Dan Meals]

Restoring 40' Chris. Boat has been out of the water since June while restoring hull. Hull is complete and we are now moving to the bottom.

Bottom is very dry, seems opened, lots of caulk shrinkage. Keel is separated in one spot by 1/2".

Cotton appears to be in place. Plan to caulk w/3M 4200. Suggestions on proper caulk technique appreciated. Concerned about over caulking.

[Mrleft8]

As luck would have it... The current issue of Wooden Boat, which arrived last night, has an entire article that addresses your question!

[Elco's]

I have not seen the new issue yet, but I do have experience with what you are going through.

Is the Chris a doublr planked bottom? If so, then your major concern is the oak keel ect. They take longer to swell, up to a week. DO NOT put anything into any of the timber seams. Anything put in there will retard the lumber from swelling back to where it should be.

If she is single planked carvel, thyen use a soft compound such as "BoatLife" brand polysulfide, to fill any gaps in the seams. It is soft and will squeeze out allowing the planks to swell proberly.

There is a product made by Davis Ind. called slick seam. It is a more tempary filler that is waxed based. However, by being waxed based, it will harded in colder winter water and lose its adhesion and fail. If you pull your boat every winter for winter storage, then thats not a problem.

DO NOT use any of the 3M ADHESIVES such as 5200, 4200, 4600, 13,59200...get the idea?

[ 08-25-2004, 12:52 PM: Message edited by: Elco's ]

[Bob Adams]

What Elco said! You might consider Slick Seam as it will squish out of the seams as the wood swells.The idea is to keep her afloat while she takes up. You might try to moisten the hull before launch also. Skirt the hull with plastic and keep the ground under wet.

[Elco's]

Good point Bob, I like to use the garden type "soaker hose" and lay it upon the keelson and let it run for a few 24 hours. Open the hull drains so she doesn't over fill. The idea is to presoak the oak back bone and save a day or 2 of babysitting.