swelling hull on 28' Chris Craft

[nwbradshaw]

Hello,

My Dad just purchased a 1952(we think) 28' Chris Craft in pretty darn good shape. Since we don't have access to a shallow enough boat ramp to allow the hull to swell in the lake, we have been running water through the hull via a hose.

Things have been oging well, but progress is slowing down. Water has been running about 15-16 hours a day for 4 days now. Some areas have swelled pretty much shut, but the keel is only barely making progress.

Any suggesiont? Someone told us to find Dolphonite, but it seems they may have gone out of business?

Thanks,
Nick Bradshaw

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

No substitute for the lake Nick, and putting a lot of water in the hull while it's on the hard is tough on the boat. If you have seams that need caulking, you can clean them out and put interlux seam compound or the like in them.

Which CC model is it? That would give a clue to the construction.

In addition, your boat will have a hull plate listing it's hull number. The same number is sometimes inscribed on the engine room hatches or their surrounds. I have the CC book, you can list the number here and I can tell you what year and model you have. You can also mail away to the Mariner's Museum in Newport and for 25 bucks they will send you a copy of your boat's hull card, its birth certificate if you will. They will also send you any other infor they have, such as copies of the original literature and price list.

Cheers

[ 06-13-2005, 09:11 PM: Message edited by: Peter Malcolm Jardine ]

[nwbradshaw]

Peter,

Thanks for the offer on looking up the hull #. It is almost dark outside now, but I will look around tommorow for the number. What part of the hull would I look at for the plate?

I don't know where to look for interlux so I will try a web search and see what I come up with. Thanks for the tip. It looks as though everything will seal except probably the rear portion of the keel.

I will also order the book after the hull plate is found. That would be cool information to have.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate it.

Nick

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Look around the edges of the engine room hatches, the number is usually scribed into the wood. If the boat is an open one, the plate is small and brass and sometimes around the transom or the steering station.

The Hull number will have a couple or three letters followed by some numbers.. split up perhaps

e.g CD-28-001 This is a 28 foot constellation from 1957, hull number one.

Interlux is a large marine paint maker, and usually will have a dealer in your town. Look in the yellow pages, phone a boat repair or sales outlet, and ask for seam compound or caulking. They will recommend something. Listen to whether the guy on the phone sounds like he knows anything about wooden boats. ;)

[ 06-13-2005, 11:01 PM: Message edited by: Peter Malcolm Jardine ]

[RGM]

You may have to reef and cork the garboard seam. Peter's suggestions are on the money. Get all of the literature, info and documentation you can. Try Fisheries Supply in Seattle (1-800-426-6930)or try www.fisheriessupply.com (http://www.fisheriessupply.com) . They can ship seam compound and other boat "stuff" to you in a couple of days. Are you in Northern Idaho?

[Victor]

Danenberg says this shouldn't be done. Don't know if I'd want to go farther from shore than I could swim, not in this boat.

[WoodenBNut]

If your boat has been out of the water for some time, it is normal for the planking to shrink some. It is also normal for it to leak until the planking (takes up) water/mositure and swell shut again. Yes, don't put a lot of water in the inside of the boat as water weighs a lot and the boat is not designed to support all that weight on the inside (You could do serious damage - like cracking ribs, etc.) Here's what I would try: Use wet towels on the inside/bottom instead of running water in the bottom. You could also set up a garden sprinkler under the bottom on the outside of the boat. You can use a bottom seam coumpound like Interlux or Pettit Brown seam compound. I have used it and I mix a little bottom paint with it and put the mixture in an empty caulking tube(get them at West Marine/US Boat stores). This makes it a heck of a lot easier to apply to the seam than with a putty knife (at least for me). Also make sure your seams are painted before applying the seam compound. Also, remove any hardened lumps/crusts from the seam compound can before you try to mix the seam compound and paint - because lumps will clog your caulking gun (I learned the hard way!)
Or you could use a product called "Slick Seam" in your bottom seams (It is mainly a wax). But it will lessen the leaking until the planks swell. BUT, definitely do not use any polyurethane or polysulfide caulk (or any other rubbery caulk) in a carvel planked boat. These types of caulk will destroy the planking and framing of a carvel planks boat.
Make sure you have 1 or 2 good bilge pumps and good batteries when you put it in . And plan on sleeping on it the 1st couple of nights that it goes in the water.

[pcford]

Chris-Craft, as far as I know, never built a carvel hull. Maybe in the early days? They are lapstrake in the Sea-Skiff line, plywood in the Cavalier line and double planked and seam-batten in all other lines. The latter is the most common and do not require caulking. If the seams are wide and you are sure that they will not close, then two part polysulphide is in order. If the boat is in decent shape you can just put Slick Seam in the open seams. The excess will squeeze out as the boat swells.

[brad9798]

Is it one of the semi-enclosed models??? They made them in the early to mid-50's too. 28' ... then 29' starting in 1955, I believe.

That should be double-planked too!

[pcford]

I should have mentioned in my reply above that Chris Crafts are double planked on the bottom and seam batten on sides. My reply was not well written.

Centurys have seam batten on bottom. The battens capture water. This tends to promote rot.

[Stargazer14]

I think this is the perfect opportunity for a photo.

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

The outer layer of plank on a CC was cottoned very lightly, and filled with seam compound.

[nwbradshaw]

Hey guys,

Thanks for all the replies. It is semi enclosed, and I keep forgetting to take the time to look for the numbers. I will try and get those today. I do know the bottom is double planked.

It sounds like the Slick Seam is the stuff I need. I will need to get online and order some. Since my original post, the hull continues to swell shut, and we have brand new bilge pumps arriving tomorrow. I know we are making progress, but it sure seems slow.

By the way, we are in central Idaho, north of Boise.

Nick

[nwbradshaw]

The numbers on the engine hatch on both sides says SE 27 091. Are these the correct numbers that I am looking for?

Thanks,
Nick

[Peter Malcolm Jardine]

Your boat is a 1952 27' Super Deluxe Semi-Enclosed.

There were a total of 119 hulls built in 1951-1952

Weight is 4950-5790 lbs
Fuel capacity: 47 gallons
Bottom color: Copper Bronze
Waterline color: Blue, red after April 1952
Cabintop color: Blue, gray after April 1952

Engines offered: M, ML, K(2X),KL(2X)

[nwbradshaw]

Peter,

Thanks for the information. The boat has twin engines, but I don't know the difference between the K or KL. How would I tell?

Thanks,
Nick

[pcford]

The engine type is on the plaque on top of the exhaust manifold.

Chris engines differ in carburation, rotation and stroke for a given model.

If I am not mistaken, the suffix L means long stroke.

Someone will know for sure.