Fillets wood, yum?

[Anastasia]

I'm thinking about my 2nd and 3rd lap seam which is below the waterline and seems to have more of a leaking quality about it than the rest of the laps. One solution I've come upon is gluing and screwing a wood fillet at that seam. I've also read of running caulk and epoxy seams or tightening the rivets. The boat is European made, which I have read suggests that the copper rivets might be hard drawn and thereby not as responsive to tightening. Those of you who would like to further my education on these matters, I'd appreciate it.

[Bob Smalser]

I don't recall you ever saying the boat leaks....does it? A little bit right off the trailer until it swells or consistently?

If it doesn't leak consistently, there's no reason to mess with that seam.

[ 10-14-2003, 01:56 AM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Anastasia]

When I first got my boat, before I knew better, while my boat was on the trailer, I filled it with water to swell her. At first this dry boat leaked like a sieve and after about 6 days it slowed down to a weep. Being that I didn't have a place to float it, I continued to swell it by putting some water in the hull and lining it with old cloth daipers to keep it moist. When we did our weekend lake sails, the hull did not take on much water, on an occasion pump now and again.
After about three weeks of this, I posted a question about this practice and learned that I was putting significant stress on the laps and other seams by filling it. Dave Carnell suggested I treat it with glycol to swell and protect the wood. I did that for a few weeks without filling the hull with water and the boat started to take on significant water when sailing. Especially the last time we took her out and had to come in after a short while because our hand pump broke from our heavy pumping and water was coming up to the levels of the benches. When we pulled her up onto the trailer, we noticed flow expecially from between the 2nd and 3rd lap. During this last sail, she was probably more dried out than any other time we went sailing, as we taken a week off and traveled up to Seattle to visit the Center of Wooden Boats and celebrate my brithday. Yes, she was probably not swelled and maybe the real issue is finding some place I can float her, rather than think about sealing the seam better. Anyway, after this last sail, I decided it was time to put her in dry dock.
In examining her hull, I find that the all the lap seam show cracks and gaps --- and yes the boat is quite dry now as we live in Southern Oregon. I also see a crumbly white material at the seam, which I think might be caulk put in the seams by a previous owner. I've read about cleaning the seams out with a sharpened tang of a file and filleting the seams to tighten them.
My concern is that I expect that this boat will remain a trailer boat and that I don't want to fill her to keep her swelled because of the stress on the hull. Someone suggested that I put a garboard drain in her and use a soaker hose to keep her moist --- the water rather than collecting goes out the drain hole. However, I'm also concerned about rot as there are already soft spots in the bilge area and a couple places that suggest fiberglass or epoxy repair has been done.
And yes, I'm probably getting a bit ahead of myself with concerns. I am working up my version of a survey of Rose with which I plan to include what repairs I think should be done. I plan to then take the survey to a local wooden boat maker who used to work for an outfit that repaired wooden boats. I'm hoping he can evaluate my survey and suggested repairs.

[Bob Smalser]

Ok, saw the pics. Looks like your boat was put together pretty quick and I bet it has always weeped there a bit. Those beveled lap joints have to be near perfect to take up quickly...and age and drying out only make that worse.

Sounds like the builder used a seam compound in his lap joints, and you will have to do the same. Any traditional or nonadhesive weatherproof putty or seam compound will work...no glues, no poly's.

Spatula in the compound, let it cure a bit, and tighten the rivets....gently. That free Jamestown catalog has decent instructions on it...you'll need a 4-6lb hammer head and a light 4-6oz ballpeen hammer.

If you've a plank warped so badly it won't close, you might consider adding a rivet there....looks like you've enuf space between the old rivets. Read up first. These are copper wire nails and tight-fitting washers, the hole you drill has to be exactly right, and if you do add one, displace it up or down from it's mates just a tad so it's not in the same line of grain.

Practice first on something unimportant...make a hanging shelf or something using the technique.

Start light...better too loose than too tight. You can always tighten a copper rivet in seconds...but replacing a split plank is a long and difficult job on a lapstrake boat.

[ 10-15-2003, 05:33 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]