question for Ian and others

[goodguysconsulting]

Ian & interested others...

The now thoroughly dry cypress catboat is sitting in a boatyard in Hull, large gaps showing and needing paint. As I understand it, the thing to do would be seal the seams, float the boat, wait 'til she tightens up, haul out, then sand and paint. But I don't have the wherewithal to put her in & take her out this spring should I: (a) sand, seal & paint? or (b) just put her in and wait until the fall to paint.

(Ian, can't find your email, so am posting here).

Best,
Ken

[Ed Harrow]

Ken, how big is she. Could you turn her over and cover with blankets/towels and keep them soaked? If too big, perhaps you could build a tent and set some soaking hoses underneath...

[Dave Fleming]

Cypress, to the best of my recollection, is one wood that really soaks up the water. Since your boat is as you put it, DRY. I would be inclined to wet it out thoroughly prior to corking but do paint it before wetting out.
If you cork it DRY and it swells up you are not going to be happy with the result. Possible sprung or washboarded planking comes to mind.

[Dale Genther]

I normally have Boreal hauled for the winter in early Dec., by the time I launch her in the end of March, she has usually opened up enough to need both electric bilge pumps plus a little help from a houshold sump pump. For the last few years I've been hosing done the entire interior with a garden hose on both Sat. and Sun. on two weekends before launching. I would not have beleived the difference this makes. This year I had her hauled in mid October and she spend a portion of the winter in a somewhat heated shed. I was expecting an incomming flood at launching, last weekend. Instead the smallest of the bilge pumps only worked parttime and I didn't even need to leave her in the slings overnight. My point is: just a little water appied every now and then to the inside and outside can make a big difference, especially with a wood like cypress which loves to soak up water. So I'd take hose to your boat (inside and outside)every chance I got to see if things tighten up. BTW Boreal is a 41 ft. sloop, magohany on lapacho.

[Mrleft8]

Cypress is amazing stuff... One property I grew up on had a barn with a cypress shingled roof. On dry days you could literally see the sky through the roof. As the humidity rose prior to a rain storm, it would swell up tight. I spent many rainy afternoons in that barn, and never saw a drop of rain sneak past those shingles....

[Ian McColgin]

This may take a road trip. My memory is that she was kinda strip like built - less framing than I expected - and we need to think hard on this. Maybe Mary Ellen and I can swing over.

Two tricks for swelling:

Lay some towels around inside and wet them down daily. This keeps the moisture spread around without putting huge weight inside the boat.

I did see at a very good yard I still use a very scary approach. It was a Beetle Cat. They just put a hose in her and let it run. Filled the boat up to the centerboard top. Water was casdacting out the seams. When it slowed to a drippy, the turned off the hose and let it sit another few days. I'd be afraid of straining the planks but for that boat it worked.

If you have a garden spray hose - those flat things with the holes, you could start one of those inside and when you get any puddling move it outside and water from there.

My e-mail is in the profile so I've no hesitation to put it here as well: Ian.McColgin@state.ma.us

G'luck