plank seams

[WRB]

So, I have 4 planks to go and I am beginning to frett about caulking.... As designed, the catspaw dinghy is meant to be launched and then left in the water. However, unless you live on a lake, this is totally unpractical and this boat will spend the better part of its life on a trailer. I am wondering if it would be better for me to spline rather than traditionally caulk the seams. I can see all sorts of problems occuring with traditional caulking (swelling and drying, flexing on the trailer during transport etc...), I have to get this right as my next project may be a haven and will have the same problem. I love doing traditional carvel planking, so I do not want to move into strip or cold molding. Any comments, experience?
cheers
Warren

[WRB]

umm......anybody....

[RGM]

Sounds like you're kind of committed to the splines or wedge seam treatment. What the hell, try it. Or, perhaps better yet go conventional, with a thread of cotton and some seam compound and see how it goes. If and when that gives you too much grief then reef the seams, clean and prep them a little, then wedge seam the boat. Perhaps you should have considered building her originally with lapstrake plywood? If you build a Haven, are you really planning on trailering her alot? Won't that get old fast?