To caulk or not to caulk... before launch

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  • colbymkc
    Avalon
    • May 2006
    • 1

    To caulk or not to caulk... before launch

    Hello Everyone,

    I am preparing to launch my 1941 Chris Craft Cruiser. She has been out of the water for nearly 7 months and has dried out considerably. No work has been done below the waterline during these last 7 months except for new bottom paint (the hull was refastened 4 years ago along with a new transom). The boat was hauled to restore her cabin top. The seams below the waterline have opened up in some places to almost 1/4". I know this boat is doubled planked but should the seams be caulked prior to launch?

    Also, are there any tips (besides praying) that you could share concerning the launch itself, i.e. use of sump pumps, etc.

    All replies are greatly appreciated!

    -Mark
  • dunbarpm
    hack and whack specialist
    • Jan 2005
    • 36

    #2
    I have had great luck with wide open seams by buttering water pump greese into the open seams. As the planks swell, it simply pushes the greese out - no harm, no foul. put the boat over and let 'er set quietly and after about a week or less, the planks would close up tight - even the 1/4 inch gaps and any new planks with a traditional 1/8 inch gaps.
    Pete Dunbar
    Oxford MD

    Comment

    • George Ray
      Senior Member
      • Sep 2004
      • 2765

      #3
      Swell as much as possible before moving.

      Anything you could do to get her to swell up prior to moving would be good. Running sprinklers inside or outside. On the outside, if you had a cheap blue poly tarp and some old blankets or burlap bags and were able to hold the wet blaket/burlap against the hull with the tarp (like an emergency patch at sea)and keep it wet, then it would swell considerably in a few days to a week. Wet bulap inside the hull, the same thing. Don't want to get to much water weight in the bilge when sitting on the hill and thereby strain the fastenings with the weight of the water or in the extreme case tear the bottom out.

      The hull is meant to be a structure where all the snugly fitted wood parts work togeather and the fastenings mostly just hold the wood pieces in place but typically the fastenings should not be shouldering the entire load. However, when things have shrunk the wood does not work togeather with it's neighbor and the structure is kind of loose and shakey. Then when you start putting the hull under a strain in that loose condition things move and the fastenings take the strain and old fastenings can suffer greatly from such an unusual strain.

      Not to say you can't move a dry hull, but it is a great kindness to have the hull as tight as possible before putting it under a strain.
      This is the first lesson ye should learn: There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, it doesn't behoove any of us to speak evil of the rest of us.
      E. Cayce

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      • Adker
        Member
        • Mar 2003
        • 32

        #4
        Here in the land of a 4 month boating season, we deal with this every year. Let her hang in the slings for two or three days and the gaps will close and she'll float again. Friday when we put our boat in for the summer we were panfishing through the spaces between our planks. Today she's nice and tight and floating as she should.

        Comment

        • Gary E
          Senior Member
          • Sep 2001
          • 6300

          #5
          Originally posted by Adker
          Here in the land of a 4 month boating season, we deal with this every year. Let her hang in the slings for two or three days and the gaps will close and she'll float again. Friday when we put our boat in for the summer we were panfishing through the spaces between our planks. Today she's nice and tight and floating as she should.
          Who has a boat yard that will let you tie up the travelift for 3 days? even if you could pay for it.

          What do you do for the area that has a 6 ft tide range? You gona pay the yard help to keep adjusting it?

          Comment

          • Dan McCosh
            Senior Member
            • Mar 2001
            • 16374

            #6
            Our deal has been to start hanging Saturday afternoon, when the yard guys go home for the weekend. That gives us Saturday, Sunday and Sunday night to swell. I've been trusted to at least lower the boat as it swells. No tide, though.

            Comment

            • Adker
              Member
              • Mar 2003
              • 32

              #7
              We have a similar arangement. We usually tie up the travel lift over a weekend or we wait till all the other boats have been launched so there is nobody waiting behind us.

              There are a lot of marinas that will not touch wooden boats. Spring hoist time being one of the reasons. We've found a gem of a place here on the Erie Canal and plan to stay.

              No tides to deal with here, just the small fluctuation as the nearby lock cycles.

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