Kingston lobster boat. Strip planking, filling seams?

[Barefoot.bosun.]

I recently aquired a 16ft red cedar strip over oak Kingston lobster boat. It was built in 1981 in Nanaimo by John Knowles. I purchased it in Powell river and sailed/rowed eight days to Victoria and fell deeply madly in love with her. I tried uploading some pictures for you to feast on... but it won't work they are all too big. Sorry...
My question/problem is that I had to haul her from her mouring in Cadboro bay due to her taking on quite badly. She has a white substance between her seams, most of which is tight but especially on the bottom, has worked itself loose in a few spots. glue or puddy? . I refuse to fiberglass over her as she is still in marvelous condition and I bought a wooden boat, not a wood one with plastic on it... I want to fill those seams on the bottom, slickseam or epoxy? It needs to flex a bit and I feel like epoxy wouldn't be as flexible, but then if i used slickseam I could never use epoxy if it didn't work, I am not really keen on using alot of epoxy as i am doing this all right in front of my kitchen... i also think cramming slickseam into that many seams would be easier and cleaner than epoxy, but will I have to do it again? and what would I fill gaps with topside? The plan is to red lead with two coats of international red... then interlux brightside dark blue with some flattener (I am not a fan of gloss, looks like fiberglass... Although it definately wouldn't with this curvacious little boat... it's so obviously wood... but i work on boats enought that I am tired of looking at gloss..) I ramble... maybe three coats... I was wondering if there is a paint that might take some movement in the seams a bit better without cracking or is that beyond hope? I found a bit of rot in the frames (3/4 by 3/4 inch oak a foot and a quarter apart!) the bottom seven inches on most of them in the bilge... about ten percent of the wood was dryrot, I am going to epoxy those in so that doesn't get any worse. does anyone know what they would have filled the seams with traditionally on these boats back in the day? white lead puddy or something random? My last little problem to solve so I can go sailing without having a six month epic in my driveway is Fastenings!I have to remove a section of toe rail that has a big chunk out of it from a collision with some idiot who should be sterilized and sent to Edmonton... I want it bright, I started taking it off, and made a bigger mess of it... rusty, tight, flathead fastenings. I have heard of many ways to back those suckers out of there after the innevitable stripping of the head... what is the most effective way without making more and more work for ones self? I am gonna drill the heads off and pull it off, then take them out... but i have a whole bunch in the decks as well, which I have debated rebuilding completely as when they where built where made with some contrary grained red cedar in spots and is super pitted and punky in spots but not rotten... If they are rusty and exposed in need of replugging, should I clean them off and cover them with something before I plug them?

I have asked far too many questions, I think I know the answer to alot of them, I just want to know what others think.

Peace.
http://www.imagestation.com/8388909/3966935428http://www.imagestation.com/8388909/3966935428

[Thad Van Gilder]

Don't use epoxy!

I would use a product that you can buy at west marine, Interlux seam compound.

get the white for topsides, and the brown for below the waterline.

-Thad

[willmarsh3]

Sound like you had a really fun trip. Try uploading the pictures to www.imagestation.com or similar website. Then post the links to the pictures or photo album. They'll not be too big then.

[TimothyB]

The thing about strip planked hulls that were not made properly is that they are a pain to repair. I am guessing that the 'white' substance you are talking about is putty that was used to keep the leaks manageable. If the planking has shrunk, and keeping it wet does not tighten her up enough to stop it, then you have a few choices.

You can dry the boat out, spline the leaks with cedar (saw out the wider cracks with a skilsaw all the way down to the frame surfaces and epoxy or resorcinol glue in a cedar spline the length of it). This is almost 'the right way'.

The 'right way' is to remove the pieces of wood that are shrunken and causing the problem and nailing in new strips, using a flatbar to get the nails in near the end and toe nailing and gluing the last one. If you are not using glue on the strips except for that last one, you'll have to do some darn good joinery to get it just right.

You can dynel/epoxy cloth the outside of the boat, but you have said you don't want to do this.

You can fill the cracks with epoxy thickened with collodial silica, but it won't last that long (a few years at most I would imagine) if the wood has any movement. This is the most temporary patch that will last more than a season.

You could, although this would be hit or miss considering your boat was not built this way, find the worst leaks, ream them out a bit with a hacksaw blade to get nasty stuff out and the nails cut, and caulk them with cotton fiber, covered over with seam compound. You'd have to be careful since strip plank boats don't usually have heavy frames so the pressure from the caulking would have to be light enough to prevent distortion, but heavy enough to do the job. After caulking it you'd want to drive some toenails through that plank as well since you sawed out the supporting nails to caulk it up. Done carefully, this could be the cheapest and simplest repair, though not done in the spirit of the original construction at all. And you definitely would NOT want to do this until your frames and structural members were repaired.

Ultimately, they are plank gaps (I am assuming!). If you want the boat to be truly sound you have to fix the gaps with wood (or caulking), or encapsulate the boat in cloth and epoxy.