Reasonable Repair?

[wjm]

I am looking at an old (50+yrs) day-sailer which is cedar on oak. I'm told the planks were removed a few years back and refastened, however there are many seams through which one could watch a movie. Caulking seems to be some type of rubber compound that's pulling apart. Is this a repair that an amateur builder can undertake? Can caulking fill 1/4 inch seams? The boat frames, topsides and planks are solid, I'm just concerned about the seam repair. Thoughts?

[ken mcclure]

Oof. I'll try to give you enough direction to get you started, but please realize that I'm not an expert.

First of all I'm assuming that your boat is carvel planked, and that she's been out of the water for a long while. The planks have dried, and as a result have shrunk. Getting the planks wet and allowing them to swell back up will be important in determining how much of a seam you actually need to fill.

As to whether an amateur can do it, I'd hazard a qualified "yes." You could probably do it if you got yourself educated on caulking seams and practiced awhile.

Search the threads here. There have been several discussions on this topic in recent history, and there have been numbers of good helpful hints on how to wet down the hull and get those planks to swell back up some.

And if you say "looking at" meaning that you're "thinking about buying," then you may want to research pretty heavily here before you do it. It would also help for you to tell us who the designer is, what the design is and post a picture or two if you can.

[wjm]

This is a 1938 lightning, built in NY. It has been dry-sailed for years prior to its most recent purchase/attempt at restoration and I am considering purchasing it if I can find a place to work on it. I've seen some of the discussions on "wetting down" the boat, but don't know if that is the right avenue. If it will continue to be dry-sailed, would the seams not dry out (and thus open) while it is out of the water? Thanks for the help. Bill

Originally posted by kwmcclure:
Oof. I'll try to give you enough direction to get you started, but please realize that I'm not an expert.

First of all I'm assuming that your boat is carvel planked, and that she's been out of the water for a long while. The planks have dried, and as a result have shrunk. Getting the planks wet and allowing them to swell back up will be important in determining how much of a seam you actually need to fill.

As to whether an amateur can do it, I'd hazard a qualified "yes." You could probably do it if you got yourself educated on caulking seams and practiced awhile.

Search the threads here. There have been several discussions on this topic in recent history, and there have been numbers of good helpful hints on how to wet down the hull and get those planks to swell back up some.

And if you say "looking at" meaning that you're "thinking about buying," then you may want to research pretty heavily here before you do it. It would also help for you to tell us who the designer is, what the design is and post a picture or two if you can.

[Ed Harrow]

Well there's tons of expertise here, my suggestion is to go, first, to the horse's mouth:

http://www.lightningclass.org/

Good luck!