Shrunk planking....

[Pernicious Atavist]

Okay, now I have an issue with shrunk planking, well, the fellow who bought my sharpie, Atavistic, does.

I built the boat from cypress, planked athwartship. I applied 3m 6501 to the seams to accomodate a certain amount of shrinkage as the boat lives on a trailer. Never did a seam open up on me--ever. I kept the boat outside under a mesh cover so it wouldn't dry out. It got wet, etc. and the wood stayed in place. Just as planned for.

Now--the new owner, in an attempt to take even better care, kept it in a storage unit. It seemed to me that would be okay. He wrote me today with this:

I am beginning to undertake my first major project on Atavistic. After sailing her several times this past late summer, I’ve been very busy with work over the last couple of months and she’s been garage-kept while I’ve tinkered with this & that and had a nice cover/bag made for the spars & sails. Now it’s time to pay the price for deciding to keep her dry & stored out of the weather – I’ve discovered that the reason sailors say “Aaarrrrggghhh!!!!” is likely related to winter-time hull caulking projects…….

Unfortunately, keeping her dry has resulted in some wood shrinkage – I’m looking at 5 – 6 seams in the hull planking that have separated. I started noticing some gaps in the painted glue joints at the deck surface and was prepping to sand/fill/repaint when I spotted daylight coming through a couple of the joints where the glue joints had completely separated. I’ve started cleaning out the joints with a thin putty knife but now need to find a better tool to clean the glue from the edges of the planks.

Any suggestions that you have for a better tool to clean the joints would be greatly appreciated – obviously I just want to remove glue but not wood.

The other thing I’m hoping you can help me with is the best caulk/glue to use once I clean the joints & tape them from one side. I’m going to flip the hull over to clean the joints from the bottom and sand/paint the bottom while I’m at it.

My main concern is whether the glue that you used originally requires clamping pressure or not – obviously I cannot clamp the joints. However, I am fully aware that I need a caulk/glue that will “squeeze” or compress when the wood swells again in the future to prevent stress (compression) cracks forming elsewhere in the hull.

So--he's well aware of what could happen. I'm inclined to suggest he clean his seams, put the boat back outside to take up a bit, then work more 6501 into the seams.
--He cannot remove and replank, nor do I believe he has to.

Feedback?

[Captain Blight]

He's just dim.

[Brian Palmer]

He should have left the seams alone. I suspect the inside of the storage unit became an oven during the summer.

I had a cross planked sharpie that spent over a year out of water after I got out of school.

I would put some flexible seam compound in the seams that he cleaned out and spread some rock salt over the inside of the bottom. The salt will pull moisture out of the air and help keep the bottom tight. He should also try to get the boat into a regular garage where it won't get so hot. He might also have to just spray down the bottom to get it to tighten up again.

Brian

[flcracker]

He's just dim.

Thanks SO much for your opinion...... I may be new to this boat, but I'm no stranger to wooden boats, and no-one I know would call me "dim".

I don't know where you sail "Captain", but down here in the tropics wood rots year-round if it's left outside in the rain for too long - and we get rain year-round. I've sobbed over the rotted hulls of too many beautiful small open wooden boats that I've inspected around Florida to think that I could keep her outside in the weather for very many years without having to deal with rot.

I'm hoping to be able to take grandkids and greatgrandkids sailing in Atavistic decades in the future. Pernicious Atavist was able to sail her much more often than I am, so we discussed my plans to dry-store her before I purchased her. I had not intended to go so long between outings (two months since our last sailing), but work intruded on my social life and responsibilities to bills & the family took precedence.

The warehouse that she's in is a concrete block building with a good roof. Yes, it gets warm in the summer, but not an "oven". The trade-off is that I have a clean workshop with a concrete floor where I can leave my projects as they are and return later to continue with my work. My only other option is a grassy spot in my rainforest yard (leaves & sticks fall year-round). No garage at our house, so the warehouse seemed like the best option for me. YMMV.

Once I get the joints re-sealed, I will take Brian's advice and wet her down periodically in the warehouse. Looking forward to others chiming in here with HELPFUL comments.

Thanks again for your help, P.A. - we'll be back to sailing soon, I'm sure!

[Larks]

flcracker,
welcome to the forum mate and sorry to hear about the plank seperation. I have a similar problem with my resourcinol glued H28 planking which is drying out in a shed while awaiting a rebuild, (yeah, I must be dim too, fancy storing a 28' huon pine yacht in my own shed out of the weather for an indefinite period instead of paying exorbitant fees to keep it in a marina berth or on a mooring unattended miles from home and allowing rain to flood through the dodgy decks.)

I posted a similar query on how to deal with the opening planks and the general concensus seemed to be to get some moisture back into the timber to let it take up when the time comes prior to putting her back in the water. There was some advice to leave the splits free of any product because of, as you say, the concern with compression when she takes up but a boat builder here who had a look at her suggested filling from the outside with mastic or putty that would compress out when she takes up. Because she is also copper nailed down through from one plank to the next he isn't too worried about any need to glue the seems as there is no structural issue, only a water ingress issue.

For the H28 this will mean taking her out again or careening her a few months after launch to clean up and repaint those seems but I'm not too worried about that.

Now I don't know if this advice is useful for "Atavistic" as well but it at least may trigger some further discussion on the topic.

Please keep us updated on what you do as I for one am after more information on what should be done in this situation.

cheers and best of luck
Greg

[erster]

Flcracker, may I ask you several questions, maybe one at a time so as not to waste a lot of space? I maybe able to help you along with your boat. I know you said you have a rainforrest but do you have a place that you can place a portable cover along side of your place with dirt or maybe in the backyard?

[flcracker]

Flcracker, may I ask you several questions, maybe one at a time so as not to waste a lot of space? I maybe able to help you along with your boat. I know you said you have a rainforrest but do you have a place that you can place a portable cover along side of your place with dirt or maybe in the backyard?

It would have to be in the back yard - zoning restrictions and vandalism concerns prevent me from parking her outside the fence. I "could" put her in the backyard, but then she'd become a magnet for the grandkids when they're outside playing - we have a "sandboat" - a dinghy filled with play sand - and those kids would immediately gravitate to the "real" boat. When we had a jetski parked in the back yard, you couldn't keep the kids off of it..... plus, space is kinda limited in the yard anyway.

The biggest benefit of my warehouse is that I can keep tools/materials/projects at the ready, leave off wherever I am, then pick back up the next time I go to work on the project. That, and the fact that being three blocks from my house it's an ideal man-cave. Close enough to get away from the home-front for a bit, but still able to return home with a gallon of milk within 10 minutes of a call from the wife.

Feel free to ask away - I'm happy to receive any constructive comments/suggestions! :)

[Dave Carnell]

A 26' reproduction surfboat at New Hanover County Museum was taken out of the water and put in dry inside storage. Within two months all of the lapstrake planking joints had opened, as shown by the broken paint film on the outside. The curator agreed to my suggestion that I treat it with antifreeze. The boat had an oil finish inside and oil-based enamel outside. I loaded a garden sprayer with antifreeze and wet down the inside. Every plank joint dripped on the floor. After three more treatments 1-2 weeks apart, not a joint leaked and all of the breaks in the outside paint had disappeared as the juniper boards swelled back together. I was surprised that less than two gallons of antifreeze were needed for the successful treatment. The boat has stayed tight for over two years. I wrote this in 1989.

[pipefitter]

We have had extended periods of unseasonably cool/dry weather here the last month. Humidity levels have dropped down to the 30% ranges for days at a time. Typically, I can dry one load of laundry on the line per day and now I can process 2. The only rain we are getting is when the fronts come thru and then the sand is parched the next day. The best indicator is the cypress privy fence. Normally I can't see my neighbors yard and now I can see through the fence quite well.