Just splashed dried carvel plank boat: how long till fully swelled?

[portsample]

I've just splashed an older planked boat that had been out of the water for several years.

Does 95% of the swelling occur in the first week after the boat has been put back in the water? ...after the first month?

The planking is Port Orford cedar. It's been bottom painted w/the standard smelly stuff. Inside of the hull has several coats of oil based paint.

TIA for responses related to the question.

[wizbang 13]

POC will snap back about as quick as any wood.
Dunno the exact boat of course, but a few days may see it mostly shut. A few weeks, she should def be TIGHT. If ot takes longer, well, something may be wrong.
Is this an engineless/electricless boat that you can let swamp?

[portsample]

Thanks- the planks have set edgewise really nice w/minimal leakage. I'm getting about 1 pint per minute at the intersection of the transom and hull planking, it's been almost 3 weeks and I assume that if it is going to swell and stop it would have.

[Potter]

It isn't one of those ugly old trollers is it?

[wizbang 13]

That is not a seam that will swell . I guess you know that now.
I don't want to recommend anything WO knowing more.
Might just take a little smear of toilet bowl wax (so elegant) or all the way to new wood.

[flyinwall]

and you might want to think about posting a few pics as a picture tells a thousand words (and everyone loves pics)

[portsample]

FYI- Nearly all seams swelled and stopped leaking within one month of splashing. The stubborn transom and hull seam closed in mid winter (3 months after launching) and stopped leaking. No toilet wax, etc required. So far so good.

[johngsandusky]

Glad to hear it. Keep an eye on her, my boat leaks less when she's covered with grass, or sitting still for a while.

[Lew Barrett]

They will indeed leak less when not moving; they are not working.

A boat that is out of the water for a really long time may take a really long time to come back. Also, the old timers say that using it....running it..... helps. They do get a bit wonky if they are out of the water all blocked up and drying out for awhile, and the general shape and condition returns across time with swelling and use. However, use invariably equals "work" and a boat that is working will take on more water than one that is still.

As Bruce says, sometimes a leak is just a leak and no amount of waiting is going to fix it. If the boat is tight, well caulked and in good condition eventually she will "come back to dry" at the dock, but it can be a matter of weeks if she has been out for a long time, and my superstition is that running her a bit can help ease the process. That's not a scientific proof, just my experience. I usually like to get her out and use her within a day or two of the launch if possible. Call it a prejudice: I think it helps them snap back into shape.