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I have a circa 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons (Fox River Boatworks) 16' foot square stern two-man pleasure rowboat (confirmed through photos and nameplate by the Depere Maritime Museum). My father passed away and left the boat to me. It has been in storage for many years. I recaulked the keel two years ago, per my father's instructions, and used it for the following summer but I was told it would need to be recaulked every year. It was a painstaking process and I wondered should I use a different caulking? Is there any easier way to do it?
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Somebody done tole you rong.
Lets see some photos and some bigger text por favor. -
Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Welcome to the Forum!
Caulking shouldn't have to be done every year.
However, most caulked boats must remain in the water and remain swelled to be watertight.
A caulked boat can't be stored on a trailer and just plopped in the water and expected not to leak.
Pictures do help a lot.I was born on a wooden boat that I built myself.
Skiing is the next best thing to having wings.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
To Bruce’s (Wizbang’s) comment,….. yes, you were given some wrong information.
Just like most everything else in life, there are certainly right and wrong ways to go about doing something, and this includes “caulking” a boat. The wrong methods or materials may last only a few weeks. The correct methods and materials may last a few decades.
we would need a lot more information as to the boat, the construction and what you did, along with pictures in order to head you in a direction.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Keep the boat in a high humidity environment. A small shed with wet sawdust on the ground in the hottest weather.
(wooden boat restoration for forty years.)Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Welcome aboard!
As above, no need to caulk annually. That's a myth perpetuated by people who never owned a wood boat. Depending on the planking wood (pine, cedar etc) you may find that it will swell tight ("take up") pretty quickly. I kept a white pine dory in my garage using it only a few times a year. When I could, I would hose down the inside a day before sailing, which helped. Otherwise it would tighten up within a couple of hours of launching. That didn't keep me from sailing right away, I just had to bail a bit more at first.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Thank you for responding. The boat is made of Cedar and is lapsided. I have some photos on my phone from the Pentwater (Michigan) Wooden Boat Show a few years ago and will try to figure out how to get them on the website. Unfortunately, we do not have a slip to keep the boat in the water all season, thus it is resigned to being on a trailer and is hauled down to water. The boat has always been called "The Clinker." What type of caulking would you use as my husband has removed some of the caulking along the keel already.
Thank you.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Lapstrake boats don't require caulking between the planks. I think there are threads on this forum about posting pictures. It sounds like you have a pretty special boat. If you used cotton and caulking irons last time, you should do so again. But don't recaulk if it doesn't leak.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
I have a barrel of boat blankets, old cotton summer blankets and mattress pad for my little boats. Day or two before use at the beginning of the season, they go in, get wetted down with a hose. Boat swells up. If I'm doing a long trailer run, wet blankets go into the boat. Try it.Ben Fuller
Ran Tan, Liten Kuhling, Tipsy, Tippy, Josef W., Merry Mouth, Imp, Macavity, Look Far, Flash and a quiver of other 'yaks.
"Bound fast is boatless man."Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
I don't believe anyone has ever caulked between the planks. It's just along the keel of the boat. We had a gentleman in town repaint the boat (and prepare it for water. He also repainted the oars and rewrapped them in leather. I'm not sure what paint he used, but it peeled along either side of the keel. We scraped the paint back down (this time we will be using Kirby boat paint hoping it will adhere better) and my husband started taking out the old caulking along the keel. Sounds like that was a bad idea. It didn't leak when we put it in but I need to recaulk it now before it can go back in the water. Sorry to be so ignorant about wooden boats but could you please explain the use of cotton and caulking irons?.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
I've done it, learned from books. Today you can find internet videos. I think Bud Mcintosh's How to Build a Wooden Boat has good instructions and drawings.Comment
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Re: 1923 Dan Kidney and Sons rowboat
Read this brief thread, or search other threads on posting pics. I'm better with boats than computers, but I generally save the pic to my computer, then click on the "insert image" icon at the top of your reply, third from right. That will give you an option to browse photos, click the one you want and choose select.Comment
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