Preventing Rot ??
 

System Three has a rot-fix compound that you inject into the rotted
area. Not sure how it would look with a natural wood finish boat though.

--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://www.jemwatercraft.com

Gary Warner wrote:
That boat, as some may be tired of reading, is a 1958
Chris Craft. It's a plywood lapstrake hull. Mostly we
trailer it. When running there is a small leak and the
bilge gets an inch or so of water. Each time we pull
her out all the water dries up. But that wood
remains damp for some time. ~ As I understand it
rot is really micro-organisims that eat away the wood
and they thrive when there is dampness but also
oxygen.

So my question: Is there anything, salt maybe?, that
I can put in the bilge water while running that will
curtail these criters & their rot while not harming
the wood or making a mess?

Or is it nothing to worry about?

Gary



--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://jem.e-boat.net/

Preventing Rot ??
 

Thanks everyone for the ideas - keep 'em coming if you have more.

To respond to a few posts all at once and clarify a few things:

-- I will be attempting to fix the leak but not until end of season (Mid
October?)


-- This is a plywood, not planked hull, so there are no "seems" to be
calked.
Except possibly where the last plank meats the keel. This is what I will
check out in the fall.

-- We did scrape all old paint of the bottom and repaint.

-- The boat is stored under a tarp in summer & inside in winter.

-- My thinking is that even if stored in a dry place, it takes days for the
bilge to completely dry. And by then it's the next weekend and we
get it all wet again. So it's in a perpetual state of dampness...which
could lead to rot.

-- There is no current rot (that I know of) because we fixed all that
during our just completed renovation.

Gary

Preventing Rot ?? (Found current Dave Carnell page!)
 

"Terry King" wrote in message
.. .
Very Happy to say I was pointed to a current Dave Carnell site at:
http://www.angelfire.com/nc3/davecarnell/

All the info is there.

--
Regards, Terry King ...In The Woods In Vermont

"The one who dies with the most parts LOSES! What do you need??"


Glad this thread helped you find / find out about Dave
as well as helping me.

Preventing Rot ??
 

I have read anti freeze painted on and allowed soak in well kills rot and
preserves have also read fresh water is far worse for rotting.timber.
/////////////////
"Matt Langenfeld" wrote in message
ink.net...
System Three has a rot-fix compound that you inject into the rotted
area. Not sure how it would look with a natural wood finish boat though.

--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://www.jemwatercraft.com

Gary Warner wrote:
That boat, as some may be tired of reading, is a 1958
Chris Craft. It's a plywood lapstrake hull. Mostly we
trailer it. When running there is a small leak and the
bilge gets an inch or so of water. Each time we pull
her out all the water dries up. But that wood
remains damp for some time. ~ As I understand it
rot is really micro-organisims that eat away the wood
and they thrive when there is dampness but also
oxygen.

So my question: Is there anything, salt maybe?, that
I can put in the bilge water while running that will
curtail these criters & their rot while not harming
the wood or making a mess?

Or is it nothing to worry about?

Gary



--
Matt Langenfeld
JEM Watercraft
http://jem.e-boat.net/

Preventing Rot ??
 

Most definetly, use the rock salt, works great and preserves the wood.

"Gary Warner" wrote in message
...


That boat, as some may be tired of reading, is a 1958
Chris Craft. It's a plywood lapstrake hull. Mostly we
trailer it. When running there is a small leak and the
bilge gets an inch or so of water. Each time we pull
her out all the water dries up. But that wood
remains damp for some time. ~ As I understand it
rot is really micro-organisims that eat away the wood
and they thrive when there is dampness but also
oxygen.

So my question: Is there anything, salt maybe?, that
I can put in the bilge water while running that will
curtail these criters & their rot while not harming
the wood or making a mess?

Or is it nothing to worry about?

Gary

Preventing Rot ??
 

Ventilate the boat so it dries out fast between uses. Arrange the tarp so
it's open at the ends like a tent and plenty of air can blow through. When
putting my mahogony strip sailboat away for teh winter I made a ridge pole
out of 2x4's and draped the tarps over that (photos on my website). Lift
any hatches or floorboards.

I painted half of a small plywood boat with leftover engine antifreeze
(the ethelyne(?) glycol Dave Carnell writes about) and let it dry before
putting on the latex paint (exterior) and linseed oil (interior) but have
noticed no difference between the two ends. Both have turned equally dark
over the 3 years I've had the boat (Delta on my website). Like salt, if it
does no good it will do no harm. Use both. They don't smell or anything.

The strategy on my plywood boats is to patch leaks with resin to keep
water out of the wood. If its a small leak resin will do. There won't be
much flex.

You can always screw a wooden patch to the hull. If you have 3 feet of
leaking seam along the bottom (garboard) plank perhaps a narrow strip of
wood trim from the harware store could be set in caulk or glue and screwed
on. (Taper the ends.) It would stop the leak and keep water out of the
wood. You'll have to decide about appearances. OTOH such a patch could go
on the inside but all that would do is keep water out of the bilges, not
out of the plywood. At the same time the leak could be sealed on the
outside with resin to keep the water out of the plywood so it doesn't rot.
You'll also have to decide if you want a permanent patch (glue) or one you
can remove in the future (caulk) if the bottom plank is to be replaced.
Decisions, decisions, always decisions.

Last year I had to put a patch on the outside of one of my small plywood
boats where the screws holding on the daggerboard trunk pulled through the
face ply due to the stress put on the trunk. Photos on my website under
Boats, Dogskiff, scroll down to the sailing rig section.



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Preventing Rot ??
 

A permanent repiar on this boat may not be a big job. It depends on the
type of keel. If you're in luck it's a plank keel. They put them on
plywood boats to cover and seal the exposed end grain on the plywood. If
so all you have to do is sand the finish off the plank keel and see what
kind of fasteners were used. If screws you probaly just have to dig up the
heads, unscrew them, and lift the plank keel to expose the ends of the
bottom plywood planks. Then it would be just a matter of cleaning off the
old caulking, repairing any decay in the edges of the plywood, and
recaulking, reattaching, and repainting the plank keel. Not out of the
reach of a backyard boat repair for someone with time on his hands. Not an
expensive repair to have done.

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homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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Preventing Rot ??
 

On 28 Jul 2004 19:53:20 GMT, (William R.
Watt) vaguely proposed a theory
.......and in reply I say!:

remove ns from my header address to reply via email

Oh dear! What was his name?

Famous mariner. I am sure his boat was the "Spray", but his name was
not Roberts. G

He re-framed the planking, then replanked the frame.

JOSHUA SLOCUM! google and persistence wins again! Memory fails.

Good God!

I fight the "technology over brain" fight, then use the bit I rail
against!

Loooooser!

Do we see a whole new search-based "intelligence" or mourn the slow
and basic old one?

I mourn the old one because when you are "out there", you can't simply
switch to "Survivor" and see someone else's problems.

It feels to me that the new revolution really does remove us from the
pain of results.

Sorrrrry!

Actually it's funny. I use a famous mariner who had a boat that was
completely rebuilt, and was the epitome of "restoration is really new"
to start my own rant on the values of reliance on other systems.


Bummer!

Wooden boats don't last forever, despite what your read about 100 year old
vessels. Those old boats had to be refurbihsed and refitted every few
years, all the rotten wood cut out and new wood put in. Very little of
those historic wooden boats is original wood. In fact there's a rule that
if you replace all the wood in an old boat it's a new boat, but if you
leave a teenly little bit of oiginal wood in it then it's the same boat. :)

So the coin under the mast step should be sliver of original wood? G
************************************************** ***
It's not the milk and honey we hate. It's having it
rammed down our throats.

Preventing Rot ??
 

Great posts William. Thanks.

Preventing Rot ??
 

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 13:32:03 -0400, "Gary Warner"
wrote:



That boat, as some may be tired of reading, is a 1958
Chris Craft. It's a plywood lapstrake hull. Mostly we
trailer it. When running there is a small leak and the
bilge gets an inch or so of water. Each time we pull
her out all the water dries up. But that wood
remains damp for some time. ~ As I understand it
rot is really micro-organisims that eat away the wood
and they thrive when there is dampness but also
oxygen.

So my question: Is there anything, salt maybe?, that
I can put in the bilge water while running that will
curtail these criters & their rot while not harming
the wood or making a mess?

Or is it nothing to worry about?

Gary

Gary,

First, congratulations on getting your boat in the water. I'm sure it
was a lot of work.

In regards to your problem---
It is not a problem. It would be better were the boat not to leak at
all and had spiders in the bilge. However, most wooden boats will have
water in the bilge.Typically these leaks come from many tiny leaks.
Planing hulls, like yours, are flat aft. Two gallons of water in the
bilge will spread widely.
I would not spend too much time worrying about rot resulting from
dampness. After all, the outside of the hull gets wet as well.

I did a major restoration on a Chris Sea Skiff several years ago.It
had a small amount of water in the bilge. When the boat was put back
in service in the spring I would paint out the transom framing with
copper napthanate. If you are worried, you could do the same.