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

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.



--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

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.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
warning: non-FreeNet email must have "notspam" in subject or it's returned

Great posts William. Thanks.