19 FT larch boat leaking!

Highway patrolman

Hi all,
As the title suggests, i have a 19ft larch open boat that is leaking i purchased the boat a few weeks ago, with the intention of using it to fish the mayfly and taking it up after the summer and repainting it

The paint work isnt so bad at the min tbh, and all the timber appears solid

anyway its leaking between 2 boards and another board is split although this seems to have taken up and sealed itself,
whats the best course of attack?
I've been told to sink it, and let it take up for a week under water,
any suggestions are welcome! (other than buy a fiberglass boat!)

thanks

neris

Would caulking it with cotton do anything? If the boats been out of the water a while the wood can shrink and joints open up. Also try rubbing a bar of soap or Vaseline over the making area it stops the water coming in till the wood takes up

Highway patrolman

neris wrote: »

Would caulking it with cotton do anything? If the boats been out of the water a while the wood can shrink and joints open up. Also try rubbing a bar of soap or Vaseline over the making area it stops the water coming in till the wood takes up

It's clinker so don't think you can caulk it,
Didn't know you could use soap, will try that.

nokiatom

Highway patrolman wrote: »

It's clinker so don't think you can caulk it,
Didn't know you could use soap, will try that.

If where it's taking water is fairly low then you could fill the boat with water just above that point. You may need to have a hose going into the boat with a slow drip coming from it to compensate for the water being lost. In days gone by we used fill the bigger cracks with putty and then put the hose into the boat and after a few days everything was sealed. Is the boat in the water or ashore?

Highway patrolman

nokiatom wrote: »

If where it's taking water is fairly low then you could fill the boat with water just above that point. You may need to have a hose going into the boat with a slow drip coming from it to compensate for the water being lost. In days gone by we used fill the bigger cracks with putty and then put the hose into the boat and after a few days everything was sealed. Is the boat in the water or ashore?

Its on the lake at the min its between boards seems to be the biggest problem at the min

nokiatom

can you post a photo of the area its coming in?

DOCARCH

Highway patrolman wrote: »

I've been told to sink it, and let it take up for a week under water...

If the boat has been out of the water for a while the planks will have shrunk a little (thus the leaks).

When I was sea scouts we had a couple of clinker boats when they went in the water every spring, they leaked like sieves and would partially sink on the moorings. After a week or so, they would bailed out and no more leaks.

spaceHopper

I'd sink it they say a boat needs 3 tides to swell up but let it be for a week then bail it out.

Roeboats

Sink it as others have said and see how it goes. If after a week it still leaks a bit you can use tallow or Frytex in the laps. The tallow won't dissolve in the water and is stiffer than vaseline. I wouldn't encourage using cotton and/or some modern silicon/polyurethane caulk. Cotton could make the gap wider and the modern stuff, if it sticks, won't be easy to get out.
Happy woody boating.

Highway patrolman

I sunk it during the weekend will leave it alone for a week and see how it goes, will report back as soon as refloat it and see how we go!

Highway patrolman

Took the boat out of wet dock on Sunday morning, I fished out of it all day Sunday I’d an auto bilge pump in it it only cut in once on Sunday, so I suppose that could be classed as water tight?

nokiatom

Highway patrolman wrote: »

Took the boat out of wet dock on Sunday morning, I fished out of it all day Sunday I’d an auto bilge pump in it it only cut in once on Sunday, so I suppose that could be classed as water tight?

Hopefully that solved the problem