Thread: Cotton Caulking vs epoxy a newbie ?

Epoxy and carvel hulls generally don't mix, especially if the novice applies it. Carvel builds do not like wet/dry cycling. They are best left in the water.

You can wedge the seams, which is a lot of work and changes the structural dynamic considerably, but it does work, by some reports. I've seen a mixed bag with wedged carvels that are trailer bound.

Epoxy alone in the seams is a recipe for disaster. For epoxy to be effective in this fashion, you'd have to remove each plank, encapsulate it, then rehang it with thickened epoxy seams. This would work for a while, until the fasteners worked loose and let moisture into the frames.

Lastly is a 'glass sheathing, which can seal the exterior, but again, carvel hulls don't like hard plastic sheathings and usually spit them off fairly quickly, unless quite thickly applied.

In the end, what carvels do like is to be treated like what they are. The seams need attention, the fasteners need attention, etc. When a carvel is "tight", meaning the frames, fasteners and seams are in good shape, they are solid, hearty craft. On the other hand if you let one or more of tese elements get away from 'ya, then you'll be cussing carvels in short order.