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6th October 2010, 11:13 AM #1New Member
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Cotton Caulking vs epoxy a newbie ?
I have a 16ft carvel planked sailboat, built about 1953. It has been dry for about 7 years.
The planks are Western Red Cedar about 1/2" thick over oak frames.
I would like to trailer this boat and am concerned about seepage if it is out of the water for a month or so.
I am sanding the hull and replacing a couple ribs.
my question is caulking vs. epoxy. I have read articles about removing the cotton caulking and opening the seam slightly (to get to clean wood) and then filling with epoxy vs. recaulking.
While I can see that this would make the hull watertight would it make it too stiff and prone to cracking or popping planks?
looking for suggestions/advice
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7th October 2010, 03:49 PM #2
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.
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