In my years of teaching boatbuilding and repairing wooden boats, I’ve noticed many mistakes owners make in the upkeep of their boats—common practices, done with good intent, that can often do more harm than good. I’ve distilled these into a list of the ten most common ones I’ve observed. Being aware of these things should help to eliminate some frustration and expense. My list loosely follows the common order of seasonal work, from springtime commissioning to autumn haulout.
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On point 4, and this is what I do around the house. I don’t have a wooden boat (unfortunately) so have no experience of how it would work there. Having the disclaimer out of the way, I will take a toothpick, dip it in glue and push it into the screw hole. When it bottoms out I pull it out a smidgen and cut it off; then I repeat with another toothpick or what is left of the first one. Push them in with the tip of the screw, then drive the screw down. This usually works well. I do it most often with the door hinges of our 115-year-old house and it is a permanent fix.
Helluva lot of good information and recommendations !!!
thank you,
robert j. walters,
Bob-Craft Boats
Midlothian, VA
Great article, thanks! I’m curious, is there a contradiction between “wash down with salt water, it will prevent rot” in Section 8 and Section 10’s “hose down with fresh water before storing”? Or is it just that a boat should not be stored away with salt on its wood? That would seem to make sense, just askin’!
A quick question: how long would one expect for a dry boat to swell up, if the planking is 5/8″ Port Orford cedar? Would it be sufficient to hose her down several times over, say, a week? I know this is like asking how long is a piece of string, but some rough idea would be useful.
Thanks!
Tom