What do i do to prepare a wood boat for the water?

Question

this boat is a 1945 17' chris craft that has been stored for a long time but looks to be in good shape no rotten wood and all boards are solid it has a inboard motor its going to be in fresh water just wondering how to make it water wrothy

Answer 1

First, congrats on your purchase.

The first story you will hear is: "I knew a guy who had a wooden boat, and it sank."

OK, so first you may want to do some caulking along the keel. You might have some serious gaps to seal up.

Second, drain the gas tank and refill with fresh.

Third, soak her up. I have used a garden hose on my boats, but it doesn't get all the way up to the water line. The preferred method is to either put her in a boat lift and hold at waterline. Or, put her in a slip with a sling. On both methods keep that bilge pump running to keep the water off the engine.

Fourth, join a classic boat club. They have lots of members to help.

Answer 2

WOW man... Your taking me back a ways...

     If your boat hull is built using planks, with caulking (cotton or rope) like material between them... you will want to let the boat "soak" for a few days... this is usually done by re-caulking all the seams, putting the boat in a lift, and lowering it into the water so that it can sit, (not sink) until all the seams swell and form a water tight enclosure. If you have the place, I know some that just leave their boats on the trailor and back the trailor in the water and let it set for a few days.  I am afraid, without this, you will not be able to buy a bilge pump big enough to keep your boat from sinking.

   On the other hand, if your boat uses plywood on the sides, you should be good to go... for the exception in either case of bottom paint.

    A word of caution however, (along with a suggestion)... Often, wooden boats that age literally have holes in them - that you can not see, because the paint was holding in place... but the wood underneath has simply dry rotted away, so make sure it is really "solid" by taping it with a good stern tap... about every 4 or 5 inches all the way around - stem to stern, rail to skeg...  (assuming you don't want to go to the expense of a survey)

    Suggestion - you might consider applying a layer of fiberglass over the hull... it is not at all hard to do... and if the hull is solid, it will certainly give you a nice leakproof hull - and you will be good to go for many more years...  If you think you might like to do this, you can see how it is done, at

>  www.glenL.com  <

Answer 3

having built and rebuilt wood boats for years:

if it's been out of the water a long time it will leak like there's no tommorow for about thre days ..have excellent bilge pumps and batteries adn maybe even a high capacity 110v pump standing by for the first day you will be AMAZED how much water comes in and how fast....the technical term is sinking......

if it has rows of planks laid next to each to then, you have to put cotton caulking in and then "seam compound"........

best go to www.woodenboat.com and start reading as this  is ahuge subject!

Answer 4

Much more info needed.  For instance....salt water or fresh? Old boat or new?  Type of propulsion? You really can't expect a useful answer without asking a detailed question.  The only thing I can give you with the info you provided is to make sure it is watertight.  That much I presume you already knew.

Answer 5

First of all since it sounds like you are pretty new to this boat the best thing would be to have a marine survey done. Although the wood may look solid, these old wood girls like to rot in some hidden place. Surveyors charge by the foot generally and since this is a runabout it should be relatively inexpensive. Providing the surveyor deems the boat seaworthy there is another thing. Wood boats don't like to be taken in and out of the water often like today's fiberglass boats. When you first launch the boat expect the boat to take on some water. The leaks wont be gushers but there will be some. The wood after a few days normally will swell up and seal these leaks. So if possible keep this boat in a well and make sure you have a proper functioning bilge pump.

Answer 6

if i had to pick a best answer,josh m is your best bet. i have a couple chris craft boats,58,60,62. the ones with origal bottoms we let set on the trailer and use the garden hose to add water.be careful not to fill it too full. the are not made to handle alot of weight pushing down on the bottom and you could push the trailer thru the botttom of the boat, especially if it is a roller trailer. should be a bumk trailer with bunks placed under the engine stringers. also if you do decide to use a caulking on the boat, use a soft one such as slick seam. this will push out as boat swells.otherwise you will end up with broken screws and loose planks. as for the stuffing box.you can take the nut off and replace the packing with 1/4 inch graphite rope packing that you can purchase at a good plumbing store,do not over tighten.your prop shaft will bind when the rope swells. also as the boat has set for sometime it would be a good idea to check engine alignment with prop shaft. loosen engine coupler and you should have no more than .005 thous clearance the whole way around to avoid a bad viration. hope that helps. good luck.ps do not fiberglass the bottom. this will cause it to hold moisture and rot!

Answer 7

I've been boating since 1948 and owned 7 mahogany planked boats and 2 clinker built wooden boats.  This boat's seams are wide open because the wood has dried for several years,  DO NOT put it in the water yet,  It will sink. Do not caulk any of the seams before swelling the wood.  If you caulk the seams before the wood swells as suggested by others,  all of the caulking will be squeezed out and hang from  the seams outside the boat when the wood swells.  This will cause excessive drag and slow you down considerably., in addition to wasting most of the caulking.

If there is any rot, it must be repaired , if none follow the following steps:

First thing to do is put the drain plug in (usually a through hull plug in bottom, not though the transom) .

Second,   with the boat on land (on a trailer or storage cradle)  - fill the bottom with water inside the boat until the water is about 2 inches from the top of the main beams that the engine is mounted on.   Water will pour steadily out of the bottom for several days.  Keep checking depth and refilling water in boat.  Sometimes you have to leave the hose running slowly to keep water in the boat the first day.

Third,  After 4 days, the wood should be completely swelled.  There will still be a few portions of the seams that  are leaking.  Mark these areas and drain the water from the hull by removing the drain plug.

Fourth,  Caulk all of the seams that you marked where the leaks were and let dry for 3 to 4 hours minimum..

Fifth, Launch the boat within a day of caulking maximum and leave the boat in the water all season.  Be sure to c heck for leakage around prop shaft and rudder stuffing boxes immediately.  If there are any leaks,  tighten the stuffing box nut about 1/4 turn and check for leaks,  repeat until leak stops.   DO NOT over tighten stuffing boxes.

It will not leak , if you follow this procedure.