Waterproofing an old wooden sailboat with epoxy or fibreglass

[bourque]

I have a 14' 1954 Penn Yan Swift. It is all wood. But the exterior is covered with canvas. That sticks to wood better than fiberglass, and looks really nice.

[lesterbutch]

Just my opinion, but I would look for a nice older glass hull, in the late 60s and seventies, they were built like tanks. They will still be around when the earth falls into the sun ☀️. They don't change much except they keep hardening. Then you can build what you want from there.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by bourque

I have a 14' 1954 Penn Yan Swift. It is all wood. But the exterior is covered with canvas. That sticks to wood better than fiberglass, and looks really nice.

A Penn Yan doesn't nee to soak up. We glassed one and it worked fine. Added some weight however over the canvas. I have a suspicion the OP is speaking of a planked hull and probably larger.

[Scout 30]

Originally Posted by bourque

I have a 14' 1954 Penn Yan Swift. It is all wood. But the exterior is covered with canvas. That sticks to wood better than fiberglass, and looks really nice.

I think that we should have a rule that when you talk about your boat you have to include a picture. Mainly because I like looking at pictures of boats.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by Scout 30

I think that we should have a rule that when you talk about your boat you have to include a picture. Mainly because I like looking at pictures of boats.

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Scout 30 View Post
I think that we should have a rule that when you talk about your boat you have to include a picture. Mainly because I like looking at pictures of boats.


More bureaucracy, even if the original poster of the thought had a good reason and was tongue in cheek. At least one responder liked the idea.

[wmac]

Epoxy coated splines between the planks and epoxy coating the bare hull has been used up here on Lake Ontario very successfully on several old R boats. There may be more to it but I do know its doable but very labor intensive. Hope this helps

[nrwian]

Hi ,
We have successfully sheathed probably 40 or 50 timber boats in glass and epoxy since the mid 80s . Biggest being the K class (mini J ) Cambria . Boat needs to be stripped to bare dried out and either splined or the seams filled with epoxy . Also as if possible the inside of the planking needs to be treated with a thinned epoxy if possible . We use one here called Everdure .

The boat can then be painted with a 2 part paint system , so looks great . It is an expensive exercise but done correctly will really add strength and longevity to the structure .

[NevisDog]

Originally Posted by bailsout

Steady Hand, I find that success story hard to believe of a single planked hull. Maybe a double or triple. Ply for sure. Or the Fiberglass hull is now just insulated with wood.

Yes, Steady Hand, this is quite a story and deserves more explanation - do you know how she was built, and perhaps the reason/s for the sheathing being successful, when for most traditionally-built boats this is a death-knell?

[JOHNMARDALL]

In my opinion, this is only worth doing if the boat's equipment is in excellent, near new, condition. so that you will not spend a lot of time and money and still have a 'project boat" The bible for this work is "Covering Wooden Boats with Fiberglass" by the late Allan H. Vaitses, published by International Marine in 1989. Mr. Vaitses recommended no reliance on adhesive bond between wood and fiberglass, regardless of the resin type, and instead relied on mechanical fastening using stainless steel staples, applied with an air-hammer while the first layer of fiberglass was still curing. I used a modified version, with stainless screws into marine plywood, many years ago, and it held up very well. This little book is a great read for the nautically obsessed, even if at the end of it you decide against covering your wooden boat with fiberglass..

Good luck

John Mardall
Vetus Maxwell Group.

[billgewater]

Originally Posted by Dody

Hi,

the trouble is, that your hull has been in contact with saltwater and the salt cristals are in the wood. Whatever you do you will always attract humidity, the wood will swell and the epoxy will break, facilitating more water to find its way in and speeding up the process where rot develops and finally destroys the whole boat.

The most successful way out is to laminate 1 or several layers of veneer or plywood (depending on the size of the boat) in strips of 14 cm (again depends on the shape and size of the boat) in a 45 degree angle to the planks on the outside of the hull. Once this is done you've got a strong and solid barrier on which you can laminate with epoxy and fibreglass to make the whole thing strong and watertight.

Important: do not use Polyester for this, but go for epoxy!!!

I have to face this whole process on my boat at the moment, as after 57 years the nails between the planks and frames are giving up, fair enough. My boat was built like this from the beginning, only trouble is that they used polyester instead of epoxy, so, actually fortunately, the whole stuff comes off easily. A process you don't have to go through.

As I'm quite heavy with 22 Tons and will sail to some very remote areas, I've decided to go for 3 layers in 6 mm plywood (each layer crossing the one before) and 3 layers of fibreglass with epoxy plus, at least from bow to stern under water another with kevlar or carbon (got to look into these two materials to make sure I get it right).

To understand what and how I mean this, there exists a little film. It's unfortunately in german, but it shows the process and how it can be done. You can find this film here: Furnier statt Leichenhemd

Also, to better understand it, you can download the book (for free) from the Gourgeon Brothers about wooden boatbuilding in epoxy: http://www.westsystem.com/the-gougeon-brothers-on-boat-construction

Good luck and fair winds
Dody

In the 1980's I regularly passed an old wooden fishing boat in Darwin. I believe the vessel was of WW2 vintage and built of Australian hardwood - probably spotted gum. The boat was about 50 ft long. It sat on the hard for a few years as I recall and all paint was stripped/sanded off and caulking machined out. The timber shrank and many cracks appeared over time. Finally, the caulking gaps and the cracks were filled , with (I assume) epoxy fillers. I assume any rot was removed and any rusting bolts. The owners then laminated thin plywood strips (of varying width) over all the hull. At least two crossing layers. All with epoxy and copper nails. The entire boat was then glassed (epoxy) and then it was tarted up and set off to work. I believe it was used as a shark catching boat for some time. last time I was in Darwin the boat was in the "Duck Pond" - commercial fishing marina.
This would have been an expensive process taking a lot of drying out time (Darwin can be very humid). Material costs would also have been high, but the owners must have known just what they were doing. The finished product did look good though as timber always fairs up nicely.

Another wooden boat ( a confiscated Asian poaching fishing vessel) was purchased at auction by a well known local (he become Commodore of the best yacht club in the world - Dinah Beach). This vessel was long and narrow with a high bow. A distinctive style. He dried out the vessel , stripped the paint and (I understand) replaced all the iron bolts used by the traditional builders. The caulking was also removed. I believe he then epoxy primed all the timbers and the caulking grooves. and painted the whole lot with modern polyurethane paints. The caulking grooves were pumped with a black Sikaflex product (I believe). The hull looked distinctive and "spiffy"- very graceful. The deck housing was replaced with a very large plywood structure which totally mismatched the style of the hull. - like a Rolls Royce radiator on a VW beetle. This total process was time consuming and he named the vessel "Long Run" as in it took ages to complete.

[Capt Phil]

My wife talked me into buying a mahogany planked Chris craft runabout of about 1955 vintage. We had sold our DeFever and moved ashore and she felt I needed a project.
Paid $600 for it including trailer, after getting all the hardware off her and sanding for hours,
I applied Wests Penetrating Epoxy below the waterline and 6 coats of spar varnish above the waterline. Turned her over and sold it and trailer for $1500!
Mind you the windscreen Hardware was worth about $4000!
Who says I'm stupid! Phil

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by earthmover

I would like to re-furbish an old wooden boat. I don't want the hassle of pre-soaking in water each season so the planks expand to seal it. I want to coat it in resin of some type...

Anything seems possible when you don't know what you're doing.

[Lepke]

A lot of old wood boats have fiberglass over the original planking. Professionally done, it can last as long as the wood stays dry. Wet bilges, deck leaks, hose leaks will kill it. Also the hull is much heavier than it's original design.

[Steadman Uhlich]

Originally Posted by NevisDog

Yes, Steady Hand, this is quite a story and deserves more explanation - do you know how she was built, and perhaps the reason/s for the sheathing being successful, when for most traditionally-built boats this is a death-knell?

Hello.

I don't have more info on the boat.
I just looked and could not find it in my threads or files/notes.
It was for sale.
Beautiful dark blue hull. Cruised the USA East coast. I seem to recall it was a NY 40. But I have looked at literally thousands of boats in the last few years, so don't know if that was the model or not, but 90% sure, if my memory serves.

I looked at it online several times, which is why it sticks in my mind and read about it in the sale listing. It was on Yachtworld listing about 2015.
It was a very nice looking boat.
All I recall about the hull was that it had been professionally sheathed in fiberglass by a yard in the mid 1970s as I recall.

And I recall the owners had owned it for many years and cruised it each year up and down the East Coast. It had nice canvas (tan?) and very nicely maintained deck with some nice cast deck hardware as I recall.

I wish I could show it to you now. I liked what I saw. Very classy looking boat (full keel).