Recent content by Sabs

Believe me, Glenn, it’s crossed my mind. But I’m pretty sure that if I only do the outside and not the inside as well I will have serious problems when the wood starts to move. And glassing the inside with the ribs probably won’t go the way I think. But then, as an honest question, how is just...

So it's been a busy month. I ended up stripping the boat down to the bare wood. The last person to re finish this boat made some pretty devastating errors I tried to remedy. I started by trying to sand some areas where the varnish was flaking but soon found that there was one layer of varnish...

So, I've spoken to some local boat builders and it "seams" like there are more than one way to skin this cat. I've been told not to reclench the nails unless I plan to sand the entire boat down to the wood, inside and out since I am likely to crack any finish that is in the gaps, and I won't...

I've read a lot about people using sponges on the WCHA forum. I guess they don't know about the foot pumped bilge pump used by marathon kayakers. Hands free.

Considering the outside of the boat was wet after washing the inside, I can skip the trip around the lake to find the leaks ;)

I think I will skip the epoxy. I know how hard that can be to sand back if needed. I don't mind keeping up with a yearly varnish. Currently I'm looking into this sealing compound situation. I'm quite convinced that the boat was made with red lead putty sealing in the seams, but I'm pretty sure...

Yes I've read his posts and blog. That was the second time he tried it, but the first time it fails. I'm not sure why his first boat soup attempt doesn't go well, but maybe he didn't hammer the nails the first time. sabs

In doing some research on this sealing compound, it seems the common pretreatment for using it is a penetrating epoxy sealer that gets absorbed into the wood. Looks like a two part epoxy, that is thinner than laminating epoxy. Is there a reason this is not the preferred method to boat soup...

I'm not so sure I can find a willing volunteer for that job.

I washed the boat today. It is definitely butt joints. There is an area near the bow were you can see light coming through a gap. I tired to get a picture but it wouldn't turn out. There's also some sealing in the gaps that is crumbling a bit like old rubber. In another video from the video...

Hi Glenn, I haven’t had it in the water yet, my mooring point hasn’t been approved by the municipality yet, it’s not lapstrake, just butted. I was thinking the same about wait and see, but it needs new varnish anyway. I can see some cracks between the strips so I think it’s best to start here...

So I should mention that here in Denmark it is common (as this boat will be as well) to moor it in the harbour over the summer. I tried to get a spot for it at my canoe club but they said they wouldn't have a spot for it for two years. In my mind, the soaking of the boat and drying of about 3...

the conflicting info is about whether or not to soak the boat. The Danish boat repair guy said to soak it, then refinish, and Burke says to flood it with thinned out Spar varnish. I'd say those are opposing views. And while he may not have experience with the soup process, he has experience with...

Spoke to a local place today. He confirmed that the boat was built in the 70s out of mahogany, and that in fact these boats were built with a cotton string between each strip to help keep the boats water tight. He suggested soaking for a week, then putting on a varnish that was the "most...

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and kind words! I'll check out this boat soup idea. I had to transport it in the rain yesterday and it got wet enough that I could push some water out of the seams of the strips, so it will definitely need some finish on it. @Jim Dodd there's already some...