Waterproofing an older boat

[Bob JonesParticipant @bobjones18255]

Hi i’m new to boating , i purchased a seaplane tender (FROG)approx. 30 years old , she goes well but takes on water any idas

TA Bob J

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Hi Bob

Is it leaking from the hull seams of from the prop shaft?

If its the shaft then remove the shaft from the tube and re-pack it with grease.

If its the hull then its not so easy, I know it sounds drastic but the only sure way is to strip the paint off right the way down to the wood then run a "v" shaped blade along each seam to create a small v shaped groove. Fill each grove with 2 pack epoxy glue and when it has fully set sand down the seams before re-painting.

I have bitter experience of just such a problem.

I bought a 30 year old Sea Rover with the intention of doing a few basic repairs, fitting an engine and radio before sailing. However when I tank tested the hull I found that who ever had built it had used a water based glue and so all the seams started to come adrift. The upshot was that I had to rebuild from scratch by removing all the hull panels and refitting them using a waterproof glue.

However if this is just to drastic you could always fit a small electric bilge pump to keep the water down whislt you are sailing, a car windscreen washer pump would do the trick.

Or you could just bodge it up by covering all the seams inside and out with a good thick coat of paint

Hope this helps.

[Bob JonesParticipant @bobjones18255]

Hi thanks for the info. it appears to be from the prop shaft, as the water is only in the rear compartments.I’ll strip it down and give it a good greasing .

Many thanks , Regards BOB J

[Tim CooperParticipant @timcooper90034]

Bob

Hope you have cured the problem.  I have a Veron Trident Trawler I built when I was 14.  Now 44 years ago.  After several repaints over the years I found it filling up with water one day, causing a short and stopping the motor, right in the middle of the pond!  my problem was the seams between the bread and butter hull.  I gave the hull a good rub down, filled in any obvious seams, the gave it a coat of the smelly dope used by aeromodellers and a layer of doped tissue, plus more coats of dope, then repainted!

Hope you don’t have to do this but it seems to have worked.

Tim

[Bob JonesParticipant @bobjones18255]

[Author]

Posts