Seams

I've pretty much decided to keep the boat as a traditional carvel, but I'm wondering what to do about the seams, esp below the waterline. Above the WL the paint is just cracked along the seams but below the WL, once I route out the caulk, some seams are at least 1/4" wide. I know this is in part to shrinkage, but even when dry - like when the boat was built - the seams are supposed to touch. How best to deal with this? I will be removing each plank to get those old nails out, so how best to close up those gaps? Should I just push the planks tight against each other when refastening and make up the total difference with a new wider strake at the garboard? Should they just be replaced? They aren't rotten. Is there a way to glue on a new caulking edge to the old planks (which sounds as much work as a new plank)?

 

What do you mean "route out the caulk". The standard procedure is to rake it out.

 

Rake it. Although when I pull the planks the stuff will fall out anyway...

 

Without inspecting what the structure of the hull looks like, it is difficult to answer. Refastening doesn't usually require removing the planks. The fasteners are removed and replaced as you go. If the seams are too wide and don't touch on the inside, splining can be done to fix the problem.

 

In this case the nail heads are buried in the planks, and no way to get them out without tearing out the interior and ceiling, which I don't want to do. Using a hole saw a little bigger than the nail allows me to lift off the plank, get a good look at the frames and gain access to the nails so they can be pulled. There seems no easy or simple way to remove old boat nails.

 

I see. Well, if you take a couple of planks at a time, the hull shouldn't get out of shape. It is a good idea to shore it on several points though. What species are the planks made of?

 

The planks are Douglas fir.

 

The usual course with this problem is to remove every other plank, so the hull can retain it's shape in the process. If the hull is particularly weak, usually from structural issues, removing every third plank is the choice, maybe with some straps to hold stuff in place, until the structure is shored up.

The way to remove nails is to use a "cat's paw" type of device. Simply, it gouges out the wood, just under the head of the nail, then you rock it back to remove it. It does leave pretty big divots in the planking, but under putty and paint, who's to know. There's a few different designs for these, but they work best if kept sharp.