Water In a 100yr old boat

[driver_x]

My boat is 100yrs old and was wrapped with approx 1cm of epoxy about 10 years ago. So basically its now a oak boat inside an epoxy shell.

When i purchased the boat, i noticed a small amount of water in the bottom at the lowest point. both the owner and the surveyor said its no problem and that would could make its way there from windows for the aft deck.

I personally think its a bad idea to have water sitting on timber even though the bilge works i still have some water. If i dry the boat out by not allowing water to run in from those two areas could it potentially cause dame to the boat?

I know some old timber boats used to take on some water before the timber swelled. But surely that would no longer be relevant to the boat now.

In the area i live in (Belgium) its hard to find classic boat builders with the knowledge needed here. Hopefully someone here can offer some advice

 

[montero]

My boat is 100yrs old and was wrapped with approx 1cm of epoxy about 10 years ago. So basically its now a oak boat inside an epoxy shell.

When i purchased the boat, i noticed a small amount of water in the bottom at the lowest point. both the owner and the surveyor said its no problem and that would could make its way there from windows for the aft deck.

"both the owner and the surveyor" they cried with happiness that they finally managed to sell this boat . (?)

 

[bajansailor]

Here is a link to Driver's previous thread about his boat -
100yr old classic boat bulkheads https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/100yr-old-classic-boat-bulkheads.70273/

If i dry the boat out by not allowing water to run in from those two areas could it potentially cause dame to the boat?

It will not cause harm if you dry out the boat - but you will probably find that it is very difficult to keep it absolutely dry on the inside.
You mentioned that the boat was wrapped with 1 cm of epoxy 10 years ago -do you know what sort of glass cloth was used with the epoxy?
Does this outer wrap look in good condition, or are there bubbles anywhere which could indicate that the epoxy wrap is separating away from the wood?

Here is a photo of the boat for reference, from Driver's other thread.

 

[gonzo]

Unless you have a dripless shaft bearing, water will come in through it. The water lubricates and cools the packing.

 

[driver_x]

@bajansailor I have no idea what type of glass cloth was used, unfortunately the man that did the job has since passed away. The exterior is in exceptional condition. The surveyor only found some small parts of delamination in the roof which will be repaired this winter. I think @gonzo is correct I will have some small amount of water in the bottom of the boat from the drive shaft bearing being the old grease packed system. I wasn't sure if i could safely remove more water than that, but I think having read these comments it should be pretty safe to do so. Thanks