Photoday! "Is she swellin' up?"

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
You only hear those words around a wooden boat yard. And in the spring - launch time - you hear them a lot!

Even though most wooden boats store over gravel or moist dirt floors, wood shrinks quite a bit over the dry winter months. When many of the old woodies are lowered into the water in the spring, they leak like sieves!

It can be quite alarming to see the pumps begin to gush with water seconds after the planks sink.
Wooden boat swellin' up. (1 of 1).jpg


The crew that works on them aren't concerned. At least not for a while. Generally, the huge flow tapers off in an hour or so.

Then the next day, the pumps stop running,...usually. Every now and then, pumps continue to gush, and don't let up. After a bit, the boat is hauled, and goes back in the sheds for some work.
 
  • Like
Likes: jon hansen

Todd D

.
Jul 4, 2012
28
Allied Princess Southwest Harbor
Seeing that makes me feel pretty good about my wooden boat. I launched yesterday and took on very little water. Of course I did a fair amount of prep prior to launching to pre-swell the hull planking. That consisted of filling the bilges with water every day for about a week before launch and tenting the hull from the waterline down and putting 10-20 gallons of water a day under the tenting every day for a week. This year my pumps didn't come on for 15 minutes after launch and then only ran for 8 seconds. It is all documented in the video.

 
Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
Indeed, most are lowered in the water slowly to match pump capacity. They will sit in the slings overnight at one level, and when that swells they go in deeper.
 
  • Like
Likes: TomY
May 17, 2004
2,099
Other Catalina 30 Tucson, AZ
This topic brings back old memories of growing up on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island in the 40's. The launching of the Beetle Cat Boats at Edgewood YC was always an eagerly awaited event. I didn't own one (wish I did) but I had a lot of friends who owned them. One was son of the owner of Cross Pen & Pencil. With the Beetle Cat it didn't matter how much money you had -- they all looked the same. When the boat was uncovered from it's winter sleep, you could see through the seams in the hull but we calked her up and painted and then it was off to the launch ramp, which consisted of a dolly on a track. You hitched a rope from the dolly to your car and that's how the boat was placed in the water. Then it was over to the dock to step the mast. It was a wonderful time to grow up. We had none of the stuff kids have today but we didn't know any better. Edgewood YC was the absolute center of our summer activity for us guys & gals. I hated to see September come around.

I always wanted a Beetle Cat. One Xmas, my wife bought me a beautiful scale model of the Beetle Cat that was complete in every detail. I can visualize myself sailing & racing in it all over Narragansett Bay. When I rigged it for display I thought I was back at Edgewood YC!!
 
Jan 22, 2008
296
Islander Freeport, 41 Ketch Longmont, CO
So my wife is from up state New York (ie: Massena), we took a trip back a few years ago in the spring and stayed in Alexandria Bay on the St.Lawrence, walking around town at night you could see boats hanging in the slings or with water running out from a hose left on over night. My wife tells the story of her uncle who never owned a car but had a Chris Craft to get around every summer.
 
  • Like
Likes: TomY

Phil

.
Feb 11, 2017
279
Morris Annie Haleiwa, HI
Sorry Tom, that sounds terrifying to me. I've only owned fiberglass & stitch & glue boats that don't leak much.
 
Dec 29, 2008
805
Treworgy 65' LOA Custom Steel Pilothouse Staysail Ketch St. Croix, Virgin Islands
Stunningly beautiful boat, Tom!

I, too, am reminded of when I had my ChristCraft Connie on Lake St. Clair back in the early 80's. Those launch leaks just seemed so wrong! But, as you pointed out, it is accepted as fact in wooden boat circles. Now I have a steel boat, and a single drop would be a serious concern, suggesting seepage through a rust-thru area!