Maintenance tips that are useful when caulking a wooden boat.
Boating can be a world of fun, allowing you to traverse the water of a local lake or even the ocean while staying safe and (mostly) dry. Unfortunately, boats aren't infallible... a variety of problems from collision to rot can cause wooden boats to start to leak. Luckily, a leak in your boat doesn't mean that you have to give up your seafaring ways... it just means that you need to break out the toolbox and fix it.
Boat repair has come a long way since the first boats were made in ancient times. Back then, the boat had to be dragged ashore, left to dry, and then coated with hot black pitch or tar. These days, however, it's possible to create hardier and more permanent repairs with a putty knife and a caulking gun.
When you start to caulk a boat (also known as "corking"), the first thing that you'll want to do is to find the leak. This shouldn't be overly difficult... obviously, look for the place where the water seems to be coming from. Unlike a roof or many other layered constructions, the water from a boat leak usually won't travel far from where it's coming in.
Next, you need to select your caulk. A variety of boating caulks are available commercially, but above all else you're looking for a caulk that will dry quickly and is waterproof. Check the packaging or with the retailer to see whether or not the caulk you have chosen can be used below the waterline, and whether or not it's going to dry out or crack. After all, you don't want to have to redo your caulk job because the caulk that you chose decided to crack and come apart in the water, do you?
When caulking a boat, it's important to fill in the cracks or holes that you're repairing completely. You may have to get a bit of additional wood or other material to fill in larger holes, using nails and caulk to hold it in place and waterproof it.
Apply the caulk to the outside with a caulking gun (or, if it comes in a squeeze tube, by holding the tip of the tube as close to the crack or hole as possible), and work it into the crack with a putty knife or other tool. If there are any potential gaps created by working the caulk into the crack, add a little more to that area, and then use the putty knife or similar tool to smooth out the caulk in over the entire surface of the crack. (Please note that it's important to cover the entire surface of the crack in this manner.) Once you've finished the outside, repeat this process on the inside of the boat to seal the crack from both sides.
After the caulk has dried, you may sand it smooth using a fine grit sandpaper. You may also wish to varnish or paint the area so as to match it to the rest of your boat (making it look as though you never had to do any repairs in the first place.)
Should you continue to have problems due to leakage, you might want to check the area surrounding the crack for additional damage. You might also ask a boat repair specialist to take a look at your boat, in case there is a problem that you either can't see or can't repair.
