Waterproofing the Boat Deck - Episode 232 - Acorn to Arabella: Journey of a Wooden Boat

For the latest on Victoria, the tender that Bob Emser is building, watch here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheArtofBoatBuilding/videos

The deck on this wooden sailboat is different from its hull in a few key ways, and because the very dry pine (our traditional, quarter-sawn, carefully selected, best boat decking material) is 2″ wide and almost as thick, we’re able to cotton caulk the everlivin’ heck out of it to keep everything dry underneath.

What the heck is Jeffrey’s Marine Glue, anyhow? Well, it’s a mix of tar, bitumen, and probably a whole lot of other stuff. As you’ll see, even though Jeffrey’s Marine Glue looks like it chips out of its container, Steve is able to demonstrate how flexible this marine glue is. It doesn’t shrink too much in cold temperatures, can get a little sticky in high temperatures, and can handle melting multiple times for repairs and resetting into the seam. Modern glues cure chemically, whereas this stuff is hard wearing *and* repairable. Is it old? Yes. But it is perfect for this job—tried and true.

Traditional methods in boatbuilding are not a religion, they’re a science. Choosing methods and materials that have worked in the past for many people in many areas of the world is smart, affordable, and easy to source. It’s the same spirit of practicality that rings throughout Arabella, a DIY wooden boat with decisions informed by the many boatbuilders, riggers, wood finishers, and carpenters who have come before us.

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Acorn to Arabella is a wooden boat building project taking place in Granby, Massachusetts. Steve started as an amateur wooden boat builder building a 38′ wooden sailboat in his backyard: designer William Atkin’s Ingrid with a Stormy Petrel’s gaff rig. These videos follow the journey from tree felling, to lumber milling, to lofting, to the lead keel pour and beyond—sharing details of the woodworking, carpentry, metal smithing, tool building, and tool maintenance that classic wooden boats command. This ultimate DIY boatbuilding project will continue well past launch, when he and the crew will travel and learn to cruise aboard the handmade wooden boat that they’ve built. Just kidding about all that, this channel is about a Siberian Laika named Akiva.

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