Salt Water and Oiled Boats

Hi,  I was wondering if an oiled boat can be used in saltwater?  A couple of times a year I head down and fish the Jacksonville, FLA area coastal waters.   

 

Thanks ,

Matt

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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on February 11, 2010 at 6:51am
Yes: I asume you mean linseed oil, terpentine, pine tar and japan drier. This mixture has been used for many years on the decks of sailing ships up and down the coasts. I use it on the mast of my small sailboat. Give the boat a good wash when you are out of the salt water.
Good luck
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 12, 2010 at 5:51pm
Yes that mixture is correct ! This is great news , thanks for confirming it !

Matt
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on February 13, 2010 at 2:49pm
I've heard that the oil will eventually gray is left in contact with salt. Don't know it that is true... Anyone else know?
Permalink Reply by Randy Dersham on February 13, 2010 at 3:06pm
I don't think it is the oil that grays. It is the wood that grays when the oil is no longer protecting the wood from the UV of the sun.

I think that is likely a mix up of teak decks that are left natural and allowed to gray. The teak has natural oil and giving it a good scrub with boat soap and left natural is a nice almost white look once the sun bleaches it out.

Penofin Marine is made by salt water people ( meaning the pres. of the company uses it on his salt water boat) and was used a lot in the Seattle marina for a hand rubbed look. Many boats switched from varnish to oil because of the quick light sand and re-apply. FYI, I lived aboard in the Elliot Bay Marina for a few years so got to see a number of interesting things come and go. Lots of boats use oil just as Lawrence suggests.

All of the oil I saw used in the salt was topside. A little salt isn't going to do damage if you let things dry out but all of the salt water boats had varnish or paint on the hulls.

Not sure if that helps
Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 15, 2010 at 12:14pm
Thanks everyone , great discussion and insight. Matt
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on February 15, 2010 at 10:46pm
This Penofin sounds good. I may try it on Ruby, the Grand Banks dory we built last year off the coast of Maine. I hear from the folks back there that the oil/turp/varnish on the red oak gunwales is failing and I hate to initiate an addiction to varnish and endless sanding.

The rest of the hull is Maine white pine, which has several coats of oil/turp/varnish. It's soft enough to hold the finish (so far), but the oak is not happy.

Here's a picture of Ruby the day we launched her (in Hurricane Daniel). In the foreground is the rotting hulk we replicated. Ain't she sweet?
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Permalink Reply by M Quinlan on February 16, 2010 at 7:43am
Wow , she is a beauty ! Well done !
Permalink Reply by Dave Z on February 16, 2010 at 11:21am
Brad, sweet dory.

red oak will almost always turn black in my experience, no matter what finish. if even a bit of water gets under the finish, it turns horribly black. I tried some experiments on ash, red oak, white oak, pine, fir, red cedar wiht varnish and oil. (treated the sticks and put them on my roof in the elements). the red oak always turned miserable. Its just way too porous.
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on February 16, 2010 at 5:56pm
Damn! The guy in charge of getting the wood fumbled the ball--he was supposed to get WHite Oak and got Red. I guess we'll have to replace it some day.
Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on February 17, 2010 at 5:21am
Brad: absolutly a classic piece of craftsmanship! Now then, I have to ask- is the becket at the transom a true becket or did you cheat and tie knots? I can't see the otherside of the transom.

Randy/Dave have the red oak thing right on. The teak(unfinished) on my center console is gray. We have a cottage 30' from the ocean. Siding is northern white cedar shingles. Takes a few years and it goes gray. Go a mile or so inland and it won't turn gray. Western red cedar turns yet a different color .

My wife just asked if I could take Ruby out for a date.
Permalink Reply by Brad Dimock on February 17, 2010 at 7:56am
Is a true becket spliced in? This one is knotted, but the bowline is spliced. We can fix that.

We started work on her on a Monday morning last August, and launched her twelve days later. I only got to row her for about ten minutes before I flew back to Arizona. I'll go play with her in May though, and yes, you can take her on a date if you're ever out on Friendship Long Island.

A couple more shots of the process are attached.
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Permalink Reply by Lawrence E. Long on February 17, 2010 at 8:21am
A true becket is spliced- or rather relaid. Take a section of 3 strand line about 4 times longer than the wanted diameter of the "ring". Unlay the line to get a single strand. Make a loop about 1/3 of the lenght of the strand and re-lay one of the legs back on it self, do the same with the other leg- in the opposite direction. The holes in the transom have to be large enough to allow working the strand. Get a good book on rope work- better instructions than mine. I use beckets on the sea chests I build

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