Wooden Boat People

By McKenzieDriftBoat.com

Boat leaks what to do? Please Help

Hey all . I posted in March about my purchase of a wooden drift . I finally was able to put it into the water. The boat immediately began taking on water. I had expected it to have a minor leak or two. So my first thought was I hope I forgot about the drain plug. This was not the case. I visually examined the inside to see if I could see where the leak was coming from but could not .I had a friend with me and we decided to push out into the trout pond to get a feel for the boat. Since we had a fly rod with us we couldn't resist the urge to fish. We immediately started catching fish to the envy of all the bank fishermen in sight that had not touched a fish. I can't remember the last time that I had, had such a good time fishing I laughed so much that my face and stomach hurt. The majority of the fishing I do is with a spey rod for unicorns , I mean steelhead. But this is a whole another story, let me get back on track. We had the boat in the water for about a hour and a half. After loading it on the trailer we tilted the boat back and pulled the plug. What we estimate to be about 4 gallons of water came out. Upon examining the outside of the boat we believe we found the location of the leak just above the . ( see attached picture ) . I am a carpenter by trade but expertise is in rough framing of homes. But should be able to handle this boat repair. What I am lacking is the knowledge of how to go about this repair. I have read some other post and will continue to try to dig deeper to find the best solution. This is my first boat and and to be expected I want instant results but understand that I should be thinking of long term. Please please give thoughts, advice, pictures links or anything one is willing to do help. Thank you all in advance. I look forward to posting about the completion of the repair.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Peter Honsberger on April 9, 2021 at 3:17pm

First off I'd take an awl or a sharp nail and poke around in the suspect area to see if the wood is solid. Just looking at the pictures it appears you have some rot going on. Have you flipped the boat and checked out the bottom? Unfortunately where there's smoke there's fire. But maybe not. I'd start with the poke test and see what you're up against. After that I'd sand down the suspect area to the wood. You need to see how deep it goes, both on the side and also if there are any issues on the bottom. Then folks here can give you a better idea or ideas on how to proceed. Trust me there are folks here who know their stuff... Let us know what you find!

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Permalink Reply by Rick Newman on April 9, 2021 at 7:27pm

Unfortunately, the situation with which you are facing is not an uncommon one with older wooden drift boats. While water is needed to make our drift boats fun and usable it can also be their biggest enemy. When water gets inside plywood it can lead to damage and potentially rot when the right or shall we say the wrong conditions are met. The awl check for rot is a good start, the next step is called wooding the boat. By removing the paint you might be able to do two things 1. Start your love hate affair with sandpaper and electric sanders!, 2. You can see the GENERAL location of the rot if it is occurring. I capitalized GENERAL because rot can travel unseen between the layers of wood making up the plywood. What you can see or poke with an awl might not reveal the full extent of the issue.

When you expose the wood on the inside and outside of your boat you have hopefully found the basic problem. If you decide that you will be scarfing in replace plywood it is best to err on the side of removing an excess of material keeping in mind where the scarf needs to be and and what shape patch will fit on or along the ribs of the boat. In other words it might be better to make the patch a bit larger if it makes your job easier.

At the top right of the website you will find a SEARCH function text box. The best results are obtained when you use a phrase rather than just a word to get good results. I have added a few link to information I quickly found by doing so. I have spent time on this site since 2010 and many folks have successfully found this and other information helpful.

Here is a tip that will save you time and money. Start at the beginning and read all the posts on the site. Believe it or not many others have already asked the questions regarding the situations you will soon be facing.

Best of luck on your upcoming project, time, money and effort will solve most all issues that drift boat repairers face. Please post pictures of your efforts to further the knowledge of those that come after you.