Wensum

It sounds to me, Mike, like a 'strip-planked' hull. There is no caulking. Instead, the plank edges are usually curved, one rounded and its mate hollowed, so they marry snugly and are then glued, and nailed together with long ring-barbed nails. A light, almost monocoque construction but, unlike carvel, pretty well impossible to repair by replacing planks.

Thanks Charlie, good advice, will do. Happy sailing.....

I've just bought :? a traditional Norfolk Broads 'river cruiser' a gaff sloop 25' + b/s built in the 1930's. The hull is of light construction, carvel planked (.5 x 4") on to light ribs and shoal draft. The Broads are flooded medieval peat diggings connected by a river system and are fresh water in the upper reaches and brackish/tidal towards Great Yarmouth. There is little or no wave action. I need to recaulk the hull below the waterline. The caulking itself isn't a great problem, but what about the replacement stopping? The traditionalists would have one use linseed oil putty mixed with white/red lead, pitch/gasworks tar/beeswax, but the last century must have produced better solutions. Looking at 'sealants' on the internet presents a very confusing picture. Should one use silicones, PVA and cyanoacrylates, epoxies, polyurethanes or thiokol-based polysulphides? Sikaflex seems a possibility, but it says the wood should be 'dry', whatever that means. So has anyone out there actually used any of these products in this way for similar waters? Any practical advice would be welcome...!