Caulking a wooden deck

MFV BF494 'Pansy', an old Motor Fifie Conversion
If you're new here, it might be worth starting at the beginning to find out what you're letting yourself in for! The Pansy Genesis - Where it all started So we start looking for a Scottish MFV for Liveaboard conversion and end up on a mission to restore and live with a 70 year old Motor Fifie that someone else had started converting. Bear with it, there's a few useful pearls of wisdom in here somewhere for those of a boaty disposition Feel free to get in touch with any queries or post comments, we've probably got heaps more info that we've just plain forgot to stick on here
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Caulking a wooden deck

By mark on Nov 23, 2009 | In Fixing stuff | 1 feedback »

Had a new, and hitherto reluctant helper today, I believe the correct term may be 'boat widow'. Think she may just be pitying me or trying to humour me a bit though.

Time to get the seams caulked and the last few lengths of deck plank laid. The planky bit was easy, kinda got my eye in now, although, there'es still one short nibbing piece about a foot long thats still not nailed down - ran out of sikaflex!

So after giving my nearest and dearest a quick crash course and handing her an 'ammer, a ball of cotton and the caulking irons left her to it while I cleared the decks and started oiling. Home brewed 'boat soup' being the concoction going down, linseed oil, thinned right down with naptha to let it get deep into the wood, and a very large dollop of Stockholm Tar which had been heated sufficiently to make look a bit less like a tin of Tate & Lyle Black treacle on a very cold day

Said mixture mixed up thoroughly and thrown about the place, got a good 9 or 10 coats on half of the deck, so they're colouring up nicely. just another 40 or 50 coats to go maybe, reducing the thinners gradually till its just raw oil and the wood can't take any more

Determined to lash enough of the stuff down to keep the rot and nasties at bay for a very very long time!

Over on the other side the fair hands of TK got to work on the cotton & caulking combo

She's a brilliant knitter at home, so obviously its a natural progression. Least thats what I told her anyway. Twist the caulking cotton nice and tight, feed it in and then harden it up with the caulking irons - simples!

tappety tap tap! If she didn't hate me and the boat before, after being bent over caulking the deck all day she probably does now. I will report back next time she speaks to me

Long way to go on the caulking from yet though, but already the seams are tighter than Peter Mandellson's arse on national 'insert a pineapple in your favourite politician' day

Once caulked up, there'll just be the seams to pay (cash or cheque??) and that'll be that.