How do I stop the leak

[Treewater]

This is wide board canoe. W T Bush. It's leaking badly from the bottom board where is connects to the forward stem. Pulling off the board would entail taking off the deck and pretty much disassembling the canoe. Someone tell me how you've fixed this type of leak. If it can't be fixed then fiberglass or canvas is the only way. I can't paddle 100 yards the way it is.

 

[Treewater]

 

[Gil Cramer]

Try mixing wood flour(sifted sawdust) with slightly thinned varnish. Push as much into the outside gap as possible. Allow to dry for a day or two. Then with the other end elevated, pour thinned varnish into the inside of the leak area. It might take several days of adding the varnish inside, but this will usually stop the leak .
.

 

[samb]

If you find an easy way, please tell us all!
I think my approach would be a daily dribble of varnish down the inside of the stem over the course of a couple of weeks. Perhaps alternating daily between the inside where the leak comes from and the outside where it makes itself seen.
Another less traditional approach might be to fill with clear epoxy; lay the canoe on it's side and just fill that whole seam with clear epoxy.
Of course, if that works the leak will probably show itself somewhere else.

Sam

 

[Treewater]

Thanks. I like the sawdust varnish idea. Yes, there's no easy way. That's what I hoped someone would know. Truth is always to be avoided.

 

[Treewater]

Decided to experiment. One side I poured in wood glue...Titebond 3. It never leaked through. . The other side of the keelson/stem I thinned varnish 50%. It leaked immediately. Waited three hours to pour in varnish w/o thinning. That took sometime to leak through.
Viscousity is everything.

 

[Maxtoon]

For a less permanent approach, try wax from a toilet bowel ring. It cleans up with paint thinner. They also make commerical products like Slick Seam for the same purpose. If the wood does swell, these wax-based products squeeze out without damage.

 

[John Sand]

Slick Seam is good stuff. In any other wooden boat I would try rolling in a strand of cotton caulking wick.

 

[Dave Osborn]

I used this on a strip built wooden boat.
It finds the leak by capillary action.

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[Treewater]

I used a Dremel to open up the slot leaking

 

[Treewater]

Slick Seam is good stuff. In any other wooden boat I would try rolling in a strand of cotton caulking wick.

Obviously, it IS possible to stop these leaks. I'm encouraged by the suggestions. Thanks. I was a little skeptical about using a kitchen flour sifter but hey, it worked great.

 

[Maxtoon]

I hesitate to even venture into this discuss, but what strategy you take on a strip-built boat can be very different from a planked boat. Try not to introduce hard substances into a plank seam that is meant to swell and move. Wax, Boatlife polysulfide caulk, things with low adhesive qualities and longterm flexibility are what you are looking to use. Hard glue in a seam is not an easily reversible action that might create more work down the road.

 

[Treewater]

Anyone is welcome. I just want to get in the water. I sifted sawdust, mixed with varnish and put it outside. Didn't stop leaking. So I mixed sawdust and put it on the inside. Tomorrow morning I'll know.

 

[Treewater]

I think I stopped the leak at the bow. I've been fighting that leak for several days. The location, at the end of the boat and under the deck, has got to be the worst location. I think it was a long gap and perhaps several boards. Since all boards come together at that point identification of the culprit is difficult. If I encounter this again the one thing I would do different is spend more time finding the exact boards and joints leaking. Water travels horizontally under gravity or pressure. Where the water goes in may be some distance from where it comes out.
I've done very poorly in my own assessment. A canvas cover would solve everything and might even take less time. Until I have had this canoe on the portage trail for a few weeks I'll never know. Now to the stern.