First time wood boat owner...65 Thompson that has been out of water for 5+ years...leaking

by Maurice
(Clanton, Al)

Hello,

My wife inherited a 65 Thompson.

It is in excellent condition. It has been stored in her uncles garage for 5 or more years.

Last weekend we backed it into the water on the trailer.

It took on a good bit of water pretty quickly.

When there was a about 8 inches of water at the stern I pulled back onto level ground.

When I did that the water began seeping dripping out along the whole length of the keel.

I've been told that the wood needs to swell but not sure how to go about doing this.

Currently a mechanic is getting the motor running for us and we will try to put in the water next week.

We have access to a boat lift with a cradle.

My thought is to put it in the water and let it sit on the cradle for a while so it can stay wet and swell.

Is this the correct thing to do?

And if so how long will it take to swell?

And if this does not work what is my next step?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Maurice

Lake Mitchell Alabama








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Mar 08, 2014
 Thanks
by: Maurice

Thanks for the comments.

We are going to put her in the water next weekend.

I will repost and let you know how thing went.

Thanks again
Mar 08, 2014
 65 thompson
by: william & tammy

we have a 65 owens that we had out of the water for 1 month, it took about 3 days for it to swell back up.

This was in the state of wa. in salt water.

We had a survey done and the hull repainted.

We did not need any work done like caulking or any sealing of the bottem.

Good luck with your new adventure.
Mar 08, 2014
 yes !
by: Harry

Hello Maurice

Yep , if you can put her in slings while the wood takes up the water , its a good thing to do.

As to how long it would take , really hard to say , it depends on how much shrinkage there is to the planking.

If you can check regularly , keep an eye on the amount of water in the bilges. When the rise in the water level slows I would pump out the bilges , but keep the boat in the water , in the slings.When you think the hull is stabilized ( not much more water coming inside the hull, re - floatand see.

Hope that helps ,it`s hard to be specific .




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