Planking vs Ply and Glass for a trailered boat

by Alan DeForest
(Wilmington, NC, USA)

I am restoring a wooden Harkers Island (see Salty in 'Your Boats' Section).

The bottom needs replacing and I have been leaning towards plywood and then glassing the hull.

The purest would say you’re dooming the boat to a slow death.

I understand their concern, but I will be trailering the boat and if I plank conventionally the boat will dry and then need to take up again at the next use.

This would be most inconvenient and thus the ply and glass approach.

I was wondering about an alternative that would use an elastomer or caulk that I could use between the planks in lieu of traditional cotton and or oakum then putty.

The planks could move with the moisture content the hull would maintain its integrity.

When I first got the boat the gaps between planks was a 1/8 of an inch at worst.

Has anyone gone this route with success?

I’d like to hear suggestions.

Thanks,

Al

PS: I posted a while back that I was going to use yellow pine for the floor frames and I got feedback that it was a bad idea.

Well, I’m going to use cypress instead and found a reasonably priced source.

Every project has a budget.