T&T: A fish in the bilge

[Rudy Sechez]

You think that you've got problems. 
   
  Do you work on wood boats?  This was the initial phone call, because he had a leak, actually several, in his 55 foot, 60's era boat.
   
  As I was looking around in the bilge to find the leaks, something stuck my finger and it was bleeding when I pulled it out to look at it, not bad but red was showing- there was a catfish swimming around in the bilge.  
   
  Now, how big does the hole have to be to let a fish in?  The holes that I found, were the size of two pencils, not big enough to let in this three inch fish, but big enough to let in water, alot of water, and, it turned out that there were two holes. 
   
  I figured the fish came in when it was small enough to fit through the hole and could not get back out against the flow of water.
   
  We were able to use cotton caulking to plug up the holes, drain the bilge and return the fish back to the river.  This should hold till he can haul the boat, as long as it does not take as long to haul it as it did for him to get someone to stop the leaks. 
   
  One question that I pondered was how did these holes get to be so big when the planking was relatively sound in the area.  
   
  I figure, from what I found,when started to work on this problem, was that the fasteners corroded, one of them enough to let water begin to creep in.  The water, being fresh, allowed rot to occur where the frame laid against the plank.  The frame began to rot, the area got soft, the incoming water started to erode the wood, the water started to flow more/harder, erosion continued, the hole enlarged, etc, etc. until it reached the point where it was when I worked on it.
   
  I found this fascinating for two reasons, most people try to fix a leak long before it reaches this point and having been let go for so long, I saw, first hand, the results of what running water can do to wood. 
   
  Boats may not be perfect, but they are at least interesting!
   
  Rudy and Jill Sechez
  Briney Bug- the traveling workshop
                                

       
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