Conference vicki::boats

    You bet FRESH water (especially rainwater) will harm the boat! 
    Especially if it sits in the bilges for days/weeks.  I suggest you
    go to a hardware store and buy a bag of rock salt.  Throw rock salt
    in the bilges every time you let the boat sit with standing fresh 
    water in it.  The salt IS hard on machinery and wiring.  But you
    have to pick... hull rot without salt, or a bit of increased
    maintenance on the machinery.  I have a 16 foot 1947 cedar hulled
    wooden boat with NO hull rot.  I keep in on a trailer and all Summer
    allow a small amount of 'real' or rock salt salt water in the bilges
    to keep it swollen up.  In the Fall I drain the hull completely with
    a wet vac.  If you let the water freeze it will split the seams.
    
    Finish:  Keep the boat out of direct sunlight when stored.  Keep the
    boat covered but VENTILATED.... not a tight tarp drawn down hard over
    the deck and hull.  You want air circulation... not a humid little
    capsule of watervapor and heat.
    
    Jeff

	And watch out for carpenter ants!  They *loved* the spicy, rich,
	luxurious taste of the mahogany transom of my '58 Thompson. :-/  
	So much that it would have literally fallen apart if I didn't 
	replace it over the winter/spring of this year.

	If you have it on a trailer, make sure it's a bunk-type, not a
	roller (like EZ Loader) type.   Otherwise the hull may get bent.

	I'm happy to report that after mending several ribs, replacing
	the floor, straighening out the hull problem (caused by ez loader
	rollers), replacing the entire transom, plus lots of other fixes,
	the Thompson is running *great*!  No more cavitation, no more
	shaky transom, no more wild spraying/nosediving, and less flex.
	I can actually open up the 65 hp and it cruises really nice!

	Ken

    Given that this is a trailerable boat, does it have a drain plug?  If
    so, I'd keep a positive up angle on it so that any water accumulating
    drains out the back -- I have a 65 Chris running in fresh water -- 42
    feet is a little big for a trailer -- I'm not sure I'd do the salt
    water routine -- 
    
    I'd check into WEST system products to use as a mechanism to prevent
    dry rot.
    
    

    My '65 Century has a drain plug under the front seat.  As long as the
    boat/trailer is level, the water collects right at the plug.
    Wayne

    I would minimize allowing the hull to dry out and then swell up again.
    Once you launch the boat in the Spring keep the bilges wet with salt
    water (I gave directions for making salt water in an earlier reply)
    for the season. In the Fall, rinse the hull out with fresh water and
    then wet vac the bilges dry.
    
    I keep my wooden boat on a roller type trailer and have had no problem
    with the hull bending.  But the trick is to properly distribute the
    weight so you don't distort the hull.  Wooden boats 'like' to deform
    and if improperly supported will deform.  Hogging is the most typical
    problem (keel bent UP) longitudinally which occurs because the bow and
    stern don't have as much bouyancy as the mid section so the middle gets
    pushed up by water pressure.  The hull planks tend to slip LENGTHWISE
    (like a bundle of straws being bent).  Hogs can be eliminated or
    minimized by 'improperly' supporting the hogged section, (lower the
    keel block for the winter in the hogged section).  You don't mention
    if you boat is hogged.... but if its old, and wood, it probably has
    some hog in it.  
    
    Jeff

re .last:

Sounds like you read the long article in the lastest issue of WoodenBoat 
on why wooden vessels hog. Worthwhile reading for any wooden boat owner.

    Yup.