Swell

[Quetzalsailor]

OK, so this is a plastic boat site...but, they have wood parts.

I have been restoring/rebuilding a 1950s Mahogany Flying Dutchman. This past Sunday, I stripped the single layer of polyester-'glass off of the centerboard. I have scarphed in new wood where the board had been dragged on the shallows. Since FD have rules about how big the CB is, I've compared it to the Class mylar template and to a fiberglass CB. It seemed as though it was about 3/8" too wide before I stripped the fiberglass; last night, Tuesday, it appears nearly 3/4" too wide! The board varies from about 14" wide at the bottom to about 18" wide at the top and is something like 13/16" thick, glued up out of solid stock. Is this even possible? OK, it's in my basement with 'ample' relative humidity, and it's still flat lying on a plywood workbench.

My intent is to correct the shape and sheath it in epoxy-'glass and varnish, like a stripper canoe. Perhaps I should wait for winter and low humidity before reshaping and sheathing?

[One Way David]

I am not qualified to answer your question. I posted a question about my Ensign rudder last year. It had almost 1/2 inch gaps in the jointed wood. The universal reply was paint, don't glass. I surmised from the responses that glassed wood leads to expansion/fractured glass or shrinkage/hollow space for water and rot.

But, in other specialties, I can easily see that much movement in wood due to atmospheric humidity.

Dave.