2025 Devlin Snow Goose Thread

[RM Anderson]

I think a well-heeled fella like him with an air conditioned shop doesn't worry about humidity other than in his humidor.

If you ever get into the weeds on the epoxy discussions there are conversations about how it can be permeable to moisture vapor. I've never payed it much mind, since I know it works having trusted my life to it for years. There are also people that get worked up about condensation that occurs within voids in plywood contributing to rot. Again, not something I lose sleep over.

Even if the wood is wet it isn't going to rot very fast since there isn't much air in exchange.

Tod,
I probably went a little overboard on the rot issue. All interior surfaces of the boat, but especially the bilge, received several coats of penetrating epoxy followed by a couple coats of neat epoxy. The System Three penetrating epoxy really gets into every crevice and is super easy to apply. A side benefit is that it stinks so bad that no organisms living in the wood could possibly survive. No proof of this of course but that's my theory and I'm sticking to it! RM

 

[HenryHawthorne]

Honestly I don't even know how a stitch and glue boat builder would manage the humidity in some areas of the country so as not to encapsulate alot of moisture in the plywood itself. Henry, Is it much drier there in the winter months or do you run a dehumidifier?
RM

Yes, a bit, anyway. Only 64% this evening. I have a couple minisplits in my shop (a pretty leaky old metal building) to keep it down a touch, mainly for cars/tools.

I don't lose a lot of sleep over moisture content in wood (once "dry", as marine plywood obviously is) - that MC is going to naturally and constantly be higher here than in your neck of the woods. I do worry about encapsulated air pockets, but the moisture a piece of wood holds (even the small voids in plywood) shouldn't cause an issue. Another reason for using good, marine plywood, just in case.