Why didn’t the wood rot or eventually absorb water and allow water to enter the boat?
In: 9
Yes, the wood would eventually rot and also become infested with water-bugs that would eat it and ruin the boat.
This is why boats are historically a *ton of work* to keep constantly repaired and functional.
As u/lekoli_at_work points out, yes, wood does swell when it’s wet, helping seal the leaky spots, but they also coating the wood in metric fucktons of oil, which repeals water.
Think of any old timey movie you’ve ever seen from that era, pirates or pilgrams, or whatever. Are the sailors just sitting around on the boat relaxing? No! They are constantly doing stuff like “Swabbing the decks” and working on shit, they weren’t doing that because sailors are neat freaks. They are removing as much water, dumping on oil, and repairing as much as they as quickly as they can. This is exactly why the sailors were always so young and beaten down, it was a ton of work.
Latest Answers