Acorn To Arabella · video

What this video covers

After six months in the water, the wooden boat *Arabella* was hauled in Rockland, Maine, to address bottom paint failure and rapid zinc erosion.0:08 The hull’s oak planks swelled significantly, causing seam compound to extrude and create ridges that blistered and flaked the paint.5:21 Scraping revealed that the paint failure was most severe along plank seams and on wider planks like the garboard, while the lead ballast keel remained unaffected.7:54 To prevent further peeling, the crew scraped the hull to bare wood in affected areas, applied new bottom paint, and raised the waterline by eight inches.8:57

To address the rapid zinc loss, the crew replaced the existing stuffing box packing with traditional PTFE flax.22:55 The previous packing was suspected of containing graphite, which may have caused galvanic corrosion.22:49 The crew also performed routine maintenance, including replacing the propeller zinc and ensuring the stuffing box was properly adjusted to allow for a slight drip.4:34

More from Acorn To Arabella

We Stripped Our Wooden Sailboat Back to Bare Wood... AgainOct 2026Saying Goodbye to Newfoundland—and the Man Who Inspired ArabellaSep 2026Upgrading the Rudder and Another Trek To The CliffAug 2026We're Climbing a Wall No One Has Ever Climbed Before | Rock Climbing on Newfoundland's South CoastJul 2026

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