thompsondockside.com

new stage. new challenge. question: did my '57 sea coaster leave peshtigo with the nuts on the planks indented, or did this happen over time? i don't mind filling the indentations with wood filler if i have to, BUT i'd rather not! also, in sanding around the nuts, i discovered a few loose nuts (besides the one working on the boat). how much do i dare tighten them? OR once the boat gets into water, will they once again tighten? it isn't like they can be turned by hand, but i have seen a couple move a little. this isn't the stuff of the holiday season, BUT i could sure use Santa's insight. thanks as always...

Andre.
Some of the nuts on my Off Shore are indented slightly in to the wood. some are not. You should try to tighten all of them. You don't have to tourqe the crap out of them but want them snug.
I used a nut driver to tighten mine. It has a handle like a screw driver with socket on the other end. I don't recomend a ratchet as you are more likely to snap them off.
As far as the lapstrake swelling once the boat gets wet. It won't or at least it shouldn't. That was one of the reason for using plywood, more structural stability(and cheaper than solid wood planking).
Have fun.
Karl

I also found a good number of them indented on my Grady, and did not do any wood filling. I put a nut driver onto them all and tightened (moderately) any that were loose. On some, the bolt would spin before tightening, so I would need to remove the filler from the bolt head and have someone hold a screw driver in the head of the bolt while I tightened the nut. I did them all in one session and my back was sore for days! It was nice to get it all done, but I am not sure that was the smartest approach. Good luck.

Rich

thanks a bunch! the info will save a lot of time not to mention MONEY!!!