Seams & Sawdust

Work clearing the deck continues - I've always been a clutter man more than a minimalist, but seeing lots of space where you thought there wasn't any can't help but put you in a positive frame of mind.
 

The stanchions are seeing a fresh coat of paint for the first time in at least two years.

After the recent bouts of rain the planks appeared to have expanded and the water level in the bilge became greatly reduced.  It was looking like we were going to be able to leave the pump to run unattended overnight.  However, the resurgent heat appears have put us back in the direction of square one, with things  becoming eerily quiet in the engine room as the pump is gradually submerged...

Here we see the top of the pump & accompanying float switch under the water, handily framed by the sun pouring in through the engine room hatch.  The oil swirls to the left should give you an idea of the depth.  The submerged pump is mains-operated, but above the swirls is one of our battery-powered pumps, connected by jump leads to a leisure battery out of shot. 

Last time I mentioned how we were going to use sawdust to solve a problem with the boat. 

Well, here's the bag, & this is what we're going to do with it.   Now I should be honest & say I'm not entirely sure how this is going to work, but the principle is fairly sound.  We will attach the bag to ropes and dangle it over the side, getting it into a position where it is roughly aligned with the problem seam near the bottom under the water.  The bag will then be split with a long poking device (I'm thinking a broom handle with a Stanley knife taped to the end), releasing the sawdust, which will then apparently rush into the seam and block up the gaps.  This traditional technique is intended as a temporary solution, but if it works will give us some much-needed respite. 

There have been attempts in the past to stop the water mounting up by "tingling", which is the nailing of small sections of lead onto the wood beneath the floor, but these have only ever prevented small leaks.  The main one that's causing all the trouble is hopefully the seam, though this has only ever been a theory on our part.

We were advised to employ "the sawdust trick" by someone with a lot of experience, and one of the things about seeking such advice is you will hear contradictory things from different people.  So a sure fire solution from one person will be met by tutting and rolled
eyes from the next.  Boat people are notoriously inconsistent in that sense - we have been recommended everything from squirting builders' foam into the seam to tacking plywood to the outside.  These all appear to be perfectly valid approaches, but it's the one approach we want, and hopefully a simple bag of sawdust will prove to be a big step forward.