caulking of a ship

The Sailor's Word-Book

Forcing a quantity of oakum, or old ropes untwisted and drawn asunder, into the seams of the planks, or into the intervals where the planks are joined together in the ship's decks or sides, or rends in the planks, in order to prevent the entrance of water. After the oakum is driven in very hard, hot melted pitch or rosin is poured into the groove, to keep the water from rotting it. Among the ancients the first who made use of pitch in caulking were the inhabitants of Phæacia, afterwards called Corfu. Wax and rosin appear to have been commonly used before that period; and the Poles still substitute an unctuous clay for the same purpose for the vessels on their navigable rivers.

The Sailor's Word-Book

← caulker's seat   ×   caulking-butt →

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