Its crazy to think those boards swelled that tight. If you think of it why didnt they fill the seems with cotton and fill the seems with seem compond like other wood hulls??

I too am unclear as to why the boat was not “Caulked”like most other wooden vessels, is this a Chesapeake oddity or just flying blind? I’ve never heard of the reliance on nothing more than swelling of planks.
Now you realize that BOAT stands for “Break Out Another Thousand”!😂