Boats must also be watertight—that is, invulnerable to leakage through the joints of adjoining pieces. Boatbuilders made wood plank boats watertight by caulking between planks with fiber threads, pitch, or a combination of these materials. For boats of skin or bark, filling interstices with pitch was common practice. The contemporary practice of molding a hull eliminates the problem entirely. Without seams there is no possibility of leakage.
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