[submarinerswife]

Somebody has the same idea as you. If this is the issue, why couldn't the boat builders have figured it out?

From a post in the comments section on the site:

Hmm, it makes me wonder if they could have left it in the water a bit so that the wood swells and seals the cracks, then try and refloat it. That is how barrels work, it wouldn't be unreasonable for a boat to use the same idea.

[CynicalBear]

I lived aboard a classic 1956 Chris Craft Connie for 5 years and am very familiar with wooden boats. When a wooden boat is taken out of the water and “put on the hard” for painting or bottom work the wood shrinks as it dries. When we put them back into the water they are left in slings for sometimes up to a week with pumps in the bilge to give time for the wood to re-swell which tightens the seems back up. The packing we put between the boards cannot be too tight or as the wood swells it will buckle.