Thank you,.... and certainly no offense taken.
Oh,.... and 'single part curable' seam compounds have only been around for probably a little less than 100 years as well. Prior to that (and still on large or historic ships) a concoction of tar/pitch was used. That had to be heated and then dispensed or poured into the seams with a finned shaped ladle or dispenser, and then when cool the excess scraped flush. (Actually quite similar to how highway crews seal cracks in pavement today.). There is still a traditional deck seam compound available today called "Jeffries Marine Glue" that is heated and poured into the seams. The disadvantage of it in warm climates is that it will soften in the hot sun and become sticky (not what people want with their designer clothes today. )
One of the tough things about this caulking job was that the planks weren't tight together at the bottom of the seams (I had to use all those spacers), that made the cotton caulking job difficult, because at times there was a real fine line between "hardening up" the cotton enough and driving it completely through to the underside of the planking
