I see a lot of numbers being tossed about about hull bending and such, but they do not seem to be used by anyone here who has actually built a wooden boat or been involved in designing one.I have been messing about in boats for the last 40 of my 52 years, and working in design and construction of vessels since '88, so I have some small knowledge of the topic.
The ancient Greeks and Romans built some nice boats, as did the Egyptians, but we have yet to find anything the size the ark is supposed to have been. 19th century ship builders discovered that a large vessel HAD to be reinforced with metal. Bronze floors, metal disgonals, etc. This is never shown in ancient ship building.
Let's just touch upon the backbone. Just the sheer size of the molding and siding of such a timber would have required a huge tree. It could not have been laminated due to the lack of any sort of structural adhesive. To get the length required would have involved multiple scarph joins, secured with, most likely trunnels, as archaeological evidence suggests from contemporary sources.
Any hull, wood, glass or steel, works in a seaway. All the forces are directed to the weakest part of the whole. This is why boats often leak at the deck joints and why deck joints and cabin/deck joints fail, often with catastrophic results under severe condidtions. (and the Flood would have been severe, due to the enormous fetch.)She would have worked so much, her seams would open to the sea and no family of 8 could bail her fast enough even with modern dewatering devices.
The Ark would have been totally at the mercy of the seas, without directional control or any way to provide thrust to keep her from broaching.
In short, I can't see it happening. Besides the fact that there is no evidence on the earth of a world wide Delude.
Great post. I offered Humm a method of testing the stresses involved, it's similar to one we did in S of M class.