Planking opening up in the sun

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nandtatno7

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I know I should be out sailing, but so should you!

Hoping someone out there will be able to offer reassurance / advice. I have a 24'6" Famouth Pilot built 1963 of pitch pine on oak, kept on a fore and aft mooring on the East Coast.

The boat points roughly West on the mooring and obviously does not swing, and the planking on the port (southern) side is opening up significantly in the upper part of the topsides. The topsides were freshly primed and painted this Spring, and the boat is kept in the water 50 weeks of the year. It has been very hot, with prolonged sun exposure, but another wooden boat on a mooring nearby seems unaffected. My boat also seems to dry out quite quickly during the annual 2 weeks out of the water each spring.

Are other wooden boats having this trouble in the heat?

The boat was out of the water for some 12 years before being rebuilt about 7 years ago - might this have had a long term negative impact on the timber?

Is there anything I could / should do? (I have positioned a cover over the worst affected area on the bow to keep the sun off).
 
How often do you visit the boat, could you hang some old wet carpet over the side and keep it wet and in contact with the planking, that would certainly help. Cover I'm not too sure about, may just allow the heat to build up inside it. Boats normally take up quite quickly even if they have been out a while, what timber is she? Softer timbers dry out quicker. I would go for the carpet.
 
The then owner of 'Corrie', an Edwardian Gentleman's Yacht, had this same trouble when he moored her in Gosport Marina about five years ago. He arranged some white sheets touching the planking with the bottom of the sheet in the water. The wick effect meant that the sheets were kept wet for about half their way up to the deck. He said that it helped a bit but to stop it altogether he should use the boat more!

My clinker built boat has the same problem which has improved since I changed her colour from black to off white.
 
You are not alone!
My Hillyard sits on a marina berth starboard side to the sun (although I do turn her round from time to time but not enough!). Her starboard planking has opened up quite considerably on the upper parts of her topsides.
I know how you feel. Just like your boat, mine stays in 50 ish weeks a year. I had her out in April for just over two weeks to re-paint her, and for once I got her back in without any movement and subsequent disturbance of the new paint!
I was p****d off when she started to open up, but then its been exceptionally hot of late, so I wasn't really surprised.

I've also draped covers along the affected side (light in colour so as not to trap more heat). I think these have helped a little. These will also keep the wind out of the open seams, which will also slow down the drying out.

What I usually do is, when we approach late summer, ie when the weather starts to cool a little, I run a small amount of trowel cement into the open seams and then lightly sand them flush. (I only use small quantities to allow for natural closure of the seams when the atmosphere gets a bit more damp). I then paint over them with the normal undercoat and yacht enamel. That way the seams are protected from rainwater and frost ingress during the winter months.

Doug
 
Thanks for the replies.
I am going to try the white sheet arrangement on the bow, tied under the boat and in the water.
And as Casey says, I should use her more!
 
I can empathise. I had my Twister out for 6 months this last winter and the splined topsides were starting to gape a little. I put trowelling stopper in the seams, which is now squeezing out as she takes up. What I have found very gratifying is that despite her prolonged sojourn ashore, she is tight as a drum below the waterline. I doubt if you have a long term problem; wood is amazingly resilient when it is in good condition.
 
Just had a similair problem with some wood on my decking. Deck is painted cream so nice and cool, wood strip painted dark green and burns your hand when it is touched on hot sunny days. It has started to crack. Have painted it cream and problem solved
 
At risk of teaching grandmother...

....she IS painted brilliant white, isn't she?

I'm lucky - teak planking, swinging mooring, but even so I noticed an improvement each time I changed colour, from black (awful!) to grey, from grey to Blakes' "Biscay" and now Epifanes "pale buff" no 26.
 
Re: At risk of teaching grandmother...

Dulux "magnolia" exterior gloss above and black anti-fouling below. Guess which one opens up when Mariposa's ashore (clue: There isn't a picture of a dog on the tin).
The only solutions are:
a) Use your boat more, ideally including a lot of beating to windward.
b) Keep her on a swinging mooring to ensure an even dose of sunshine to port and starboard.
c) Turn her end-for-end in the marina every once in a while.
d) Light coloured paint.
e) Pray for a typical miserable summer (on your peril).

I once read about a yacht that spent so much time on one tack in some ocean crossing that it damned nearly sank when they switched tacks.
 
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