Swelling and bulging at seams.

[CaptainGIT]

New member and newish yacht owner here.

I've been looking for information regarding something I've noticed on my yacht. I've searched around and most of the information is in regards to shrinking and open seams. I appear to have the opposite.

My questions are:
Should I be worried?
How can I fix this if I need to?
Is there a term for this so I can find some more information?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Tranona]

New member and newish yacht owner here.

I've been looking for information regarding something I've noticed on my yacht. I've searched around and most of the information is in regards to shrinking and open seams. I appear to have the opposite.

My questions are:
Should I be worried?
How can I fix this if I need to?
Is there a term for this so I can find some more information?

Thank you in advance.

While a simple question, any sensible answer requires more information and possibly investigation. First, what is the boat and its method of construction. The run of the seams suggests it is not conventional carvel construction. Is it in or out of the water.

In general terms planked wooden boats are built with a small gap between the planks that is then filled (caulked) normally with a fibre filler and then a flexible putty like substance that dries enough to be painted over. wood swells and contracts according to the moisture content and the seam filler expands or contracts as the wood changes shape. So in dry weather the seams open and when wet it gets squeezed and stands proud as in your photo. For obvious reasons the paint can often crack again as in your photo.

So, this process is normal but the extent of movement depends a lot on the wood used (some are more stable than others) and the type and age of the fastenings used to attach the planking to the framework.

Without knowing exactly how the boat is constructed and the materials used it is difficult to comment on whether you should be worried or not. This is the sort of thing you should have asked the surveyor (assuming you employed one) who inspected the boat when you bought it.

 

[Wansworth]

Iinteresting in that it hS an aluminum toe rail so not an old boat.I had. Commando Class cold molded boat .Hull thickness was about an inch but never had your problem,is water getting in under the laminates

 

[burgundyben]

I saw the title and thought it might be about me!

 

[johnlilley]

Looks like double or maybe triple diagonal, possibly cold moulded as cannot see any obvious fastening evidence. I would hammer test the area looking for voiding or glue failure/breakdown. First impressions are possible water between layers following glue failure. Could this have caused some decay causing the surface disturbance. Do some careful spike testing. Once rot & glue failure have been ruled out then perhaps re-post with more up to date info.

 

[burgundyben]

Difficult to say from a photo on a computer, I did wonder the same as John, water ingress, but also wondered if the boat had been ashore and very dry when stoppered up, planks now swollen and pushing out what ever was glooped in.

 

[DownWest]

Tranona to put that jibe about sensible answers right after mine really!. As someone with 30.000 posts under their belt you could be more friendly to new posters! My obviously not up to scratch reply in your eyes was guided by the fact that it looks the same build and same problem that my boat had and I offered up my small slice of advise. Just because I suffered dyslexia as a child and more so as an adult does not unworthy make me post to. Good day to you sir.

Don't see that Tranona was slighting you? It was a perfectly normal reaction to the OP's question. I felt the same and would want more info before offering an opinion. It does look like it is diagonal planked, but, glued or rivited?
The dribbles don't look good if glued.

 

[Tranona]

Tranona to put that jibe about sensible answers right after mine really!. As someone with 30.000 posts under their belt you could be more friendly to new posters! My obviously not up to scratch reply in your eyes was guided by the fact that it looks the same build and same problem that my boat had and I offered up my small slice of advise. Just because I suffered dyslexia as a child and more so as an adult does not unworthy make me post to. Good day to you sir.

Somewhat taken aback by this. Absolutely no intention of being critical of your response. I replied specifically to the OP by quoting his post. So my comments were to him not to you or your response.

The key point is that one can't give proper advice without more information. You can make an educated guess but you really need to know exactly how the boat is built and the materials used before suggesting a course of action. As John says if it is glued cold moulded then the advice would be different than if it was riveted double diagonal.

One thing at least that I have learned from being involved with wooden boats for over 40 years (and owned one continuously for almost as long as that) is you can't jump to conclusions just from a photo. You can give general observations (as I did earlier) on the causes of some things like seams opening up and then contracting, and I did so because this was one of the questions asked. One could also go through a number of other possible causes of defects such as this, but it is really not helpful without knowing more about the boat in question.

Hopefully the OP will come back with more detail that will enable one to offer more focused advice.

 

[Keith 66]

That photo looks like glue failure between layers on a cold moulded boat, probably exacerbated by a leak along the deck edge, get tapping with a small hammer & it will sound dead where its delaminated.. It is likely to be a cut out & repair job.
Also paint it white as dark hulls will get hotter in the sun & epoxy doesnt like heat.

 

[CaptainGIT]

Sorry for the late reply, just had the boat hauled out and have been busy with the usual.

Thank you for the information, and advice. As for more information...

It's an Alan Wright nova 28, triple ply kauri, with a glass skin.

None of the areas sound dead, which certainly would suggest delamination. I might have to cut away some of the grp, and have a look.

 

[jamie N]

Could it be that the glass skin has held the 'wet' in, thus causing delamination between the layers? I've had similar on my carvel boat I think, and have worked to remove the epoxy coating below the waterline, fortunately finding only a tiny piece where damage had occurred. Now that I've run out of time to achieve full removal, I'm lining up a 'bead blaster'for the Autumn, to take the hull back to wood, then start from scratch. I should say, the 'damage' is more in the eye of the beholder, than to 3rd parties.

 

[Tranona]

Sorry for the late reply, just had the boat hauled out and have been busy with the usual.

Thank you for the information, and advice. As for more information...

It's an Alan Wright nova 28, triple ply kauri, with a glass skin.

None of the areas sound dead, which certainly would suggest delamination. I might have to cut away some of the grp, and have a look.

The streaks from the bulges suggest there is water in there. You are right, the first thing to do is remove the coating so you can get back to the sheathing and inspect. Just guesswork until you open it up.