Mahogany boat in the Carribean

[nauticalnomad]

Does Anybody have any experience or thoughts on the outcome of moving my 45 year old mahogany cold moulded sailing boat to the carribean,
It is UK built and been acustomed to the cold and not so warm climate of both the Uk and Eu.

So what if any impact will the humidity and weather bestow onto the hull?

Ive been informed previously that cold weather and conditions preserves the deterioration of timber boats. Not sure how much truth there is in this statement, But theres still plenty of old Scottish trawlers aournd the waters of the northern Uk and Norway etc
The boat is painted and maintained etc
Is it also common of wood worm and other bugs getting access to the hull.
The hull as of last year was coated with wests epoxy and then epoxy primer and then 2 pack paint.
So there is plent of cover on the hull.
The only weak spot under the water line is where the keel joins the hull and there is always a crack along the join from the flexing of the boat. This i cannot seem to fix except for sikoflexing the seam.

[jackster]

nauticalnomad,
I don't know what glue or what process was used 45 years ago so YMMV.
The epoxy, vacuum-bagged cold mo(u)lded boats I have known about had no serious problems handling warm humid climates.
The one I am most familiar with was, however sheathed in glass fiber.
Built in Maine and living in Florida, the only effect was a slight telegraph of the final laminate in the seams of a painted (LPU) hull.
There are many, many, many cold-molded boats in the tropics, as I understand, living happy lives.
I have, though, seen a cold-molded non- glass-sheathed hull develop small shrinkage cracks in the outer skin, from the increased sun exposure I assume. But nothing other then cosmetic concerns.
As for marine borers, steps must be taken (another advantage for glass-sheathing the hull) to keep the buggers from having accesses to the wooden bits. Maintain the bottom paint etc.
Hope this helps, but don't take it as a guarantee. Just my somewhat limited experience.

[Lew Barrett]

Calling all Wizbangs.........

The notion that cold water is good for wooden boats is widely adhered to locally. We do have borers here, though maybe not in the nubers and varieties of the southern seas. But I speculate there. One thing is certain: varnish and paint burn off at an alarming rate in hot sun.

[seo]

The question is: "Does Anybody have any experience or thoughts on the outcome of moving my 45 year old mahogany cold moulded sailing boat to the carribean,"
Well, assuming that you're going to also move, along with the boat, I'd guess that you'll see more people in bathing suits in January, and more consistent winds out of the SE, and much cheaper rum.
My firm advice is to not make any foolish protestations of eternal devotion after having had a lot of the abovementioned rum, particularly if addressing one of the people in bathing suits. Particularly if you find that a lot of your thoughts are trending toward how much more meaningful your life would be if said person was to somehow part company with the aforesaid bathing suit, that this would in fact be a Revelation somewhat akin to the apotheosis of Venus.
Beyond that, I go along with the comments above. If it's a winter's cruise, a few hours of extra diligence will do you fine until you're back in a land of short light. If it's a long-term shift, then you might want to change coatings to the various surfaces to be better suited to lots of UV light, lots of warm water and borers. I personally think that the idea of sheathing a cold-molded hull with FRP makes a lot of sense; makes a good barrier against borers, and a better substrate for more durable paints.
I'd only add the obvious, which is that dark-painted hulls don't do well in the tropics.
Also, I'd suggest making your first landfall at Barbados, because you won't go there otherwise. Too far upwind. Also too much euro-trash these days, or so I've heard. This can be mitigated by going off to the south, and maybe even screw up your courage for a visit to Trinidad. Very interesting place, but good to get current advice about what things are like. This is good advice for third-world cruising in general.
As a final thing, install good fuel filters, and bring plenty of elements. Bad fuel is not unknown.

[nauticalnomad]

Thanks for the info,
It will be a long term move, I have spent the last 12 months sanding back and painting the hull, so its all new,
I wasnt wanting to sheath the hull as if something happened under the sheath i cannot get to it, Although i heavily considered it,
I ended up epoxying with wests 4 x coats saturating the hull, prior to epoxy primer and then painting her off white.
The dark blue before was bad even in the UK, the sun would heat it up too much.
The glue used in the ocnstruction was recorcinol, She was built no expense spared etc, and i have surveyed the hull over every square inch and fixed anything that looked unhealthy prior to painting.
I always carry a spare fuel filter or 3..