Traditional wooden dinghy , for trailer sailing ?

[Toxophilite]

My understanding has been that a traditional wooden dinghy is not the best choice for trailer sailing. Is this true?

I was thinking of the stresses involved n trailering, even with bunks and a lightly sprung trailer

And the cycles of drying out a trailer sailor experiences

(This is not related to my Greg Foster tent sailor post just looking for general information from those with actual experience)
Thanks!

[Peerie Maa]

My understanding has been that a traditional wooden dinghy is not the best choice for trailer sailing. Is this true?

I was thinking of the stresses involved n trailering, even with bunks and a lightly sprung trailer

And the cycles of drying out a trailer sailor experiences

(This is not related to my Greg Foster tent sailor post just looking for general information from those with actual experience)
Thanks!

Do not worry about wet and drying. The boat will not be in afloat for long enough to absorb much water.
Good support along the keel will deal with trailering.

[johngsandusky]

I owned a plank on frame dory for a few years, white pine on white oak. It did dry our some in the garage while stored for months at a time, but took up pretty quickly. Running some water into it the day before using helped.

[neil.henderson]

My boats are glued clinker hulls designed by David Payne or Iain Oughtred - they live on trailers and are doused in the water sometimes. The oldest (Bella) was launched in 2018. I have no sprung planks or leaks - plus the Gannet sailing dinghy is the lightest boat I have sailed, she is brilliant.

Recommend you have a look at designs from one of these 4:
David Payne,
Iain Oughtred
Paul Gartside
Francois Vivier

Many of these design boats with classic lines, but modern construction.

Good Luck Neil
p.s. here's a p hoto of my Gannet

IMG_0228.JPG

[Woxbox]

I don't think the trailering part is a problem, but the drying out in my experience is a real issue. Glued lapstrake hulls of marine ply are popular for very good reasons.

[J.Madison]

A light bead of your favorite tube caulk in the lap of a softwood lapstrake boat will go a long way to eliminating the issue of leaking when launched. As will proper storage between uses. It will work fine in Vancouver, not so great in Arizona.

Work a slight concavity into the plank lap so the goo isn't all squeezed out when riveting up.

[Peerie Maa]

My view is a new boat is watertight when first launched. If it is only used for short outings it will not absorb enough water to swell, so drying out back to its original dry state should not be an issue.
Think about clinker built ships' boats hung in davits for weeks on end.

[heimlaga]

In the Nordic countries it has always been the custom to haul softwood clinker built small boats ashore when not in use. That isn't too different from trailer sailing. The boats are designed for it and at least 1500 years of experience proves it to work very well.
In our climate that is.
I agree with Nick on the constant dry state of the boat.

In a warm and dry climate this would probably not work.

[stromborg]

In the Nordic countries it has always been the custom to haul softwood clinker built small boats ashore when not in use. That isn't too different from trailer sailing. The boats are designed for it and at least 1500 years of experience proves it to work very well.
In our climate that is.
I agree with Nick on the constant dry state of the boat.

In a warm and dry climate this would probably not work.

That is a good observation on the history of clinker boats though I imagine sitting on the beach is a little damper than the average inland side-yard. Can't help but think a long trip with a 60mph/100kmh gale blowing by isn't going to help either. Best to trailer in the rain?

I'm in the more or less the same climate zone as Vancouver. Surrounded by 120' tall pines and firs it takes a long time for my world to dry out. Thinking about boats...assuming Toxophilite has the tent sailer on his mind, I prescribe using the boat once a week to keep it from getting parched. Barring that, would splashing a couple of buckets of water around the interior once a week help keep it hydrated (keep those garboard drains clear)? That and keeping the trailer parked over earth as opposed to cement or asphalt should (in my mind at least) go a long way towards keeping the boat properly "taken up".

Pre-pandemic I was watching an old spitzgatter getting rebuilt at the NWMC shop in Port Townsend. It came in for a couple of planks, in the end I think they saved the cabin and ballast keel and renewed just about everything in between (shades of Tally Ho). Anyway I noticed that the last thing they did before going home for the night was use a garden sprayer on the planking, just a light mist but the idea was to just keep things from drying too much in the heated shop.

[heimlaga]

If I was to keep a clinker boat on a trailer through the summer I would certainly keep it parked on grass or sand/gravel. Not over cement nor tarmac pavement which both reflect the heat. I would also keep it open to the rain and soak it with a couple of buckets of water once or twice a week if it doesn't rain.

Boat sheds on dry land far from water often have an earthen floor to keep the boat moist yet out of sunlight in summer and free from snow and ice in winter.

An old trick for boars running the risk to dry out is to put a worn out home woven rug inside the boat as protection from the sun and splash it with water once or twice a week. A worn out very leaky old style canvas tarpaulin or a half rotten cotton sail or some worn out jeans or cotton overalls or other clothes of mostly plant based material can also be used.
A thoroughly worn out home woven rug woven from strips of cut up worn out cotton clothes and bed sheets is by far the best.

[Toxophilite]

I like the rug idea a lot , like a rag rug. and the boat would be stored on grass in a shady yard.
Would one use salt water for keeping it moist, or put salt in the water one applies?

[heimlaga]

I have no idea. This far north in the Baltic the water contains so little salt that to us the only difference between sea and fresh water is that iron rusts a bit faster in sea water and that one shouldn't drink too much sea water.
Where you live things are different.

[Toxophilite]

One of my best boating friends who generously lends me his canoe yawl sometimes, is Finnish, last name 'Suo' He taught me how to properly pronounce sauna... Finland sounds like an interesting and progressive country.