Posted by Mike Field on November 01, 2010 at 16:36:07 user mikefield.
In Reply to: Re: Latest news about 'the film Swallow' posted by Jock on November 01, 2010 at 12:58:02:
The best thing for a clinker boat is for it's to be left in the water all year round. Then, apart from doing away with the continual drying and wetting of the strakes, the vessel is always ready for use. This is what I was able to do with Aileen Louisa, and I was mighty glad that I could. (But either it requires a good cover rigged in such a way as to keep the rain out, or else you need to be on hand to do some bailing after rain -- which, as Dick discovered with Scarab, is hard work....)
Not many of us have the luxury of having a safe berth outside their back gate where they can leave their boat anyway, though.
And of course in some climates the water freezes in winter, in which case ice can damage the hull of a boat left afloat. Where that's a possibility Jock's solution is a good one. Also good is leaving the boat out in the open, upside-down (as Mr Jackson left his dinghy in 'Winter Holiday.')