Are Canadian Boats' Cores Wetter?

[CJV 1]

Someone said today that a boat in Canada can be wetter given the longer/colder winters and the freeze/thaw cycle. Fittings, thru-hulls, etc could just leak more.

Any similar opinion out there?

[damcoyote 2]

Unlike Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois ?????

[SloopJonB 7,976]

Ice doesn't migrate through core materials.

[wbrent 1]

In my neck of the woods boats are sailed about four months a year then covered for the rest of the time. So one could say they are only exposed to the elements a portion of the time southern boats are. 

[Gouvernail 2,703]

 

They should be fine if you keep them in the igloo during the winter

[Ishmael 5,804]

14 hours ago, Gouvernail said:

 

They should be fine if you keep them in the igloo during the winter

Or in the dining room.

[crankcall 205]

We have a lot of freshwater, so even if the core is soaked it's ok, the water is clean

[blunted 330]

It can be quite dry here in the winter too. My experience with unfinished laminates is that winter is helpful for drying things out, as long as they are not totally saturated before they get frozen.

That having been said, frost heave is a bitch and can truly fuck up your boat if there is a good amount of water in an assembly and it goes through multiple freeze thaw cycles which can cause plenty of damage.

[Lamps 2]

My brokers advice was in order, best to worst:

northern freshwater boat

northern saltwater boat

southern freshwater boat

southern saltwater boat

A northern freshwater boat that gets shrinkwrapped sees only half the year in terms of sunshine, and you don’t get damage from freezing and thawing at deck level.  Water in the hull can cause damage of course.