Teck deck vs. heat problems in the tropics?

[myocean]

Hi Together!
I have been told that anything different from a white deck causes significantly more heat inside the boat when you are cruising in sunny, tropical areas.
Has anyone some specific experience regarding this? How relevant is the effect?
Yours,
Ulf

[deniseO30]

They all get hot as an oven in the sun. teak maybe a a little less I would think since the wood would not transfer the heat to the deck under it very fast.

[svHyLyte]

If you can keep the sun off the deck, the wood is actually a fairly good insulator. If not, the yacht will be significantly hotter. Several people we know have removed their teak decking over the years because of the effect in south Florida. (I once suggested simply painting the decking white while the yacht was in Florida and then stripping the paint when they were ready to move back north but that idea went nowhere...)

[labatt]

We love our teak deck for the look and for the "grippiness" underfoot when it's wet. However, teak has a tendency to absorb and store heat which will then be radiated internally to the vessel even when it cools down outside. We experienced this when we were in the Bahamas for several months. This was only an issue, however, when there was no airflow (i.e. light or no wind while on the hook). Any color other than white (or a close shade - tan, gray, etc.) will tend to absorb heat somewhat as opposed to reflecting it. This is also why it's usually recommended that you stick with a white hulled boat when cruising too, although we never really heard complaints from our friends in blue hulled boats while cruising.

[Hartley18]

In the tropics, a teak deck has a slight advantage over a painted one if you can keep it wet - just a bucket or two of seawater sloshed on the foredeck every few hours should be enough to keep it cool during the heat of the day, preventing the dreaded heat transfer inside.

Water trapped in the grooves in the teak is first evaporated by the sun, delaying (and hopefully preventing) heat transfer through to the cabin - and keeping the deck cool enough to walk on in bare feet.

EDIT: Hull, yes, but to my mind, no-one in the tropics should have a white deck - the sun glare can be really overpowering!! An off-white or (more commonly) cream colour doesn't absorb too much heat - but, if they had a choice, most people I know would go with teak.

[PCP]

My last boat had a teak deck. Teak is nice but besides the hot in the interior, on the outside on the sun it is a pain: You cannot go to the deck barefooted, at least I can't - the teak just gets too hot

[TQA]

Originally Posted by Hartley18

but, if they had a choice, most people I know would go with teak.

Errrr not in the cruising community I hang out in.

I can not argue with the beauty of a teak deck but in summer down here an unshrouded teak deck gets so hot you need shoes to walk on it while an off white GR job is OK barefoot.

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by TQA

Errrr not in the cruising community I hang out in.

I can not argue with the beauty of a teak deck but in summer down here an unshrouded teak deck gets so hot you need shoes to walk on it while an off white GR job is OK barefoot.

Hence why I stated that a teak deck is only slightly better than off-white and only if you can wet it down - especially before you walk on it!

If there is some reason why a bucket of sea-water every so often isn't a good idea (deck leaks, etc.) then, yes, you are far better off without it.

[Faster]

Hartley.... nice new Avatar!

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by Faster

Hartley.... nice new Avatar!

Thanks, Faster!! I've gone up in the world...

Too difficult to change names (and am still irregularly involved in the goings-on of the Hartley TS18-21 Yacht Club) - so I won't bother.

If anyone asks, it's a "Hartley 30"...