Hull & structure
My classic wooden boat's seams are weeping — is that normal?
On a carvel-planked boat, some weeping after a dry spell or a spring launch is normal while the planks take up. Persistent weeping after a week afloat, or weeping in one localised area, points at failed caulking, soft fastenings or a plank problem and needs a shipwright.
Traditional planked hulls swell to seal themselves. A boat that has been ashore over winter, or afloat through a hot dry summer, will usually weep for the first few days and settle. That is a different thing from a seam that keeps working.
Warning signs that it is not simply taking up: weeping concentrated around a few frames, rust staining from fastenings, seams that open when the boat is loaded, or caulking that has lifted proud. Those are shipwright and timber-repair jobs, not general marine engineering — ask for a shipwright by name when you post the work.
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