Who among us that live in hot climates have had a board destroyed by being left in a hot car for too long? Quite a few I’d guess.
Does anyone have some good tips for minimising potential damage to a board when you have no choice but to leave it in the car?
Of course parking it under a tree is great but not always possible.
vent plugs
Move to England
Wrap it in tin foil
Buy a convertible
My mate Tim who I’ve just finished building a board for, took the board to do some sanding on it before I finished, left it in his car on the hottest day we’ve had over here resulting in a nasty 20" long by 6" delam on the deck. This necessitated major surgery and another 3 months in my garage. (like it hadn’t taken long enough already)
What if you laminate and seal your board on a day when it’s very hot ? Then the air/gaz that’s inside the foam would not have to expand as much as if you would have laminated on a cold winter day.
I would guess a board bag? The “insulated” type? Anybody else care to venture a guess? I have often wondered the same thing myself.
as long as you prevent sunlight from going through the windows and heating the inside of the car, the car shouldn’t heat so much.
just cover the windows with a cloth or somt’ to shade the inside, if you also have a case for the surfboard…use it!
it works for me in the hottest summer days of Israel.
and it gets to 40 celsius outside.
gooooood luck…open the AC and enjoy life 
Hey CF, Im very knowledgable about this topic.
The real killer is radiant heat from direct sunlight; so one of the vitals is keeping direct sunlight off the board’s surface while its in your car. Its like standing in under a shade tree on a real hot sunny day (which is almost every day here). On medium/dark colors it can make a 30+ degree difference.
If I need to leave a board (mine are non-vented compsand) in the car, the simplest things I do are:
try to park in shade; but not essential if you do the below
in non shaded areas, park so that most of the board is shade protected by the vehicles roof
crack all four windows to ventilate the interior
cover the board with a large light colored beach towel
Thats it. Works like a charm.
By doing this, the board should not exceed 120F on the hottest of days and that temp is fine. When the board temp goes above 140-150F you could have problems; a dark board in a sealed car with sunlight on it, in the heat of summer will go way higher than that, approaching 180F or more!. White colored boards are far better off in hot climates.
While its good for tourism dollars, for day to day living Florida’s sunshine is WAY over-rated.
I live in Florida as well and Craftee’s tips are on the money. I did a little experiment one day at work with the shop’s lazer thermometor on hot FL day(temps in the 90’s F). With the windows closed the interior was over 160 degrees F! Getting your car windows tinted w/ good film helps a lot. But if you can crack your windows without getting your car broken into that probably makes the biggest difference. I keep all my boards in foam lined board bags which insulates them from heat and keeps the direct sun off. My longboards I often leave on the racks in the bag and they never get too hot. I lock them to the rack with a python lock or my no-nabber and they are always there when I get back.
play miles davis on the sound system.
dont store boards in un ventilated
situations.
treat them like girls dogs and babies
cherish them.
Surfboard abusers will be punished.
…ambrose…
cuban music is cool
too.
Or hawaiian traditional
very cool.
toss it under your car or strap it to the bottom of your car when your not around or in the water…just dont let any one see you do itif someones looking to steal a board most likly there not looking under your car
I’d drive off without the bloody thing for sure. LOL!
Thanks everyone for your replies.