Looking for advice

[darmoose]

Anyone want to offer an opinion, I would welcome.....

Mystic Rose sits in the water behind the house, and in Florida, what with all the humidity and hot weather and such, mildew is a problem. I want to put one of those air dryers from West Marine in the boat and it runs off AC power. I have shore power (30 amp), but I usually don't keep it plugged in all the time, because the boat has a wind generator which keeps the batteries charged, and I don't want to take any chances creating any unessesary electolysis with the shore power current that I can avoid (there is no problem with the system, the boat is completely bonded, just being overly cautious, I guess).

Would I be better off just running an extension cord onto the boat for the air dryer (which will run continuously), or just go ahead and use the shore power?

Anyone do anything similar?

Darrell

[Cathy Monaghan]

Hi Darrell,

If you can't find an electrical solution, have you tried DampRid? We're up in the northeast, not down in Florida, but we use the stuff during winter layup while the boat is on the hard, under a cover and susceptible to alot of moisture from condensation.

I hang one of the tubs in the bilge inside a hanger that I made from twine (they have a hanging version of their product as well). My twine hanger is similar to a macrame hanger for a houseplant. You can also leave one sitting in the sink in the head and galley.

http://www.damprid.com/


Cathy
CD32 Realization, #3
Rahway, NJ
Raritan Bay

[Lew Gresham]

If you have a cover over your companion way, you can make a simple frame that will slide into your companion way. Sandwich a piece of vinyl window screen between the two sided frame. I did this and it allows plenty of air to get inside. HTH!

[ocean31]

While I am not in South Florida, I have had very good luck with a simple trouble light hung to bear in the middle of the cabin (I hang it off the centermost hatch). With two dorado (spelling?) vents the moist air leaves each evening. I did put a small dri rid bucket beside my AM SSB radio just to be safe.

If you were concerned about stray currents, hooking up the dehumidifier on its on cord directly to the shore side without going through the vessels 110 circuit would be the best way. I do not know how you could get stray current on a stand alone system using a extension cord.

Hope this helps
JSB

[Boyd]

As a resident of the mold capital of the United States, I fight the same battle as you.

I bought one of these dehumidifyers a couple of years ago and it really helps a lot. It will work off of 12v also, though it draws a lot. The only thing is you have to empty the container at least once a week.

http://www.air-n-water.com/product/ADS-400.html

The company is really good to work with also. They stand behind their stuff.

Besides the dehumidifyer, I keep a totally dry bilge. Its been a long hard fight but systematically, I have cured all leaks. The difference between having a few inches of water and totally dry is worth the effort.

Another way to help the problem is to varnish or paint the back of every piece of wood in the boat. Whenever I open up a compartment for other reason, I seal the backsides of all cabinetry with a couple of coats of EasyPoxy or varnish. Wood as you know will absorb huge quantities of mosture and provide a home for mold as well as boat stink.

Look in all the bottom nooks and cranies of the boat for sawdust left over from the original building. This stuff stays wet and molds for years.

I also wipe down all the interior wood with a dilute bleach solution every so often to kill off any surviors.

Boyd
s/v Tern
CD30 MkII
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

[tartansailor]

Take 4 to 6 empty milk jugs cut in half, and distributed
through out the boat; put in about an inch of vinegar
in each, and button up the boat tight.
Replenish as needed.
This is standard practice in the Airstream travel
trailer community.

[Greg Kozlowski]

but I'm surprised nobody has yet mentioned lemon oil. We lemon oil the interior wood regularly and especially thickly before leaving the boat in storage and have never had any problem with mold even in places like Trinidad.

Good for the wood and makes the boat smell nice.

Greg

[darmoose]

Thanks to all for the great ideas.

Being the frugal (read cheap) sailor that I be, I think I'll start with the "vinegar solution" first. If it doesn't work all that well, I can always make a salad.

Thanks again

Darrell

[Troy Scott]

Darrell,

The problem with those electric dehumidifiers is that they make the boat hotter when it's already hot and damp.

The chemical dehumidifiers won't last any time in Florida.

I have two suggestions based on southern experience:

1. Run house air conditioning to your boat. This sounds strange, but it works. We had for many years a small astronomical observatory in the back yard. The interior was always getting some mold. There was a two or three inch buried conduit from the house to the observatory. We realized that we could utilize that conduit to move some dehumidified air from the house to the observatory. By simply adding a small blower we solved the problem. If your boat isn't too far from the house, you could just bury a four inch PVC sewer pipe going from the house system to the dock, and use flexible hose from the dock to the boat. This won't be enough to actually cool the boat much unless you move a lot of air, so don't worry about a return.

2. Get a small "trailer" air conditioner. Mount it on the dock. Run a four inch hose from the unit into the boat. To increase efficiency you could add a hose for the return. There are many ways to connect the hoses, but one simple one is to just make a replacement for the lowest companionway board and cut two holes in it for the hoses. You could use dryer hose (very cheap) or you could get fancy with better stuff. You can put the thermostat in the boat!

I have also just installed the smallest "window unit" air conditioner I could find in a replacement companionway drop board. There are two problems with this approach: Moving that heavy thing is awkward, and the condensate drips in the cockpit, staining the gelcoat.

The unit on the dock is the handiest, easiest to install, and possibly cheaper than running an underground duct.

Good luck!

[GLutzow]

I have two solar powered fans along with a small screen inset in my upper hatch board to prevent mildew. So far, I have no problems in Sarasota with mold or mildew.

[trapper]

I had a solar powered vent in QT (CD22) and it worked beautifully in Charleston, SC (pretty much as hot and humid as it gets at times). I have one now in Saga (CD25D) and it seems to be working fine. We had such good luck with the small boats that we replaced 4 vents in Tredora (40' ketch) with the solar vents. The results were-better than nothing--but no where near the mildew prevention as the smaller boats. I suspect that the 30' boat in Florida will need a solar vent or 2 plus some of the other suggestions.