Spring commissioning gone sideways...

[Walucas]

Over ruled by first mateFirst Mate's observation (Bonnie) "The boat's cabin smells like mildew"! The " intrepid" Skipper's take on the subject...That's just "boat smell" natural to a marine environment! First Mate's comeback...I'm not going down there even to make Dark 'n Stormys! (My favorite drink). Skipper..."I'll see what I can do".
Short story conclusion: Cushions cleaned, treated and aired, carpeting, interior cabin sides, vacumned, cleaned, treated and aired, hatches opened to let sunshine in!
First Mate's verdict..."Still stinks!"....back into the "hole in the water" for me.
A-ha...underside of compartment covers under the cushions...MILDEWED!
Photos show two of the culprits, before and after..things are much fresher down below.
The smell of the First Mate's near mutiny still lingers however... STINKS!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Walucas (& Bonnie).

[Pgutierrez]

These boats are built by mating pre manufactured parts, think:
- basic hull up to the toe rail
- then mate inner hull section + interior cabin
- then deck & cabin top.
Wipe all surfaces with Clorox wipes, especially structural floor spaces, wall spaces between hull and interior sides walls, storage lockers and cubbies. Pull cushions out of cushion covers and wipe both sides, exposing to full sun and STUFF your nose into the foam (this is highly likely to hold smell), might need to use a UV machine like hotels use to clean smells in hotel rooms. Be careful when wiping between mated fiberglass components as there may be sharp fiberglass slivers - buy a 3-4 pack of white fabric gardening gloves and have these on when wiping these hard to reach areas. Dock lines, sheets and sails, port a portable toilet removed (make sure to wipe the bottom of the toilet that rests on the cabin floor).
When boat is not being used, place open plastic bucket with filled with charcoal in cabin to absorb odors. I always leave an open bag of charcoal in my boat during winter storage.
Place drier fabric softener sheets under cushions.
Good luck...

[Dsanduril]

Welcome to CF. There are a ton of threads on this subject here on CF. Use the custom search function. I’d refer you specifically to posts by Thinwater, who has done a bunch of testing. The result is that Concrobium is among the best for getting rid of and keeping away mold/mildew. And you can make your own (and an improved version) for pennies.

Thinwater mold/mildew formula B. We switched away from bleach/bleach products a couple of years ago and have been quite happy (as have our lungs during the cleaning process). If you read through threads you’ll see that there are a couple of other good commercial products with a residual effect that keeps the green stuff from returning quickly, so you have some choices.

[yr2030]

You think you have problems, our first boat the 65 Tennant got hit by a typhoon two years ago and we just got got a settlement check last week. While we were looking around for another liveaboard, our storage was broken into and almost everything was stolen. Then another typhoon came along and destroyed our rental condo. Got no luck there so we moved to Hawaii - when CV19 struck. The entire island chain was closed down for early a year. You couldn't work and couldn't play. I was not a happy camper, nor was the wife who couldn't travel b/c she has cancer and her treatments were interrupted. I finally said enough is enough. I caught a ride on ship outta there landing in Panama six weeks later. I found and bought an 20m gulet that had been abandoned by here previous owners. I got insurance thru Lloyds and am now in the process of re-commissiong her. From here, I guess we will head into the northern latitudes - as this is a wood hull. Sun is not kind to wood hulls in hot bath water - that is this area.