SMELL is killing me! What to do?

[rbrentp]

Hi, I had a boat that a " rent a captain " left open for six weeks. Ripped out all cloth and insulation back to walls and still stunk. It had not holding tank and no engine smells. I found a website that recommended. Boric acid. Heat a gallon of water to 140F. Stir I. Boric acid till it won't dissolve anymore. Let it cool. The powder stays in solution. Put it in a pump up sprayer and spray Everything.
Kills mold , fungus, bacteria, and bugs. Not harmful to people or pets. No smell for 7 years so far.

[fatherchronica]

I agree with Sailmonkey that waste hoses are a suspect. I let someone stay on Mana for over a year while we went camping and they didn't pump out ever according to my dock mates who were glad I was back when I returned. The stank was terrible. All my hoses were of the proper grade and fairly new so I did not want to replace them. I ended up putting a bunch of poop eating enzymes in the holding tank, full of water, and pumping out several times then over dosing the head with stank cover for about a month while lived aboard alone preparing to sail Mana north to our new home we bought when we got sick of camping in the snow in Humboldt Bay. When my wife showed up to sail north she never even noticed the smell. And no one has ever said "what's that terrible odor in here, is the a dead capybara in the bilge" or anything. But I always worried I became immune to it and couldn't tell.

[peghall]

Tom is right...you cannot eliminate any odor(s) unless you first find and eliminate the source(s)...and based on your description there's prob'ly more than one source on your boat. The most common sources of odor INside a boat are permeated sanitation hoses (replacement is the only cure), residual odor from a previous holding tank spill, wet dirty bilges and sumps, diesel (including residual odor left from a spill that's been cleaned up), mold and mildew.

I'll be glad to help you figure out how to find 'em all and how to eliminate 'em, but I agree with Tom that you'll also find my book (see link in my signature) very helpful too.



--Peggie

[waterman46]

Did you check the icebox and any accessible areas nearby? The smell could be some old food trapped in a small area that is inaccessible. Get some spray bottles of disinfectant like Lysol, and spray every little place you can get to, then flush with lots of water

If the smell is in the bilge, put about 1/2 cup of the Lysol in a 2 gallon bucket and dump it in the bilge forward. Repeat. Take boat out for a sail and heel her over, the rougher the better. If possible pump out at sea not in harbor when done.

Did you sniff around the headliner, could be mold up there too.

[Valmika]

[QUOTE=MomOverboard;2875526]Thanks for all the feedback. So the cushions.. they have all be out of the boat for 2 months and the boat still smells. That tells me it's not only the smell from the cushions but that smell was picked up by something else. There is a head that is rarely used and it is cleaned out every 2 weeks, even though not always used. The smell is everywhere and I'm sure been there a while. I was wondering about hoses but that I had thought it might be that old paper on insides of the boat but I painted all that and still have smell. I will try a couple of those sprays mentioned.


I would try the ozone generator also. It helped me. Just don't sleep in the boat with it on and don't run it for more than a day or two at a time I've heard that is tough on rubber and plastics in your boat.

[rmlarson1098]

Originally Posted by MomOverboard

HI
I have a CAL 2-27 that is 1973. I have stayed on it often but the smell is horrible. Wake up with headache and everything that goes in, comes out smelling. Brought the inside cushions home to redo them and the stunk up the garage while the boat still smelled. It's not a gas smell but I can't describe it. Any ideas on how to eliminate old boat smells? I know it's old but I'd like to try and make it fresher smelling. I have painted and cleaned the inside and checked the bilge. It's not a bilge smell, either.
Thanks for any help. Just getting going here and I love advice!

Take the cushions away for a week or two when you're not using the boat, if possible. They shouldn't be 'off-gassing' unless they are newer but you never know. If it's time to replace the head, try an Airhead or something like it. Get rid of the holding tank if there is one, and all associated plumbing. Of course I guess you'd know if it was 'sewer' smell - but our boat has never smelled fresher since we lost the 'traditional' marine toilet.
Look for dead rodents in the most unlikely places.
Good luck.

[grantmc]

Similar problem happened to a friend of mine. Eventually he pulled everything off the boat and searched every nook and cranny. Tucked away in a forward locker under a bunch of stuff he found it. A dozen eggs he'd stored there a couple of years before( and obviously forgotten about).
Aah the smell of rotten eggs: you have to experience it to believe it.

[peghall]

That tells me it's not only the smell from the cushions but that smell was picked up by something else.

It's the other way round...the cushions absorbed the odor from something else.



Odors from different sources have different characteristics...so try to describe the odor on your boat...is it "soft" and swampy and/or sewery? Sharp and chemical? Sulfurous? Musty/mildewy? Decay? A combination of any of the above? Is it exactly the same everywhere on your boat, or slightly different for instance near a sink than 10' away?



Your answers to the above will help me target likely sources.


--Peggie

[Jdeuel]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

I would, and have, clean everything well and check/replace the head hoses. Then o-zone the boat!

Btw - I brought an o-zone off amazon years ago and have used it a few things a year since and none of my hoses or electrical have suffered. Thought I would give real life before the “o-zone will dissolve your boat” start winding up

Was going to suggest this. I've had good results getting rid of just about any biological odor with ozone. I've even taken cushions and put them in a large garbage bag with the opening taped over the output of the ozone generator. Let it run overnight, and the smells were gone.

I've also never had an issue with plastics 'dissolving' in cars or otherwise.

[Lodbrog1]

Sorry to say this but you have distinctly described mold. Of which there are many and fairly common on older synthetic boats w/out AC. The first to come to the party are the mildew species and to some it is very acrid to the upper nasal passages (different smell than penicillin) and creates both lung stress and offers great headaches while to others no or little discomfort but it is cumulative. And prolonged exposure YOU DO NOT WANT! You have an old boat that probably has a head liner and you cannot see through where water may have infiltrated. Bulkheads of plywood covered with poly as well as the use of plywoods throughout and well out of site for the most part that have gotten wet. Dust, old skin cells and general dirt also are prime growing mediums especially on and with fabrics, carpets, foam etc. Mildew on its own can give an array of symptoms and is totally dependent on your particular genes and the overall condition of ones immune system. Too complicated a subject for this medium to go further.
Second to the party are a couple of really nasty buggers like Stachybotrys and Chaetomium. These you do not mess with, so please read up on this stuff. When you move stuff around or try to clean even with bleach you are not solving the problem, your just making it worse and probably spreading it around. These are microscopic particles (spores) that may be dry but with humidity and above 60 odd degrees you have a petri dish in effect growing.
To fumigate with ozone would render all your rubber products, hoses etc to mush. The only product that may be of assistance to you, short of gutting your boat, is Concrobium which is a fogging system. But you still have to find the source. Good Luck and dont mess around.

[CarinaPDX]

While determining the exact source of the smells is a very good idea I would recommend more of a shotgun approach. A boat of this vintage is likely infused with odors and mildew. Looking for a single source is likely not going to work.

The boat is old enough that ANY hose that has not been replaced lately should be replaced, and not just for smell but safety as well. Foam doesn't last for more than about 10 years, and often less so, and it absorbs things. The same is true for all fabrics. The best approach is to remove literally everything not bolted down and scrub every nook and cranny from bow to stern - not too difficult for a boat that size, and almost certainly overdue (when was the last time this boat was thoroughly cleaned?). Use a hospital grade cleaner and/or tea tree oil to slow down the return of mold/mildew. The clean, empty boat should smell clean, and if not keep looking for the source. Then put in new cushions and fabrics, after replacing all those hoses. For berths buy one of the new under-cushion ventilation systems to prevent moisture buildup. Finally keep a proper dehumidifier inside which drains overboard or into the bilge with an automatic pump. The SF Bay is damp enough to guarantee moisture issues otherwise.

I realize that this may sound like overkill but it really isn't. Old hoses are a real safety issue so do that. Surfaces that haven't been cleaned recently can have a thin layer of mildew, or "dirt" that can hold odors - a thorough annual cleaning is a minimum. In this case the cushions have absorbed the odor and I don't know of any good way to get them out, and in any event are likely due for replacement. Boats need maintenance, and an old boat needs a lot; any idea that it can sit in a humid environment without regular scrubbing is a joke.

Friends of mine that raced a Santana 35 used to remove everything every autumn (so cushions/fabric were stored in a dry place), then hosed down and scrubbed the interior. In the spring they carefully considered every item that would be put on the boat, and each item had to justify its weight and place, and replacements were purchased if necessary. Oddly enough they never had mildew issues...

Greg

[Mike Banks]

What sort of smell? Onion fart, dead animals, rotten potatoes, rotten eggs, dead fish, you need to be specific.

Decomposing fibreglass is rare but it can happen if the original matrix mix came out of a badly adjusted chopper gun. Osmosis it is called--and it has a specific unpleasant smell. I suspect this could be your problem--but it could be any number of things.

I used forced draught ventilation and I will use the same system on any future vessels. Put simply, you have a solar panel charging a small separate deep-cycle lead-acid battery. A lithium one would do. This is connected to a separate bilge extraction ventilation axial fan, discharging the bilge air through a deck house roof mushroom ventilator. The conduits used are 4 inch (100 mm) PVC, because that is the diameter of the axial fans..

There is no substitute for dry and dust free bilges, free of stale air and diesel fragrance.
If you toss a bit of washing soda around the place in there you will also render homeless any cockroaches that might otherwise be down there.

If there is a strong smell of mould of mushrooms, spray the entire vessel interior surfaces plus bilges with Benzalkonium Chloride solution. It can be bought as an anti-lichen and mould spray as "Wet and Forget" and it is the additive used in bathroom paint and many other cleaners to prevent mildew. It is not cheap--but you only need do it every couple of years. It has no smell.

[Maka]

First. Listen closely to Peggy Hall. She is the Guru of Stink


Secondly, an Ozone generator will NOT hurt your boat with short term use. I ran an Ozone generator on my boat for a solid week to kill the mold on my boat 5 years ago. Mold killed,,,,no adverse affects yet.


Good luck

[sailingchiro]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Odor eliminator PureAyre eliminates cat, pet, smoke, skunk, cigars, gasoline, cooking and musty odors


If the cushions stunk up your garage after you removed them from the boat, where do you think the smell is coming from? Foam is notorious for soaking up odors, boating related or not.


If the foam smells, replace the foam and/or the cushions.


Then see if the boat still smells after you've removed the cushions.

And the Stu's have it for 100 points.
Head smells are pretty obvious. Bilge smells like rust to me. Mildew cushions can have a pretty substantial smell especially if the wrong foam was used.
I would remove the cushions, stored sails, and other fabrics containing the smell. Then ozone the boat for 3-5 days. Then run dehumidifier if on shore power while at dock and left unattended. We like to keep under about 50% humidity. Sounds like leaks have gotten the cushions wet. Try to wash the items until the mold/smell is gone before putting back in boat. If you really want a scientific analysis, sleep on the cushions at home.

[a64pilot]

If its mold. You can Clorox it, vinegar it, all kinds of remedies and it won’t do much.
However I have had very good luck with this, and it’s not expensive, not caustic and doesn’t cost much.
Sounds too good to be true, but try it, it actually will keep the mold from coming back.
Called Concorbium I think
https://www.lowes.com/pd/32-oz-liqui...AaAmHrEALw_wcB