What happened to that new boat smell?

Years have passed and each time you return to your boat there is a bit of airing out that is required.  You’ve researched ventilators, as well as other solutions and explanations you give to your guests explaining how things tend to grow in the marine environment, are getting old. It’s time to take this head on and end that boat smell once and for all.   

Odors originate from three main sources. Diesel/engine room odor, head and holding tank odors, and mold and boat mildew.

Consult your local mechanic to address the diesel /engine odors. Possibilities include and fuel leak, exhaust leak, or blow by which inflicts older engines as compression deteriorates and intake can generate a bit of a fog. Your mechanic will have suggestions from aftermarket intake separators to engine overhauls.

First step to investigate head odors is the obvious leak. This does not need to be large to cause a real problem. Next would be hose permeation. Waist odors will migrate through the best of hoses when waist is allowed to sit in the hose.  To test, find a dip in the hose where waist may linger. Clean the hose and place a warm wet rag on the hose and leave it for 30 minutes. Smell the rag, is that the odor you find in the boat?  If so the only solution is to replace the hoses.

Now for the tough problem, boat mildew, mold and the general musty smell.  Removing mold is the key. You have likely found black mold spots on areas of you boat and quickly removed them as we all know Black mold is toxic.  Unfortunately, the areas of you boat you cannot inspect are the most likely locations for Black mold to thrive. Removing mold is not difficult but it requires the proper technology. First step is a thorough bilge cleaning. Start a complete bilge cleaning using the available bilge cleaner that can be added to the bilge next time you are out in the water. Bilge cleaning will be a good start but to eliminate the odor you must treat with Chlorine Dioxide. I recommend Odor Watch Solution. This is a 100 gram package to produce a solution of Chlorine dioxide in and water. Chlorine Dioxide is highly effective for killing and removing mold. Drain the bilge cleaner as per the instructions from the manufacture and fill the bilge with the Chlorine Dioxide solution.  I recommend using the Bilge Snake from Boater Tech to agitate and reach every corner of you bilge. This is likely where the mold is. Agitate with the bilge snake for 30 min. or take the boat out to create agitation. Agitation is not required for Chlorine Dioxide to work. It’s needed to simply get the solution in contact with all surfaces of the bilge. Leave the solution in place overnight. Drain the bilge once the water no longer has a yellow tinge. The yellow coloring is a sign that there is active Chlorine dioxide in the solution. No rinsing is required.

Last step and most important is to use Odor Watch 24/7 to guard against mold returning. Odor Watch 24/7 provides a safe but effective level of Chlorine Dioxide while you are away from your boat. Simply close the container when you are on the boat (so not to waste product) or you can keep it open as the low level of Chlorine Dioxide is safe for pets and people. I recommend you close the container since you will likely have air flow below while guests are on board and Chlorine Dioxide will not be effective. Open the container when you close the boat up and leave.   

 You will be pleasantly surprised when you and your guests return for your next outing.

To clean it and treat it you must reach it.

Monocoque, unibody, unified grid pan, structural grid/hull liner,sub-sole structural grid, each brand has it's own name for it. Sound engineering great structural strength but big trouble when it comes to cleaning the boat.  
Being an O'day 39, Panta Rhei was a pioneer in this technology. (Shown above) the structure provides great strength, convenient tabbing and the ability to tie interior components (bulkheads cabinetry) all together. Today Panta Rhei is as strong as ever (no shifting) a tribute to the concept. Unfortunately, nearly 30 years of marine humidity and a chronically wet bilge has allowed this structures to grow unhealthy levels of mold mildew and bacteria yielding odors that drove off it's owner.
The key to removing odors is thorough cleaning. No odor elimination product will work if the source of the odor is not removed. You must reach it to clean it. 
The solution is the Bilge Snake. A thin flexible high pressure hose with specialized nozzles that propel the snake forward and provide direct impingement in all areas.   See  the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MZnqeEq4t5I 

see www.boatertech.com for more information 

It started with Genesis

Not the bible, Genesis was the name of the 1983 O'day 39 project boat. It has now been renamed Panta Rhei which means always in a state of flux or change. As a floating test lab, this will be her role.

I have developed a few tools and processes to remove odor form boats, when I first stepped into Genesis I knew I had found the perfect test boat. The odor was nearly intolerable. I actually thought it was too far gone but if my ideas had merit this boat would prove it. I gave the owner a low ball offer I knew he would not refuse since I could not imagine anyone taking this boat off his hands. The previous owner purchased the boat for $37,000 in 2004 and added many upgrades like a simple GPS and a Wind generator, I offered him $28,000. He did not counter. I was his only hope. Such is the fate of many owners of odorous boats.

This boat had a problem common with many O'day 39's. They begin to generate a small crack from the leading edge of the keel hull joint going forward a few inches. This is not a serous structural problem but it causes as slow leak. It was enough to cycle the bilge pump one or two times a day. This created an ever present bilge full of water.  Bilge water extended under the unified grid pan throughout the boat. Jeanneau, the boat's designer, cleverly engineered this grid pan to provide great strength, convenient tabbing, and unfortunately inaccessible areas to clean. I believe the use of this Unified Grid Pan may have been the first of it's kind. They are now common on most production boats. (much more on this later) Adding to that was two leaking holding tanks one of which actually burst. It stunk 20 feet down wind of this boat.

The boat was full of every odor masking or removing product one could find. Fabreeze everywhere. Most if it just added to the smell.

I purchased the boat in the fall of last year 2010. I moved it to Wisconsin where I have it on the hard now completely odor free.  I can now close the boat up for a week and open it up with nothing but the smell of wood (I'm now stripping the years of dirt and teak oil of the teak interior).   

This blog will look back at the process of completely eliminating the odor and forward onto other projects and ideas. Panta Rhei is a commercial test boat. New products and processes will be sought after. Feedback and ideas always welcome.

More info coming soon or go to  www.boatertech.com