Musty damp smell?????? and stained carpet

P

phoenixhotrods

New Member
Dec 6, 2010
72
canada west coast
Boat Info
1987 searay 270
Engines
2 350, 260 alpha ones
I just cant get gid of this smell, the cabin smells like toilet fluid and always seems musty and moist. Ive shampood the carpets, and aired out the cabin many times. im ready to rip the capet out and go with something new, has anyone had this happen, could it have been a toilet spill from before i bought the boat?
 
Take your boat to Atlantic City ... the boat will smell great there and you won't notice the stains as much. :smt043
 
Three basic things I've learned to do:

#1 - I try to only use fresh water in the head. Mine is a manual head. I squirt water in to it when needed from the hand held shower.
#2 - I try to keep good air flow in the cabin as much as I can. I usually leave the window slid open in the head a couple of inches, leave the head door open when I leave the boat, and leave an oscillating fan running in the cabin to move the air around.
#3 - I keep canvass covers on the hatches to keep it nice and dark in the cabin so it stays a little cooler when it's all locked up.

Those three things have all but eliminated unpleasant and musty odors in the cabin.
 
Are you closing the boat up tight when you leave it? I made that mistake when I first started boating. The boat and everything in it were perpetually mildewed and smelly. I keep a cabin window open and don't have the issue. I am in Florida which might be a different issue entirely.

phoenixhotrods said:
I just cant get gid of this smell, the cabin smells like toilet fluid and always seems musty and moist. Ive shampood the carpets, and aired out the cabin many times. im ready to rip the capet out and go with something new, has anyone had this happen, could it have been a toilet spill from before i bought the boat?
Click to expand...
 
Yes i am leaving it closed tight, it is very humid here also and hot. But does the toilet smell ever go away or ids there a solution for that.
 
I might be misunderstanding the situation but you need to identify the cause of the dampness. Are you positive that you don't have a leak somewhere? I understand it's humid and hot but I would try to find out why you have persistently damp carpet. If you replace the carpet how do you know if won't happen to the new stuff? Is the head leaking? Is the sump basket full and seeping water in the cabin?
 
I leave my boat closed tight all the time and have a cockpit cover to boot. I put two tubs of Damp Rid in the cabin to absorb moisture and that's it, no bad smell or mold/mildew. You can buy this stuff at any grocery store or HD/Lowes.
 
After reading posts on this forum I checked the filter for the vent line of the holding tank. Not only did my boat not have one but the hose was off the vent where it passes through the hull. I made a vent filter, installed it in the hose and reconnected the hose. This all but eliminated my odor problem. Do a search on the forum.
 
on my sea ray where is the vent located an where is the sump strainer located?? its also got a macerator, can anyone tel me how the discharge works and the proper proceedure to do so.
 
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The air vent for both the gas tank and holding tank on my boat are on the starboard side. Mine are round, about the size of a quarter, stainless steel, and have a small screen in them. They are about 10 feet from the stern.

No pump in the holding tank to pump to the macerator, it is a pump. To run my macerator, ensure you're three miles or more offshore, seacock is open, and in the head I have a key to turn on and then push a button.

Since I trailer my boat and generally not offshore, I'm considering removing the hose from the seacock and installing a longer one. This will allow me to dump into my sewer at home instead of spending an hour idling to a dump station on the bay in no wake zones.
 
Bucit said:
I leave my boat closed tight all the time and have a cockpit cover to boot. I put two tubs of Damp Rid in the cabin to absorb moisture and that's it, no bad smell or mold/mildew. You can buy this stuff at any grocery store or HD/Lowes.
Click to expand...

We do the same thing. Close them up when we are on board and then reopen them when we are going to be gone for the week. We use 4 of them. Works great.
 
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When we first looked at our current boat, there was a strong head smell in the boat. If you got close to the head hose you could smell it. We put in our offer to purchase that they had to replace the entire head hose and get rid of the smell. Once the hose was changed no more smell and no more musty smell. You might want to get your nose down close to the hose, bet it smells.

Ken
 
Mine had this issue, and it was the original holding tank lines. After a LOT of work (40+ feet of sanitation hose) I replaced everything short of the holding tank itself. Now with some bleaching in the forward bilge, the smell is gone. I leave my portholes open (not sure if the lower sea ray portholes are opening or not?) and actually found leaving little pieces of Irish Spring soap (I cut a full bar into 3-4 pieces) around the boat does wonders for adding a "fresh" smell. I used to use dryer sheets, but found the soap lasts a lot longer, and does a better job.
 
fresh.jpg
Mine was that way when I got it but it had also been sunk in a slip for a few months.
I had to rip every thing out. Found all the leaks this way. They are easy to trace on bare fiberglass ;)....
Now mine smells like new upholstery...
 
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We have 100 watt heaters we plug in when we are not on the boat this seems to keep the mold out. Put one in each seperate area. We have two and the there is no more mold or smell.
Rain in the winter is a problem. If you have leaks in your boat you need to fix them or the mold will never stop. What area on west coast are you?
Carpet only last so long. If it is original time for new probably.
 
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