Stale mildew odor in bins and hanging storage

[Eddie Offermann]

I know this is something that we as boat owners pretty much have to accept as a fact of life - boats are damp places and areas without good ventilation will be even damper.

 

Anyone have any interesting approaches to providing better ventilation to the storage areas on their Newporter?  Mostly, I have this problem in the hanging storage in the forward berth and in the storage bins in the cabin. These areas all appear to be pretty much original construction except for one bin area next to the galley that was modified/removed to accommodate an entertainment system originally and now holds my microwave.

I'm thinking of having vents custom-manufactured for these (I'm doing a lot of original design for grills and latches and handles and such during the renovation) - Very low power fans (like are used in the "Nicro Ventilation" solar vents) would probably be helpful as well, but I'm curious if anyone else has experience with this. Basically, I'm mostly wanting to avoid my clothes picking up that mildewy smell and getting off-flavors in stored rice, pasta, etc.

[Justine]

Hi,

I know that mold is a regular on boats.  A good way to kill it that is natural is Tea Tree oil.  Mix it 1/3 to 2/3 water.  It won't bleach or stain anything and is also safe on all surfaces and is safe for humans and animals.  It does have a strong smell but if you have allergiets you'll find the smell helps.  It won't help with ventilation but it does help to keep mold a little inder control.  The best to buy it is on ebay.  Yes what would we do without the all great ebay hehe.  Make sure i is 100% pure aand it comes in a dark bottle. Keep the mix in a spray bottle and keep it in the dark as well.  A pint bottle lasted me over three years and I used it forever thing :D

[Clyde A. Phillips]

During "my days" with Newporters the ventilation in the lockers in the forepeak was supplied by horizontal slots (three, I think) at both the top and the bottom of the doors.  The best, and quickest, way to retrofit present solid doors (in dire need of ventilation) is to just saw off the top and bottom of the doors an inch or two.

 

So far as hanging space for rain gear, the boats we built had a "wet locker" built in at the after port (back left) corner of the doghouse.  I see in many pictures of various boats that that locker has been converted to a chest of drawers or some other form of storage.  I vaguely remember a fiberglass pan being built in so as to drain the water.  Where it drained to is not remembered, but I'd drain it to the cockpit through the after bulkhead of the doghouse, or down under the wet locker and to the cockpit drain system and overboard.  That locker really would need ventilation, and that would be best if it ventilated outside.  

 

I'm glad to see that the present group of owners seem to have the sense to ventilate!  The owners in the past seemed to think it wasn't necessary and a lot of them actually blocked the ventilation in their boats.  Keep up the good work of providing moving air to all parts of your boats and they will serve you happily for a lot more years.

[bob mitchell]

        I have this much better half, and after 43 years of being with that better half I know the bare minimum of convenience that I have to provide - i.e. a shower! We will just have to see how that arrangement turns out. I do know another Newporter owner that also took out the forward tanks, and created some really nice space forward.

      I want to thank all our members, new and old, for finally getting this site going!!!!!

[Hans Petrie]

I shower in the cockpit since it has scupper drains and I don't get to much moisture inside the boat.  Then I don't need shower sump pumps either.  I actually ADDED hanging locker storage as I have wet suits and "foulies" and other gear and I lake to hang it so it gets air and doesn't get all wadded up and damp.  Right now my entire v-berth is sail storage and a closet.  I took out the forward bow tanks as they added too much bow weight and slow the boat down and make it tack poorly.  I really don't need an extra 55 gallons of fuel and "tank" water.  I still have the same amount of water and fuel storage but the fuel and water are stored in jerries in other locations out of the way - more central to the boat.  Also that way I have greater flexibility.  As far as mildew I have pretty much eliminated the problem in the storage bins by keeping them "cracked" most of the time.  Cooking on propane is great but the exhaust adds tons of moisture to the boat so I'm sure to use the skylight hatches to keep things ventilated when cooking.

[Eddie Offermann]

The first time I read Bob's comment, I wasn't sure what he was referring to with the closet mod. Now I get it: the port berth protrudes underneath the portside of the v-berth. It would cramp my style to get rid of that much hanging storage (since I plan to be extensively cruising on her in a year or so), but I gotta say, I do like the idea of having an honest-to-god shower that doesn't require me to straddle the head or lean on the sink.

Maybe a combination of added passive ventilation and some active ventilation specifically directed through the closed-in areas that tend to get damp.

[Hans Petrie]

I took the door off my closet and that solved the problem for me.  Not as pretty though.

I think the secret would be to use a mesh like door rather than a solid door.

[bob mitchell]

Will say this Eddie - the plywood bulkheads are of course important to  the transfer of forces from the mast to the hull. None the less, I have no use for a closet, especially if I could have a shower in the same amount of space. So I am modifying (since my boat was a total rebuild anyway) that locker so that the top half is open and included in the forecastle, giving a totally different feel and a lot more room. The bottom half will be semi open and an extension for the port berth, necessary because I have rearranged and expanded the head to include a 24" shower. So, not quite the discussion you were looking for, but hey, what can I say.

      As far a ventilation, since the hard top dodger I built covers significant area in the cockpit and the back of the pilot house, I can have a large intake and exit vent there, with the exit vent tied into the bilge, so the circulation pattern (active, not passive, ie with a fan) will be pulled through the living space, down through the forecastle into the bilge, under the sole of the boat for the length of the boat, and then out.

     But fundamentally, you just need more air. I bet if you rebuild the door so that it has an openning - like a reed square panel, that would help a lot. Or maybe a couple of vents on the wall facing the mast - one high and one low, to take advantage of any temperature difference that might facilitate passive air circulation in some way.