Odor
Control
By: Kathy Barron
"Eeww! What’s that smell?"
If you are a weekend sailor familiar with these words when you
or your mate slide the companionway open, you’re also familiar
with what follows. The odor consumes everything, ensuring that
what was to be a daysail ends up becoming an effort to eliminate
the smells. Who wants to sail in a foul smelling vessel?
 |
Good ventilation and regular
cleaning are the best weapons against unpleasant odors on
board. |
This is not to say that liveaboards
don’t have that problem too—they’re just able
to stay on top of it easier. Hatches and companionways are opened
to capture fresh air and ventilate below-decks more often than
the boat that is closed up waiting for its weekend owner to show
up. If an odor becomes noticeable, the liveaboard is right on
top of it—after all, who wants to live in a foul smelling
boat?
Ventilation is one of the key elements
in keeping odors at bay, especially since many nasty smells are
a direct result of the growth of molds and mildews. For the non-liveaboard,
a good ventilation system is essential and requires both intake
of fresh |
outside
air into the boat and the exhaust of stale cabin air to the outside.
The selection can vary from an active solar/battery ventilator
to the passive system like cowl vents. Ventilators that are solar
driven and charge a battery allow the ventilator to run at night
and on cloudy or rainy days while keeping the weather out. Cowl
vents move less air but keep some air moving through. A mix of
active and passive ventilation works well on most boats.
Mold and mildew are living organisms
whose spores are everywhere, just looking for a damp environment
with little airflow in which to grow and flourish. Again, prevention
is the best course. If the boat is being left for a period of
time, turn all the cushions up on end to promote ventilation underneath
and be sure all ports and hatches are securely latched so that
there is no water dripping onto them. Damp-rid helps remove moisture
from the air. If mold and mildew do get a foothold in the boat,
the good news is that they are easy to kill with mild solutions
of bleach or fungicides—the bad news is that they often
leave their odor and stains behind in permeable surfaces such
as fabrics, paints, and headliners.
Mold and mildew stains are difficult to remove.
Some fabrics may be hand-washed in a light bleach solution and
others may have to be dry-cleaned. Always check the fabric’s
cleaning instructions prior to cleaning. Some interiors are lined
with carpet-like fabrics that can be cleaned and deodorized with
powdered carpet cleaners found on the grocery shelf. A few new
products on the market, like Febreeze, are great for removing
odors from fabrics that can’t be stripped off the boat and
carried to the washer or the dry cleaners. |
