Mold Issues

[miklwakesbr]

New to Tige and loving the boat so far... but we have discovered mold in our back lockers. Any Ideas on keeping mold out? and getting rid of it? This locker is where we decided to store our life jackets so that is part of the issue, but we still find that the boat stayes pretty wet even in the arid air of Utah. Also any ideas on how to keep stuff dry? We aslo have issues in the main cavernous sorage up front in keeping thigs laying on the carpet dry. Any suggestion would be helpful!

[Ewok]

First, you can't leave wet gear in any compartment or else you will get mold.

Next, where do you store your boat? Is it covered? In a garage? Left outside? Bottom line is, if you can, open up all the hatches and compartments for a few days so all or most of the moisture dries out. Your going to have to find a place to dry out you wet gear such as life vests, wakeboard bindings etc... If you leave you boat outside at a storage lot you should try to open it up as often as you can for the day or two after your trip on the water.

To keep things dry when you on the boat, I use this stuff to keep things off the floor that I don't want getting wet, I use it and it works great.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...2#.UAsWTYl5nTo

[miklwakesbr]

Perfect thanks!, we are new to the compartment stuff. We had a bailiner before and it was all in the open no real storage except for the bow and there was no carpet in the bow. So it dryed out easily. We do keep it garaged, so we will just have to keep the compartments open so they can dry out...dont know why I thought it would dry out on its own other then we did not have the issue with the old bayliner, but new boat new rules.
That Dri Dek Stuff looks great thanks for the info!

[Ewok]

I had a Bayliner before my Tige as well and I know what you mean about open storage. When I pull my boat into the garage I open up all the seat storage areas and the rear hatches. I pull out all the wet gear and hang it all up somewhere else in the garage. I pull out anything that might get in the way of the carpet drying out. I leave it open until I'm ready to go out again when I put all my gear back in the boat and get ready to hit the road.

The dry deck stuff works ok as well to keep the bottom sides of ballast bags open to some air but you can just pull out the bags too so that they don't get any mold on the bottom.

[konajay]

Everything that Ewok suggested is what I do after every weekend on the boat. I might add that I even take my wet/dry vac to the carpets if things are really wet. I take all my gear out and spread it out And wipe down all hatches ans sidewalks of the lockers with rags. It's a lot of work, but that's what will keep your boat looking really nice.

[Ruger761]

PVC pipe makes nice cheap racks for gear. Attach it to the wall next to your boat just hang everything up. Simple box fan inside the boat makes a big difference in drying time as well.

[TigeTrojan]

I shop vac the carpets and it probably takes less than 5 minutes. The bow locker gets really wet sometimes and after I've gotten all the water out, I give it 10 minutes and there is more water in there.

Harbor freight has a cheap wet/dry vac on sale this month that would work well.

[laserfish]

After a trip we always empty all the lockers, lay out the life jackest, etc. and leave the compartments open for a day. In the hot Texas sun, everything dries out the next day and we can put it back in. Even with the cover on, we leave all the compartments open that we can to keep air flowing. Even with the best of care it is bound to happen because you are dealing with a wet environment and absorbant materials.

[IDBoating]

I'm dealing with these issues right now.

I live at a lake in the summertime and our 24Ve lives on an AirDock, so it's outside 100% of the time. We've had very variable weather lately - surprise thunderstorms with rain of truly biblical proportions - and in a couple of these storms I haven't had a chance to covered the boat. We don't cover it every night because we go out on it almost every day, so the carpet is soaked every night and it's a really bad idea to cover a wet boat for precisely the mold reasons raised in this thread.

Which is worse... Do we cover the boat knowing it's totally soaked inside and thus promote mold and mildew? Or, do we leave it uncovered and risk it getting even wetter?

So far, we've mostly left it uncovered and dealt with the rain. My approach has been to let the sun stream onto the carpet, open every compartment, and use a really high volume fan to circulate air - especially in the more "closed" compartments like the one in front of the driver's footwell. Another problem area is the storage compartment under the driver's seat... ours is already stinky because there is zero air circulation under there and the carpet stayed wet basically 100% of the time until my nose informed me there was a problem.

This whole situation is also why I am seriously investigating the DECKadence (aka "Poseidon") flooring. Wet carpet is the main problem with getting and keeping your boat dry; if the carpet is wet the humidity will stay high indefinitely. My carpet is coming out as soon as I get some questions answered about the new mat-style flooring, and I expect the smell and moisture problems to be dramatically improved with that one step.

[Ewok]

WAboating, I think if you know the rain is coming, cover the boat, and uncover it as soon as possible after the rain has stopped, as long as its a passing shower, not an all day drizzle. Either way, the boat is not going to dry out while it's raining so the cover is just keeping the interior from getting any wetter.

I'm sure you figured out that the ultimate solution to your rain problem is a cover over the slip.

[TigeTrojan]

My boat lived outside at a storage facility for a couple years and even though it was covered, water still got in when it rained. I also had the issue of a stink, and at one time, some pretty extensive mold/mildew.

I used 50/50 water and vinegar to clean the mold up because that's what I had handy. Not sure if it is the best solution, but it worked.

It was impossible to get those seats to stay open in order to get some fresh air. I would tie them up when I had the boat at my house, but in storage, I couldn't do it because of the cover.

My solution was a couple feet of large diameter PVC pipes. (maybe 5") I cut them into about 6" sections and used them to prop the compartments open. It obviously wasn't open very much, just the diameter of the pipe, but I figured it was better than nothing.

Now I am fortunate to store it somewhere more secure and rainproof so I can leave my cover off and open up all the compartments.

[IDBoating]

Either way, the boat is not going to dry out while it's raining so the cover is just keeping the interior from getting any wetter.

True. But sometimes the showers happen overnight while we're sleeping. So... do you cover every night there is a possibility of rain, just to uncover again the next morning? Tough call.

I'm sure you figured out that the ultimate solution to your rain problem is a cover over the slip.

Been dreaming of that since we bought the lake place. I'd have to fabricate it myself, though - ever priced a custom awning? MEGA $$$. Incredibly expensive. Beyond crazy. And Idaho state law requires that boat covers must be "removable", i.e. you cannot just build a solid "roof" over the water. So it would have to be some sort of cantilevered framework with a fabric stretched over it.

Even that wouldn't have helped in these last two storms, though. The one on Saturday had 60MPH sustained winds with sheets of rain. My windsock looked like it was made of hard molded plastic. I was actually worried some of the gusts might take it away. And that's the second such storm we've had so far this "summer".

Frankly, I think getting rid of the carpet is 90% of the issue. And I forgot to mention above, that includes the carpet on the floors of the storage areas. Once those get wet, it takes real effort to dry them - and they keep the storage spaces damp in the meantime. Ripping out the carpet and using your DryDek or DECKadence or something similar is the answer because it lets the bulk of the water just flow away.

Carpet does not belong on a boat IMHO.

[houstonshark]

First, you can't leave wet gear in any compartment or else you will get mold.

Next, where do you store your boat? Is it covered? In a garage? Left outside? Bottom line is, if you can, open up all the hatches and compartments for a few days so all or most of the moisture dries out. Your going to have to find a place to dry out you wet gear such as life vests, wakeboard bindings etc... If you leave you boat outside at a storage lot you should try to open it up as often as you can for the day or two after your trip on the water.

To keep things dry when you on the boat, I use this stuff to keep things off the floor that I don't want getting wet, I use it and it works great.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...2#.UAsWTYl5nTo

Thanks for the info Ewok! I have really been needing a solution to keep things off of the carpet, especially the Pop bags that I have spread around. I have to pull them up or move them around each time we clean the boat to keep from getting mold between the bag and the carpet.

I ordered 15 of the 1' x 1' panels from Dri Dek directly. They are a little cheaper than West Marine. I hope 15 is enough.
https://www.dri-dek.com/order-dri-dek.html


My wife will also appreciate her bag she brings on the boat not sitting directly on the carpet, though it never gets wet where she keeps it. I'll have to post a pic and link to the bag she got which she loves. It fits perfectly in the port side compartment under the seat in the RZR. You can actually fit 2 in there.