I thought it would be easy to remove the dead starter on the starboard engine. But when I crawled to the outboard flank, I saw rust covering the engine’s yellow paint. I looked around some more; the hull side air vent drain was clogged. Saltwater spray that should have gone overboard instead had helped the rust to set up shop.
The boat owner told me he never explored the outboard sides of the engines because he saw no reason to do so. He was lucky: The starter came out without too much effort, and I was able to install the rebuilt starter as well as unclog the vent drain. But the lesson is one for all boat owners to remember: It’s important that you always provide natural ventilation aboard any boat.
Growing up around wood boats, I was taught how natural ventilation combats the moisture that salt water leaves on cushions, caulk, anchor rodes and hard surfaces such as lockers. Good maintenance habits—such as soaping and rinsing with fresh water followed by adequate drying—go a long way toward keeping things aboard the boat in Bristol fashion. Ensuring adequate ventilation and making frequent inspections should also be part of the regular routine.
A typical milestone of spring maintenance, for example, is removing the boat’s winter cover. The air beneath it is often stagnant, unless the cover has a few vents to let fresh air in. Since winter temperatures fluctuate, the air beneath the cover can be rich in moisture, allowing mildew to start the moment the outside temperature begins to rise.
My friend’s anchor rode locker is a case in point. We were ready to drop the hook to chase grouper and snapper, but when I lifted the hatch where the anchor line lives, the white nylon rode was peppered with black strands of mildew. The underside of the hatch was equally smudged, and the liner showed trails of mildew from the top down into the bilge. The scent of the mildew on my hands was stronger than the bait we were using.
When we cleaned the boat after the trip, I suggested that my friend spend a day removing the anchor line and soaking it in a bucket of soapy water with a cup of bleach. I also told him to scrub the liner and as much of the inside of the hull as he could reach with a similar solution. A few hours of drying time under the Florida sunshine restored the rode, but I cautioned that this process must be ongoing to combat mildew. Leaving the anchor rode hatch open periodically can help circulate air into the compartment, but regular inspection and cleaning is the only real program that will suffice.
The mildew on the liner leading into the bilge had also created another problem: a musty odor in the boat’s forward stateroom. Removing a hatch beneath one of the V-berth bunks, we found more mildew in the bilge. After cleaning, we also removed the cushions and exposed them to an afternoon of sunlight in the cockpit. Once put back together, the stateroom smelled fresh, and I recommended that my friend keep the air conditioning on to help remove any standing humidity.
With the air conditioning running, an easy way to remove stubborn odors is to spray air freshener into the return registers. Another alternative is to place a few small fans in the boat’s interior at the dock, to keep the air moving throughout the salon, staterooms and heads. You also can decorate the interior with a product such as DampRid, which will collect the moisture of ambient humidity. Whichever plan you choose, it’s always better to be proactive.
Keeping the bilges dry is not always easy. A good amount of water can enter the boat from the cockpit, into the lazarette and travel forward throughout the bilge, where mildew will collect on hoses, wiring and fixtures. Exterior hatches usually have drains in the corners of the hatch cutouts, but sometimes these drains or plumbing runs can be clogged with debris. When this happens, a washdown, spray or rainwater can rise over the hatch lip and seep into the bilge.
On some boats, the hatch drains are built to spill into the lazarette, where bilge pumps evacuate the water. Bilge pumps are never 100 percent, so occasional inspections of the lazarette are my preferred rule. A day at the dock when the wind is blowing is a great time to air out the bilge by leaving a few hatches open and letting the breeze do the work for you.
Be suspicious about mildew colonies in any topside lockers and compartments that stow personal flotation devices, cleaning
supplies or other equipment. If these items are ever put away wet (and they usually are), mildew welcomes the invitation.
This article was originally published in the April 2023 issue.
