Boat odors

[Scott]

We recently bought a 1985 Catalina 30. The boat is generally in very good shape, but has a fairly strong odor throughout. We have cleaned it well and are in the process of replacing all hoses. The problem now is that these odors have gotten into the seat cushions and fabric. It also seems to have a strong affinity for vinyl and plastics in general. All of this is made worse during hot weather when we run the AC which just recirculates these odors. The cushions are in very good shape so we do not want to replace them unless it is abosolutely necessary. Any ideas on how best to address this problem?

 

[Allen Schweitzer]

One idea....

Scott,Try a combination of Lysol & Febreeze. It worked for me pretty well. The Lysol kills bacteria & germs (I assume we're talking about holding tank odors, right?). Febreeze does a great job of just plain removing odors.One thing I learned is that ALL of the sources of the odor must be fixed before any of these things will work. I'm sure that you'll see a big improvement once the hoses are replaced.Check out Peggy Hall's Head Mistress postings for more information on how to keep the holding tank healthy & happy.Good luck!!Allen Schweitzers/v DrambuieC-30 Hull# 632

 

[LaDonna Bubak - CatalinaOwners.com]

Odors

What kind of odors are we talking about? Tracking down & fixing the source IS the most important thing but there are a couple things you can do re: upholstery.The Febreeze idea is a good one but another is this stuff you can get at West Marine in a tub called Air Sponge. You just open it up & it actually absorbs odors. This isn't hype! We spilled some diesel in a locker and it REEKED! I popped one of those things in there, closed it up & it completely eliminated the fumes after about a week. It doesn't mask it with perfume but does have a very very mild scent - I'm extremely sensitive to smells so I feel confident in saying that there's almost no scent.Anyway, plop a couple of those around the boat while the boat's closed up for the winter & you should notice a big difference come spring (as long as the source is gone).LaDonna

 

[Jim]

Lemon Oil

We also have a '85 30' Cat. We are the second owners and found out the previous owner had small dogs and also was pipe smoker. We aply lemon oil every spring to all of the interior teak. We changed the hoses, clean the bilge and wask the interior fiberglas w/ clorox. It was bad and now its very faint. I don't think the prior owners spent much effort cleaning.

 

[John Manfredi]

holding tank

We bought a 91 Catalina 30, 5 years ago. It was meticulously cared for but had a very bad holding tank odor, embarrasingly bad! We installed the most expensive hozes first year, and again second year. Second year also plumbed a fish tank bubbler into the pump out hoze, reasoning the tank needed more air. This bubbled, on a timer, back through the whole tank, 15 minutes every hour. It sounded nice, just like a fish tank, but the smell still dominated. During this two year period we also tried many, many, ... deodorizers. Finally we could take the smell no more and tore out the whole stinking system: toilet, tank, hoses and macerator. Bought a $100 porta potty, made a little plywood platform for it, and used the quick dosconnect wire bails. The smell has mostly gone now after more 2 years. We are 100% happy with the porta potty.Rinsed and chloroxed two years ago, the original holding tank is still in the back yard, and last time I checked still stinks. I doubt you will ever get rid of a tank odor until you get rid of the tank. JohnM

 

[Gerry]

Odors

Scott, LaDonna's right about the Air Sponge. We always had a closed up odor (faint, but there)in the head. This was not a head odor as such since we usually flush with fresh water, but once she started putting a sponge tub in there it was sweet smelling all the time. They last quite a while on mild odors and are pretty cheap.