Mold is another problem. This one is Catalina's fault because of the paint they use. I don't know what paint they use, but it is very susceptible to mold. If they used oil, that would be the cause of the mold. Originally, I was not aware they even painted the inside of the boat. I always thought it would be gelcoat. Bottom of the cabin locker hatches is the first place I noticed mold growing in the first year. I'm not a big fan of bleach and consider it the nuclear option so I tried vinegar. Did nothing and the dried residual did nothing to stop the growth. This winter, I tried to see if steam would remove the mold. To my surprise, I melted the paint. And both acetone and CitriStrip removed the paint and the mold as well. As CitriStrip is certainly a lot less toxic than acetone, I proceeded with that product, which was certainly less dangerous when working below. Here is a picture of the starboard hatch cover before:
This is caparison after stripping the starboard side:
You can see the 4-5 test patches on the port cover. The worst place for mold I found is the water tank compartment. Because this is sealed up I wanted to add a water level gauge. To my surprise, mold, mold and more mold. These are the before and after pictures with the CitriStrip (the "before" has some paint removal tests towards the left):
Notice on the far right of the "before" picture, you can see the gelcoat does not promote mold like the painted surface did.
I didn't paint the hatch covers and I'll keep an eye on them. It is always possible I'll need to strip a second time. But for the less accessible water tank compartment, I repainted with a well regarded latex acrylic with a biocide added to it. Time will tell if this was the correct choice. Here is the end result:
So I know what I'll be doing this summer. I'll be crawling around the bowels of my C275 with the CitriStrip in tow.
It's funny, I always had a mold problem with my '89 Capri 22 gas locker hatch. I wonder if that was painted as well?