Ditto on Peggy's book. We stuggled with ours a bit - turned out that the vent to the holding tank was partially blocked and the loop on the bidge pump was excessive, causing alo of backflow
Does your boat have BO?
- Thread starter Phil Herring
- Start date
This is the answer folks.... if the bilge smell like poop or diesel then you have bigger issues. I have a diesel engine and 2 heads that we happily do our #2's in and the boat and bilge don't smell.... except for the smell of the ocean breeze!!
btw didn't realize the age of the post.... ha!
Good Luck!
Greg
My boat smelled dreadful when I bought it. First thing I did, after reading Peggy’s book, was to replace the old permeated vinyl hoses and give the entire bilge a thorough cleaning. Also got rid of the prohibited (on the Great Lakes) overboard pump out hose, y-valve & through hull, and replaced leaking scupper hoses.
Since then, it‘s just regular bilge cleaning in the fall as part of winterization and generally once mid-season, plus routine complete draining and drying of the bilge during sailing season whenever I close up the boat. It might sound obsessive to some, but I actually remove the last bit of water, mostly backflow from the bilge pump hose, with an oven baster. A clean & dry bilge is key.
I try to keep humidity down in the cabin when the boat is closed up with about six H2Out desiccant dryers. They’re a bit pricey, but rechargeable - about three hours in the oven once a month. I switched to those after having one of those hanging Damp-Rid bags spring a leak and make an awful mess. I use a half dozen Damp-Rid buckets during winter storage.
Since then, it‘s just regular bilge cleaning in the fall as part of winterization and generally once mid-season, plus routine complete draining and drying of the bilge during sailing season whenever I close up the boat. It might sound obsessive to some, but I actually remove the last bit of water, mostly backflow from the bilge pump hose, with an oven baster. A clean & dry bilge is key.
I try to keep humidity down in the cabin when the boat is closed up with about six H2Out desiccant dryers. They’re a bit pricey, but rechargeable - about three hours in the oven once a month. I switched to those after having one of those hanging Damp-Rid bags spring a leak and make an awful mess. I use a half dozen Damp-Rid buckets during winter storage.
