Help Me Identify This Smell

[Paul Mermelstein]

I've had the boat 2+ years and there is this odor that I smell only when first opening up the boat. If a hatch or two are open just a minute, the smell is not noticable. Hot weather makes it worse, but it exists year round.

I would describe it as pungent, sweet, and unpleasant. It does not smell like urine or fecal waste, rotting food, or anything I can identify.

The waste tank vents are clear. The entire bilge is very dry.

Any ideas?

 

[bruce1309]

diesel exhaust or fuel?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

Odors are always strongest at their source

So next time you come to the boat, don't air it out....instead, go around the boat opening lockers, drawers and hatches to sniff out the source.

Fwiw, I suspect a sump...so try cleaning it. Or a sink drain. Lots of discussions in this forum on using Raritan C.P. to keep sumps and drains clean and sweet smelling.

Or, if your ice box or frig doesn't drain into a sump, trapped water under the sole is a very likely culprit.

 

[Paul Mermelstein]

Re: Odors are always strongest at their source

Thanks Peggy. I have done sniff test all around the enclosed spaces, but will do it again. The idea of the bilge sump is a possibility. On my boat, the showers and fridge are pumped directly overboard; no sump for those. And the A/C condensation is also pumped directly overboard with the cooling water discharge. But I will look around thinking about what you said.

On another board, one for my boat, other owners said it is still the outgassing of some material that was used in construction of the boat. They have it too. Maybe so. If that is the case, any thought about a de-odorizer? I know you've mentioned PureAyr. Is that applied to surfaces only or to the air in the space?

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

PureAyre isn't just an air freshener...

It eliminates odors--ALL odors, including oil and diesel as well as "organic" odors (sewage mold etc) entirely. It's applied to surfaces.

You'll find good info here, so do a search for it here...then go to their website and read all about it: PureAyre

 

[Don12364]

Default Re: Help Me Identify This Smell

Styrene Vapour??
This is normal and even on my H376 which is now 14 years old I sometimes get a whiff if I open a locker which has been shut for some time.
In concentrated form I believe it is harmful and fibreglass workers wear masks with forced air ventilation but in the concentrations experienced on completed boats it is not regarded as dangerous.

http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB_ch064.pdf

 

[Cayennita]

Install a solar powered ventilator. Also flush the head with fresh water when leaving. Salt water and brackish water have organisms that will die and you can smell it because of the decay. Many fiberglass boat will also have the smell created by the resin. Ventilate the boat. It cured my Hunter Legend 35 that I bought new in 1987.