Shallow bilge and cleaning

[dyslexic dog 107]

I have decided to rework my Catalina 320 for cruising. I know, that's a oxymoron. I had raced it for years and had added many items and tracks that are now removed and filled to try and keep the boat dryer. The issue is cleaning out all the crud and moldy spots. I was told not to use bleach because when it dies off, the mold comes back with a vengeance. Vinegar  was suggested. What else? 

Also, the 320 has all these pockets in the floor that don't drain, I was thinking of reworking them so they drain to a common area. This would involve I think filling in the pockets partially with a mortar or epoxy like you would for a shower stall floor. 

So help an old fool out would ya? 

[GH41 18]

Clorox kills the mold. There are mold spores in every breath of air you breath. They only show their ass when temps and humidity are within a certain range. Running the AC if you have one will dry the air and keep it at bay. Not as good as AC but a couple fans moving the air around will help.

[SloopJonB 7,938]

Keep bleach away from the keel bolts - chlorine & S/S don't play well.

[daan62 270]

cleaning vinigar is top! (if you don't like the smell ad some lemon juice... (clean's well, too))

 

you can also go to the chinese foodstore and get oxalic acid (in the Netherlands 0,90 EUR for a bag... put some in a bucket of water and you're done... one bag is good for at least 5 buckets)

 

[daan62 270]

5 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

Keep bleach away from the keel bolts - chlorine & S/S don't play well.

good to know (never knew...)

[longy 455]

Just rinse well - it takes a long time for damage to occur

[Zonker 2,394]

Ventilation (moving fresh air) and humidity control is how to keep mold at bay. So think about adding a few dorade and mushroom vents. Add louvred vent in the top companionway board. Etc etc.

I didn't know oxalic acid kills mold but we buy it in hardware stores in N.America. Often sold under trade name "Barkeeper's Friend". Use it to clean rust stains from s.s.

[Livia 648]

After keeping boats in the sub tropics for years.

Clean with vinegar than spray with oil of cloves diluted with water to stop regrowth

If a smooth surface that dense foam cleaning blocks (magic eraser) are best for removing mould and mildew but hard on the surface

Remember salt is your real enemy

So mop down any salty surface every time you leave the boat.

[Oceanconcepts 173]

I've used this formula- grabbed from PS years ago- can't find the reference, but the original was I think from a chemist- at least he seemed to know what he was talking about. It's been very effective, can be left on without rinsing and seems to do a good job of preventing mildew from returning.  I've used a garden type tank sprayer to apply & scrubbed a bit. Warning was not to assume a higher concentration would be better- it isn't.

1 quart hot water

1 tablespoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

2 tablespoons washing soda (sodium carbonate)

2 tablespoons trisodium phosphate (TSP)

[dyslexic dog 107]

Thanks for the replies. The cleaning chemistry sounds promising. But what about building a sump pathway?  Foam and fiberglass?  epoxy and filler? This boat collects water. Its like twenty bowls laid out on the floor. I need to get them to go to one or two places and deal with it there. This is a love hate relationship. This boat sails extremely well for  what it is. Deep keel, wide beam, flat bottom, clean entry. Just a shitty shallow bilge. 

[El Borracho 1,642]

12 minutes ago, dyslexic dog said:

Thanks for the replies. The cleaning chemistry sounds promising. But what about building a sump pathway?  Foam and fiberglass?  epoxy and filler? This boat collects water. Its like twenty bowls laid out on the floor. I need to get them to go to one or two places and deal with it there. This is a love hate relationship. This boat sails extremely well for  what it is. Deep keel, wide beam, flat bottom, clean entry. Just a shitty shallow bilge. 

The boat leaks rain? Or only water collected during a race or splashy daysail? Is a wet/dry vacuum cleaner in the dock box too much? Pretty common for racers and after splashy cruises. If long range cruising you may need something you can take with. Sometimes a gybe or tack will get the water to the proper bilge.

It is doubtful that clever weep tubes would work well. Plus a huge amount of work to be successful. Covers over the worst offenders might work. Lazy plumbers might rig a pump manifold with a dozen tubes and valves to suck out each low spot.

Fresh glossy paint in the bilges goes a long long way to discouraging mold.

[dyslexic dog 107]

Yes, to they paint. Going to try and seal as much as I can

 

[Sail4beer 2,009]

Don’t bother trying to drill limber holes in the keel, too much work and could cause problems with the bond to the hull. The 320 is one of the hulls that can really suffer damage from grounding and delaminating that grid. 
 

For incredible cleaning without any real effort, I use 30 second outdoor cleaning concentrate. Gallon jug with a red lid. Kills mold and mildew on contact and no scrubbing. I just used it to clean the deck and cockpit of my very dirty Catalina 42 yesterday and still have 3 quarts left to clean out the bilges and a couple of other boats. I use it straight-not diluted and apply it to a dry surface and I do not let it dry on the surface.

[Sail4beer 2,009]

Mold away sprayed in the bilges will help keep the mold down, as will keeping a few floorboards up when not using the boat.

[SloopJonB 7,938]

18 hours ago, Zonker said:

Ventilation (moving fresh air) and humidity control is how to keep mold at bay. So think about adding a few dorade and mushroom vents. Add louvred vent in the top companionway board. Etc etc.

I didn't know oxalic acid kills mold but we buy it in hardware stores in N.America. Often sold under trade name "Barkeeper's Friend". Use it to clean rust stains from s.s.

The "Barkeeper's Friend" I have used was abrasive - similar to Bon Ami. Great for sinks and such but not for polished S/S.

Does it come in a non-abrasive version?

[IStream 2,226]

5 minutes ago, SloopJonB said:

The "Barkeeper's Friend" I have used was abrasive - similar to Bon Ami. Great for sinks and such but not for polished S/S.

Does it come in a non-abrasive version?

But of course:

https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Keepers-Friend-Cleanser-13-Ounces/dp/B00B28ZYPU/ref=sr_1_5?crid=44Z3GKJVNZ4N&dchild=1&keywords=barkeepers+friends+soft+cleanser&qid=1595176662&sprefix=barkeeper%2Caps%2C260&sr=8-5

They also sell a polish marketed for cleaning stainless cooktops and ovens.

[Sail4beer 2,009]

 ...

 

[Looper 75]

In hindsight i should have uncovered my 7.9 this spring while we still had COVID closures, but i didn't.  As a result of the excess moisture the entire boat on the inside was entirely covered in mold.  the boat's interior and headliner are lined with indoor/outdoor carpet.  This was a big job.

Ventilate and wear a mask for what i'm going to tell you...

I bought a new tank sprayer (like the ones used for weed control in yards and filled it with undiluted vinegar first and literally hosed down the entire boat.  From what i read the acid in the vinegar kills off the spores and prevents the mold from spreading.

Step 2 was to take the same sprayer and dilute a 4:1 water bleach mixture (make sure you take out any upholstery to do this part).  Did the same, sprayed down the entire boat, but avoided places i was concerned the bleach might do damage.  It's remarkable how the bleach just makes the black vanish at this point.

The final step was purchasing one of those Bissell hand steam cleaners for cleaning furniture and cleaning all the carpet surfaces. 

Needless to say, for a 40 year old boat it looks almost new.  I'm pretty religious with a de-hu in the summer, but so far over a month in not a single spore has returned and the typical musty boat smell it used to have is completely gone.

[Grande Mastere Dreade 2,022]

 

a Sodium hypochlorite  based cleaner,   made by wd-40..

 

the greeks say to use Windex

[dyslexic dog 107]

5 hours ago, Looper said:

In hindsight i should have uncovered my 7.9 this spring while we still had COVID closures, but i didn't.  As a result of the excess moisture the entire boat on the inside was entirely covered in mold.  the boat's interior and headliner are lined with indoor/outdoor carpet.  This was a big job.

Ventilate and wear a mask for what i'm going to tell you...

I bought a new tank sprayer (like the ones used for weed control in yards and filled it with undiluted vinegar first and literally hosed down the entire boat.  From what i read the acid in the vinegar kills off the spores and prevents the mold from spreading.

Step 2 was to take the same sprayer and dilute a 4:1 water bleach mixture (make sure you take out any upholstery to do this part).  Did the same, sprayed down the entire boat, but avoided places i was concerned the bleach might do damage.  It's remarkable how the bleach just makes the black vanish at this point.

The final step was purchasing one of those Bissell hand steam cleaners for cleaning furniture and cleaning all the carpet surfaces. 

Needless to say, for a 40 year old boat it looks almost new.  I'm pretty religious with a de-hu in the summer, but so far over a month in not a single spore has returned and the typical musty boat smell it used to have is completely gone.

Been there done that with a 7.9 

[dyslexic dog 107]

So I did the gross cleaning today with Simple Green and a weed sprayer. It says its a fungicide but I am considering vinegar too. I want to bilge paint it and I see that someone suggests using  denatured alcohol to clean it before painting. ??????

This place always has good suggestions so before I poison myself breathing fumes, I thought I would keep asking questions. You know, I paid a lot for all this information. 20 years of mac 26 stories, sailing downwind faster than the wind, the two year drift, sailing around vancouver island............

[Grande Mastere Dreade 2,022]

4 hours ago, dyslexic dog said:

So I did the gross cleaning today with Simple Green and a weed sprayer. It says its a fungicide but I am considering vinegar too. I want to bilge paint it and I see that someone suggests using  denatured alcohol to clean it before painting. ??????

This place always has good suggestions so before I poison myself breathing fumes, I thought I would keep asking questions. You know, I paid a lot for all this information. 20 years of mac 26 stories, sailing downwind faster than the wind, the two year drift, sailing around vancouver island............

yeah, read up on your labels and msds's and make sure you don't create something you'll regret and end up on a respirator.. they are , in short supply...

[penumbra 7]

On 7/18/2020 at 8:32 PM, Oceanconcepts said:

I've used this formula- grabbed from PS years ago- can't find the reference, but the original was I think from a chemist- at least he seemed to know what he was talking about. It's been very effective, can be left on without rinsing and seems to do a good job of preventing mildew from returning.  I've used a garden type tank sprayer to apply & scrubbed a bit. Warning was not to assume a higher concentration would be better- it isn't.

1 quart hot water

1 tablespoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

2 tablespoons washing soda (sodium carbonate)

2 tablespoons trisodium phosphate (TSP)

I used a flavor of this mix as recommended by Practical Sailor. It left a crusty residue everywhere and I was quite displeased.

Also, I recently learned you can get high test vinegar - up to 45% acidity versus 5% found in the supermarket. If your rage towards growth is reaching the same point where mine is regarding that in my sail drive, it may be an option if you, like me, believe in the nuclear option.

[Grande Mastere Dreade 2,022]

2 hours ago, penumbra said:

I used a flavor of this mix as recommended by Practical Sailor. It left a crusty residue everywhere and I was quite displeased.

Also, I recently learned you can get high test vinegar - up to 45% acidity versus 5% found in the supermarket. If your rage towards growth is reaching the same point where mine is regarding that in my sail drive, it may be an option if you, like me, believe in the nuclear option.

probably don't need 45%,  you can go to organic garden supply and get 20% vinegar which should be more than enough,  once again, wear a mask..

[Borax Johnson 38]

13 minutes ago, Grande Mastere Dreade said:

probably don't need 45%,  you can go to organic garden supply and get 20% vinegar which should be more than enough,  once again, wear a mask..

A real mask. I don’t know what the spec is but it’s for really nasty stuff. They’re the kind with the two filters on them. They’re expensive but cheaper than lungs. 

[SloopJonB 7,938]

Those are called respirators.

[Grande Mastere Dreade 2,022]

9 hours ago, SloopJonB said:

Those are called respirators.

if you can find one to buy..

[dyslexic dog 107]

1 hour ago, Grande Mastere Dreade said:

if you can find one to buy..

Got one from painting a 7.9 years ago and bought new filters before covid.