Does your boat stink?

[T37Chef]

I cant remember where I got this tip...probaly here.

Cut and onion in half and place in a bucket of water. Leave it in the cabin for a few days, hatches, ports, etc. closed.

I did this in the spring and it worked??? I have no idea why but it did.

BTW...this tip is in no way a subsitute for a good cleaning.

Changing the head hoses should have been the first thing I did to the boat, makes a difference.

[mawm]

2 things:-

1 Aerate the holding tank which allows aerobic bacteria to breakdown the waste. It's the anaerobic bacteria which cause the smell. You don't need all the other cr@p.

2 Fresh water in the heads intake hose. The salt water that most heads flush with, if left to stand, creats the most horrible smell - rotting eggs!

I have an old boat that has the hand basin discharge connect to the heads intake. I used to wonder why. Since I have flushed fresh water through it and into the heads intake hose at the end of a cruise all my smells have gone. These old boat builders knew a lot about boats.

[SailorBC]

Another source of smell can occur if the anchor locker drains into the bilge. If it does, consider a modification that allows the anchor locker to drain overboard, instead of the bilge. The result is less sea water and grime in the boat bilge the better... kind regards J

[RAGTIMEDON]

Ionize the air? I bought a thing called a "Bilge Buster" a year ago. It is a 12 volt ozone generator. Look at "Ozone gererators" on Google and you will find several. Ozone is O3, an ion of O2 which any chemistry student will tell you is oxygen. This thing not only cleared up the smell on my boat, it took the residual stink out of the clothes that had been in a drawer near my holding tank. After replacing the hoses on my holding tank, using the buster, and cleaning everything we could reach with chlorox, smells are gone. Remember that chlorox will eat up aluminum tanks, rubber hoses, gaskets, etc, and ozone will also destroy rubber, so use both with caution. Coffee grounds are safer, but slower.

[SanderO]

Shiva has no odors from the head for several reasons.

Large forward facing hatch
The entire head is our shower and get a complete wash once a day when we shower. We also wipe the walls each time so no scum can accumulate.
Our bilges are completely dry
Our upholstery is only a few years old.
We vacuum and and clean the interior regularly

We do get a slight musty smell when the boat has been locked up for 4 or 5 days in the summer and there is no ventilation. As soon as we open up the hatches and fresh air comes in the boat has no smell.

We also use come cedar scented spray occassionally.

Stinky boats are very unpleasant

jef
sv shiva

[Giulietta]

Originally Posted by T37Chef

I cant remember where I got this tip...probaly here.

Cut and onion in half and place in a bucket of water. Leave it in the cabin for a few days, hatches, ports, etc. closed.

I did this in the spring and it worked??? I have no idea why but it did.

BTW...this tip is in no way a subsitute for a good cleaning.

Changing the head hoses should have been the first thing I did to the boat, makes a difference.

I posted that last year...see here