Keeping my boat dry - questions

I currently have to keep my boat outside at a marina on the trailer. Because we ride in brackish water (kinda salty), we rinse the boat down, outside and inside, with saltaway when we're finished using it. Then we cover it up wit the snap cover.

Doing this, we are basically covering the boat wet. I mean, we wipe down the interior but the carpet is damp and things are damp inside.

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on how we can wash the boat and put her away fairly dry. It's like a mold heater in there. We'd like to keep her covered since we only use her on weekends. We also have a larger cover we could use.

Any ideas guys?

Do you have access to power at the marina? If so, I would recommend a dehumidifier. You can spend as little as $100 or a lot more if you want one that will automatically shut off when it reads that the level of water in the air has been reduced. I believe my old storage facility used this one http://www.nextag.com/Haier-HDN305-30-Pint-73211716/prices-html but I am not sure.

A little research might find you exactly what you need.

(Message edited by phatboypimp on June 26, 2006)

i also use a dehumidifier as well. one of the best investments i made, i also spray various products to keep any mildew down and germs. get one that has a hose attatchment so u can put hose out to drain.

you can also get a product called Damp-Rid, which is this super absorbent stuff that takes moisture out of the air (may not be enough for your application however) My wife says it works

also, look into a plastic vent that you install on your cover, placed on the highest point - it will allow the moisture inside to evaporate

All good ideas. I'm not sure about continuous power at the marina so maybe the VENT will have to be the way to go.

I used Damp-Rid in mine last winter, and it worked really well.

A marina owner told me to put a 5 gallon pail of charcoal in the boat before covering it up.

I have never tried it, but he said it would absorb all the moisture.

As crazy as it sounds, damp charcoal can self-ignite... There was a story bout that a while back in a Boat US magazine. They had had claims on boats which had stored charcoal for bbq...

your right, it does sound crazy....water/dampness and fire usually don't mix well together.

Turns out that it is a bit crazy. I looked at it some more and there was a partial withdrawal of the story. It can self-ignite, but one needs a lot of it -- like a house boat sized load. Presumably more than Ronia would care to store on board... ;-)

See article:
http://www.atlanticcoastboating.com/magazine/SM_Articles/charcoal.htm

I wonder if the charcoal would be better than the damp rid...???

Here is a question. Why get the boat so wet inside?

We ride in brackish a lot of the time too, and wash outside and of course flush. Inside, we just wipe with a wet (fresh water) sponge and dry the seats with a towell. The interior is then dry very quickly.

For all the water coming off life jackets and whatnot, we keep a waterproof duffel bag in one of the lockers that we keep all the wettest stuff in during the outing. You'd be amazed how much water that collects.

Well we've been washing with the cover off, then wiping down the interior. I think we're going to start wiping down the interior, then putting the cover on and washing after that.
It gets wet from washing the outside and trying to rinse off the tower, etc.

Get a couple of those solar powered fans built in to the cover. I had these on the my old boat they dried out the inside in about thirty minutes.

www.cabelas.com/products/0032672017778a.jsp

http://www.ventsolair.com/

If you just wipe off the tower with a damp towel it would probably keep a lot of water from ever getting in. Rinse the side of the boat and trailer, but just wipe-down above the rubrail.

I use a wet/dry vac to suck up any excess water in the carpets. Then I prop open the engine lid and storage areas so air will circulate. If possible let the sun dry the interior before putting the cover on.
I use 2 "Damp-Rid" and so far so good.