Katy,
You are not going to like my advice, but the problem you are facing is that
your hull is not insulated and has become a cold sink creating condensation.
For your information, this is what kills steel vessels, as it creates
corrosion in those places you do not have access to. The correct solution is
to insulate the hull with Urethane foam and then paint the foam with a fire
retardent latex paint. This will prevent the moist air from condensing on
the cold hull. Insulation without an air barrier is insufficient. A
dehumidifier is a band aid. It will help, but will not resolve the problem.
Of course this task should have been done before the interior was installed,
but then the cost would have made the boat less competitive for sale and
this problem would never be the builder's in any case. I have suggested
Urethane foam, but other products perform as well, like sprayed cork, but
they are not better or less expensive.
Steve

"katy" wrote in message
om...
We're having some problems with damp seeping in. Both the v-berth and the
aft cabin have wood bins on the sides for storage...these are open and
about 9 inches deep. That's where we store our clothes. The hull side and
bottoms are carpeted with the same fabric as the the liner, a sort of
nubbly burlappy material but more closely woven. It seems the clothes on
the bottom are always damp. I've been rotating them so they won't mildew
but that's getting tedious. Also have damp problems where the cushions
meet the hull walls in the berths. Got some roll out thick paper stuff
from West Marine but as soon as it gets damp, the sheets start picking up
moisture again. I've taken to running fans all the time to keep air
circulating and am cutting back on boiling anything or running the heater
excessively when it's raining so humidity doesn't build up. I've got 3M
window plastic over the ports and the vents are all open and drawing.
Thought of using DampRid, but since NC is in a permanent state of humid,
we'd be going through one of those every other day. Any suggestions on how
to keep damp and mildew from forming (except stopping breathing
processes)?