Hi Tom,

Something like that happened to my cruiser once. It turned out the
fellow who installed the new AC had the drain running into the "dry"
bilge. If I were you, I would look for a water source. Perhaps the head,
pressure water system or, a leak in the portholes, vents and door trim.

Vinegar will kill most molds, mildews and Bacteria. After it evaporates
out, vinegar does not leave an odor. But during the evaporation process
you will think you are living in a winery. To help the situation, try
opening a couple of your vents.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Frank

Tom Becker wrote:
Pardon my interruption of the political, uh, commentary here; I have a
boating question.

Since its purchase three years ago, my '99 Four Winns 258 Vista cruiser's
mid-berth foam-backed wall carpeting has been staining, from the bottom up,
as if the bottom edge of the wall carpet is wet and is wicking upwards. It
has never felt even damp to the touch despite visible mildew in the stain.
This does not occur forward of the mid-berth.

The boat is normally hanging in a lift, covered, and has a reasonably dry
bilge. Here, in southwest Florida, the cabin gets quite warm during the day
and, of course, it's cooler at night but only in these recent Autumn months
has it reached the dew point. Perhaps monthly, I've lowered the hull and
run the air conditioning continuously for a few days to thoroughly remove
the cabin humidity, and the remainder of the cabin is free of mildew.
Fortunately, soaking it with an Oxy-Clean solution from a spray bottle
clears the stain and mildew, but it always recurs.

Has anyone experienced this? Is there anything I can do to prevent it?


Tom Becker
RighTime
Cape Coral