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How do I prevent mold and mildew?


usnacs

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I just recently received my 07 Response lxi after many months waiting. We used the boat extensively over the weekend. At the end of the day I noticed the carpet was very wet in some places, even saturated. I know it isn't suppossed to happen from what I read, but I took in a couple of good rollers over the bow. I learned to be a little more careful now. I thought it may be good a idea so I used a wet/dry vac to dry it out as best I could. We keep the boat on a lift in a covered dock. I put the cover on and left and won't return for 4 days. The carpet was still obviously wet. Will leaving a cover on wet carpeting be a big problem with mold? If so, how do you prevent it? In this case, I will be back in a couple of days so don't anticipate a problem, but what if I am gone for a few weeks at a time? A guy near me has a touchless cover that is like a large tent around the boat. This looks pretty cool, but I don't want to spend any more money. Any ideas/solutions would be appreciated.

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The summer I got my boat was a very rainy summer (03). While on vacation it rained 17 of the 21 days we were there and we were camping. The Bu stays in the water the whole time we are there. I only pull it out to fuel it up because there is no gas on the lake. Anyway, it rained as we were packing up on Sunday so the boat got covered wet. I took it to a friends house about a hour away to pick it up on Monday, because I had to pull my pop-up home first. When I got the boat home on Monday it was loaded with green mildew. So now I know not to cover it for even a day if the interior is wet. I will put the cover on for the 5 hour trip home, but pull it off as soon as I am home. I have to cover it because we put a lot of the camping gear in the boat for the trip. The best I can offer is to leave the boat in the sun your last day there.

Edited by electricjohn
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After use, I dry out the carpet by throwing down a big towel & doing the stamp method, this gets out most if it. Open up the seats and slide the cushions about so air can get in there and put the cover on it (stock cover that came with my boat). Mine sits on the lift for more than a few days this way and I've never had mold/mildew problems but it's also in the beating sun.

You can throw in some Damp-Rid canisters too to help out.

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I use the towel and stamp method. Reminds me - last year we were driving home from Canyon Lake and got caught in the worst rainstorm (with a little hail thrown in for good measure) I've ever seen. Couldn't see more than about 20 ft ahead. The boat got filled up with some good rainwater. A combo of the towel and stamp method along with many quarters at the neighborhood car wash (for the wet dry vac) got er dry. It gets pretty humid here in Austin as well so I also use one of those dehumidifier buckets you can pick up at your dealer or local boat supply shop.

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Keep the boat dry and you won't get mold...simple as that.
How do you keep a ski boat dry?

Remove your gear (wet suit etc) while on the platform, then place the items in the wet bucket.

To the OP - Putting the cover on wet is going to result in some serious mold and mildew. If it get's wet you need to find away to leave uncovered for a couple of days to dry out.

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I just recently received my 07 Response lxi after many months waiting. We used the boat extensively over the weekend. At the end of the day I noticed the carpet was very wet in some places, even saturated. I know it isn't suppossed to happen from what I read, but I took in a couple of good rollers over the bow. I learned to be a little more careful now. I thought it may be good a idea so I used a wet/dry vac to dry it out as best I could. We keep the boat on a lift in a covered dock. I put the cover on and left and won't return for 4 days. The carpet was still obviously wet. Will leaving a cover on wet carpeting be a big problem with mold? If so, how do you prevent it? In this case, I will be back in a couple of days so don't anticipate a problem, but what if I am gone for a few weeks at a time? A guy near me has a touchless cover that is like a large tent around the boat. This looks pretty cool, but I don't want to spend any more money. Any ideas/solutions would be appreciated.

Make sure your cover is adequately vented and you won't have mildew problems.

Boat Vent is excellent for that kind of thing. If you really want to go high zoot, get the one with the solar powered version.

Overton's sell 'em, among other places.

10.jpg

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First of all I try not to get the boat too wet, but after a day of Footing, we dry off all the seats, open all the storage compartments, ski locker, flip the drivers seat cushion up, bow seat cushions if used that day, then put a box fan on low in the rear blowing forward.

I have to admit I have thought about it running all week in the boat, but I've done it for almost 10 years now and never had a problem, and my boat is always nice and dry by the next friday afternoon.

I would never, ever cover my boat if there is any moisture in the boat. That's just asking for mold and mildew on things. Once it's there, it's usually too late.

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DONT GET THE BOAT WET!!!!

Thats the running joke on my boat. We have major problems with mold in our boat, mainly because we take several ski sets just at sundown and then cover the boat for a day or two, locking in all the moisture. What everyone has said is correct. The best thing is to try to keep it dry to begin with. Dis-robe and drip on the platform, hang life jackets on racks for a few minutes to drip out..etc Cover vents also work great. I am looking into some sort of boat cover\port that we can install at the dock for this year too.

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If you have access to power, try putting one of these in your boat under your cover - Caframo Stor-Dry Air Dryer w/ Blower. When I bring my boat home from skiing, I throw this in and it really dries things up. I also use it during winter storage, and have not had a mildew problem since. Depending on your boat size, you might want to use 2 of them.

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I put the cover on and left and won't return for 4 days. The carpet was still obviously wet. Will leaving a cover on wet carpeting be a big problem with mold? If so, how do you prevent it?

Unless there is a way for moisture to escape leaving the cover on will be a problem with mold...especially if the temperatures are warmer, which allows to mold to thrive. I would leave the cover open on the back end of the boat and at the bow. This way you will get ventilation through the boat. The boat may get a bit dusty, but I would rather wipe down the interior vs. clean out mold.

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Our boat gets drenched during the day. When the water is cold (like it is here most of the year) the last thing you want to do is stand on the platform and try to dry off. That said, we keep all (or as much as we can) wet stuff in the rear locker and when the boat gets home one of two things happen.

1. The boat sits out in the driveway with all the hatches open, seats up, compartments open, lockers open, drain plugs out, and all wet stuff gets hung on the tower (if its day time) and in the garage at night

2. The boat gets put in the garage and the same as the above except instead of "air drying" everything we (I) towel it all down and shop vac the carpet to get the excess moisture out.

We have never had a mold or mildew problem in our boat, but we do sometimes get a nasty river smell in our Tahoe if we all pile in wet, drive home, and then not use the car again for a few days...the summer sun just cooks in the smell Crazy.gif

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i just ordered a carpet saver this weekend, and i am hoping that it will get wet and not the capret underneath and i can just take it out and that might help prevent some mildew. but i could be wrong but i thought it ws worth a try. Biggrin.gif

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i just ordered a carpet saver this weekend, and i am hoping that it will get wet and not the capret underneath and i can just take it out and that might help prevent some mildew. but i could be wrong but i thought it ws worth a try. Biggrin.gif

We have a carpet saver, and it does save on the normal wear and tear on the carpet underneath. It won't keep your under carpet from getting damp so I would still adhere to some of the above suggestions. I usually do the wet dry vac/some level of stamp method depending on how bad it is. I had not seen the cover vent's that were referenced but now I might have to look into that!!! Thumbup.gif

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