clean-up and dry-out questions-gctid381721

[Guest]

Having never owned a boat with carpet in it before, I was surprised to see that it was still wet tonight after having been inside since Sunday night. We boat on salt, so spraying down the interior is pretty much required. You folks with carpeted boat experience, how do you deal with it? Obviously my plan of cleaning it up, covering it back up and sticking it in the warehouse bay during the times we aren't using it will result in some pretty heavy mildew pretty quick.....

I also noticed that on the trailer, even with the support wheel all the way down, it still doesn't get enough angle to drain the ski locker into the bilge. That sure won't help mildew either. Looks like I'm going to have to pick this sucker up and place it on a block every time. :sorrow:

[Mocoondo]

You would be well served by remaining fastidious about keeping water out of the interior of your boat. Bayliner likes to glue carpeting to plywood as a cost savings measure. They call this a "floor" and it generally works well so long as you keep it dry. If you get the interior of your boat wet with any regularity, you will very soon be facing wood rot which is the death knell of most Bayliners.

Do yourself the favor and keep the water on the outside of the boat and you'll be fine. Also, don't store the boat with a wet interior. As you guessed, you will get mold and mildew in no time at all, neither of which are easy to eradicate.

[Guest]

They make small fans to circulate the air, but if you are hosing down the inside it will never dry with a cover. Putting the tongue on a block isnt that bad, drain it, maybe leave the cover open on a corner to get some air. Keep that floor dry. And have some fun!!!!!

[Guest]

JeffBowser wrote:
Having never owned a boat with carpet in it before, I was surprised to see that it was still wet tonight after having been inside since Sunday night. We boat on salt, so spraying down the interior is pretty much required. You folks with carpeted boat experience, how do you deal with it? Obviously my plan of cleaning it up, covering it back up and sticking it in the warehouse bay during the times we aren't using it will result in some pretty heavy mildew pretty quick.....

I also noticed that on the trailer, even with the support wheel all the way down, it still doesn't get enough angle to drain the ski locker into the bilge. That sure won't help mildew either. Looks like I'm going to have to pick this sucker up and place it on a block every time. :sorrow:

Regarding the boat/trailer angle. I put it up on blocks for a season but found this became a pain. I eventually invested in an adjustable support wheel system made by Fulton ... it has dual wheels and made for heavier tongue loads. My special ops friends use this on their military rigs so I thought it a good refrence. I am a happy camper ... I adjust the tilt angle to max and it is just enough to drain completely.

As far as the wet carpet ... agree with the danger ... you must dry it out completely every time. I bought a small dehumidifier (the kind that you can attach a drain hose to and run continuously). I put it in the ski locker area (to get it down low) and ran a drain hose from it out through the drain hole of the transom. If you do this, the drain line works on gravity and you have to get a good downhill run for the line.

[Guest]

I do not see how one can boat in salt water and not rinse the entire boat out...... How do you handle corrosion if not by rinsing? What do you do when you get caught out in rain? Take 4 teens out with you for water sports?

I agree a wood floor is silly, but still, never getting it wet sound impractical.....

Dehumidifier, not a bad idea.....

Mocoondo wrote:
You would be well served by remaining fastidious about keeping water out of the interior of your boat. Bayliner likes to glue carpeting to plywood as a cost savings measure. They call this a "floor" and it generally works well so long as you keep it dry. If you get the interior of your boat wet with any regularity, you will very soon be facing wood rot which is the death knell of most Bayliners.

Do yourself the favor and keep the water on the outside of the boat and you'll be fine. Also, don't store the boat with a wet interior. As you guessed, you will get mold and mildew in no time at all, neither of which are easy to eradicate.

[Mocoondo]

JeffBowser wrote:
I do not see how one can boat in salt water and not rinse the entire boat out...... How do you handle corrosion if not by rinsing? What do you do when you get caught out in rain? Take 4 teens out with you for water sports?

I agree a wood floor is silly, but still, never getting it wet sound impractical.....

Dehumidifier, not a bad idea.....

You don't need to rinse your carpeting, upholstery, etc. out after each use of the boat. The carpeting isn't going to corrode. A regular application of a high quality wax will keep interior furnishings from getting the salt water funk. For metal furnishings on the exterior of the boat (cleats, etc.), a good quality wax will go a long way as well as a full freshwater washdown after each use.

Let's face it ... you bought a cheap boat with carpeting glued down to a piece of plywood and they call that a floor. As such, you cannot operate this type of boat with the same level of disregard that you might with a more expensive boat that has a fiberglass liner that you can hose down 10 times a day. All I am saying is that if you keep getting the interior of your boat wet and not drying it out fully, you will be facing *MAJOR* repairs. Do a quick search on these forums for rot, stringer replacement and floor replacement. You will find some very graphic photos of what Bayliner rot looks like. If you are not capable of doing repairs like that yourself, you could easily be facing a situation where the fix costs more than what it would to just replace the whole boat.

The interior of my boat is just like yours ... carpeting glued to plywood. I purposely get it wet once per year ... and that is when I take the carpet shampooer to the rugs. When I am done, it sits out in bright sunshine until completely dry. On occasion it gets wet as the result of normal operation, but I am very careful to get as much of that water soaked up as possible and never store the boat with any water or moisture on the inside.

When I used to keep a boat in salt water, it was SOP to do a freshwater washdown at the end of each boating day, but that was for the exterior of the boat. I would not hose down the interior as that would be absurd.

[Guest]

I appreciate your insight. Although my experience with marine plywoood does not lead me to be terrified of it in a wet environment, I know its not indestructible and I'm now inclined to be more cautious with my interior wash-down. I'm simply used to boats that get wet inside (jet boats, flat skiffs, open fishers...), I'm surprised how dry this boat stays in the normal course of events, so I need to readjust my clean-up routine to the boat requirements.

Mocoondo wrote:
You don't need to rinse your carpeting, upholstery, etc. out after each use of the boat. The carpeting isn't going to corrode. A regular application of a high quality wax will keep interior furnishings from getting the salt water funk. For metal furnishings on the exterior of the boat (cleats, etc.), a good quality wax will go a long way as well as a full freshwater washdown after each use.

Let's face it ... you bought a cheap boat with carpeting glued down to a piece of plywood and they call that a floor. As such, you cannot operate this type of boat with the same level of disregard that you might with a more expensive boat that has a fiberglass liner that you can hose down 10 times a day. All I am saying is that if you keep getting the interior of your boat wet and not drying it out fully, you will be facing *MAJOR* repairs. Do a quick search on these forums for rot, stringer replacement and floor replacement. You will find some very graphic photos of what Bayliner rot looks like. If you are not capable of doing repairs like that yourself, you could easily be facing a situation where the fix costs more than what it would to just replace the whole boat.

The interior of my boat is just like yours ... carpeting glued to plywood. I purposely get it wet once per year ... and that is when I take the carpet shampooer to the rugs. When I am done, it sits out in bright sunshine until completely dry. On occasion it gets wet as the result of normal operation, but I am very careful to get as much of that water soaked up as possible and never store the boat with any water or moisture on the inside.

When I used to keep a boat in salt water, it was SOP to do a freshwater washdown at the end of each boating day, but that was for the exterior of the boat. I would not hose down the interior as that would be absurd.

[Guest]

i am very happy to be boating in fresh water all the time, but everything gets good and soaked after a day on the beach or after hours of wakeboarding and tubing. Here is my regular routine. Takes some time, but it's a relaxing routine that I enjoy.

1. Remove everything that might have gotten wet (ski's, life jackets, ropes, bumpers, beach chairs, etc)

1. Wash entire boat inside and out

2. Dry everything inside and out including ski locker, bilge, all nooks & crannys

3. Pull into garage

4. Remove all seat cushions

5. Remove ski locker cover

6. Open engine hatch

7. Open every other thing that can open

8. Leave everything sit overnight

9. Dry remaining standing water in the bilge, ski locker, other places with a sponge or towel

10. Replace everything that I removed, close up everything I opened

11. Loosely cover until next outing

[Guest]

Thanks for that. That sounds a lot like what I did with my old boat. However, it didn't have carpet, and it dried double quick.

Oh, and to your fresh water comment, I find fresh water boring I have snorkeling on the reefs, fishing for any number of strange creatures, dolphin and manatee viewing, and the clean sweet scent of saltwater Aye matey! :arr

jhenkel wrote:
i am very happy to be boating in fresh water all the time, but everything gets good and soaked after a day on the beach or after hours of wakeboarding and tubing. Here is my regular routine. Takes some time, but it's a relaxing routine that I enjoy.

1. Remove everything that might have gotten wet (ski's, life jackets, ropes, bumpers, beach chairs, etc)

1. Wash entire boat inside and out

2. Dry everything inside and out including ski locker, bilge, all nooks & crannys

3. Pull into garage

4. Remove all seat cushions

5. Remove ski locker cover

6. Open engine hatch

7. Open every other thing that can open

8. Leave everything sit overnight

9. Dry remaining standing water in the bilge, ski locker, other places with a sponge or towel

10. Replace everything that I removed, close up everything I opened

11. Loosely cover until next outing