At one point I was getting worried about being delayed and missing our connection at Phoenix, so I stopped and asked the flight attendant about gates and times (it was later pointed out to me that Phoenix was an hour time change so we had that going for us). We chatted for a few minutes and I found out that she and her husband live on a Hunter 450 in Kema Texas. She asked about how to get rid of boat odors. So, that is what this post is about.
Here is what we have done:
– [ ] Dehumidifier it runs all summer while the boat is here in Mexico, it sits on the counter and drains to the galley sink and the drain valve for that is open so it goes overboard.
– [ ] Wipe everything down with vinegar
– [ ] Clean the bilge, I use a variety of boat soap, bilge cleaner and just plain dishwashing soap
– [ ] Open all the hatches and ventilate the boat regularly especially when we are at anchor, we close everything up while underway (safety reasons)
– [ ] Use FRESH water for the heads, if your toilets use raw water from what you are sailing through for flushing the toilets, you will save water, but the downside is that the organisms that live in that live in the water die in the hoses and as they rot they stink. If you use fresh water from your water system, that odor will eventually go away.
– [ ] We use a NO STANK filter on our holding tank vent. This is an activated charcoal filter so that the holding tank vent is filtered.
https://www.searussales.com/
- [ ] Some other ideas check this book out:
Get Rid of Boat Odors
The author is/was known as the HEADMISTRESS this was the 2nd edition and was written in 2016. But the ideas in it still make sense. It is available on Kindle for $9.95.
This is an update written on 3/1/2025.
We anchored at San Blas, Mexico actually in Matachen Bay, this is huge bay and pretty shallow. We were more than a mile off shore (there are a lot of little no-see-ums there). It is basically a swamp near the bay. There is a bunch of stuff that gets washed in to the bay. This stuff rots on the bay floor, and when I pulled up the anchor there was more than the normal amount of mud on the chain. We have an anchor Washdown pump and hose that allows us to wash the chain off. This is not optional in the case of this mud. Our anchor locker drains to the bilge, which means whatever mud I did not get off before the chain got into the locker goes to the bilge and stinks. So, wash your chain.
Next up we anchored at Isla Isabela, which is home to the Blue Footed Boobies, and Frigate birds. They had virtually no predators on this island (until Man brought them some (rats and ??) There are so many birds here, and since we usually anchor with the land blocking the wind… the bird stink is blown onto our boat. Nothing to do here but put up with it until we move.