Advice please on moisture in the bow

[Frank Langer]

Our 1984 E30+ has a bulkhead at the foot of the V berth (ie. at the bow of the boat). The approximately two feet of bow/hull that is walled off by this bulkhead contains the anchor locker (enclosed and accessible from the deck), a drain hose from the anchor locker through this space and exiting below through the hull, and the inlet hose for the forward water tank (this tank is located under the main V-berth). I am confident that neither the drain hose nor the inlet hose has a leak.

My problem is that when I opened up this area a year ago, the back side of the bulkhead was damp and slightly mouldy. I cleaned it up, dried it and cut a square 3" vent into the middle of the bulkhead, thinking that this would provide enough air circulation to keep it dry.

Today I checked on it and it was damp and musty again. I ran water from a hose on deck while I watched inside this small section of the bow, and there was no apparent leak from the pulpit, cleats or anywhere else. The inside of the fibreglass hull and deck was all dry, the top of the bulkhead does not touch the deck, and it is glassed in at the sides, so I don't think moisture is leaking or wicking from the fibreglass hull or deck.

I am guessing that the moisture on the back of the bulkhead is condensation, despite the vent I put in last year, but I'm not sure. The boat is in the water in British Columbia, where it has rained alot and is humid.

I dried it all off, put in a larger 10" x 5 inch vent and varnished the back of the bulkhead to seal out moisture and make it easier to clean if it gets damp again.

Does anyone have any suggestions for any other steps I can take to keep this area dry to prevent mould, odor, etc.? I have a Nicro vent in the main cabin hatch to exhaust cabin air and I run a West Marine air dryer dehumidifier (the flat silver one containing a small fan)in the main cabin when it rains. I don't have any dampness or moisture trouble in the main part of the boat, just in the small forward section.

Although I can access this forward section to check it, it requires undoing a bunch of screws to remove small pieces of moulding on the front of that bulkhead, so it's not something I can do regularly (ie. it's not practical to put any dehumidifier in there that would require emptying). I think it was built to be an enclosed, inaccessible area, but I don't want dampness to rot the bulkhead or create a musty odour.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Frank

 

[Glyn Judson]

Combatting moisture.

Frank, The following is designed more to inspire you to come up with a fix for you than it is a solution to you dilemma. I had a mildew problem in the hanging locker that I at first attributed to the boat living on the Great Lakes and then for a year on the ICW in South Carolina. I scrubbed ti all off the inside of the locker using liquid Lysol and took it off my list now that she was in SoCal. Enough time later for mildew to grow back, that it did in all its glory. I cut a hole in the bottom of the locker door and another one in the upper corner of the front facing hanging locker bulkhead. I covered both of these with West Marine stainless louvered plates, the 4"X4" ones maybe, you get the idea. I attached an old projector cooling fan to the inside of the upper one and hard wires it to the boats AC electrical system. That's the most rugged little fan I ever saw. I'd have to say that it's been running in there for at the least, the last 10 years or more with no sign of quitting. Now when I'm off shore power, obviously it isn't running but the majority of the time it's running. Funny story about that fan and a spare I scored. I only had the vent plates installed and thought that I sure would like to have some sort of fan in the design that would move air through the closed locker: a slide projector fan came to mind but where was I going to find exactly one of those. No more than a week past but that I was walking down the hall at work and I spotted two gutted chassis of a pair of high intensity fiber optic lights in a wastebasket outside a lab. All that was left of them were two projector lamp cooling fans and you can figure out the rest. Now theses types of fans might not hold up to a way more salty space in your chain locker, so along with a few I just looked up on eBay, I tossed in a muffin fan too. It'd be great if you could experiment with a tiny fan like these first to see that might solve your problem. eBay numbers: 250572935181, 390148429872, 140357916144, 350115188379 230431478241 Good luck, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, Glyn for your detailed reply. That may be the best option to solve this problem. I wish I were a bit more mechanically skilled, to be able to install one of these little fans with the requisite wiring, etc., but if that's the best option, I'll figure it out.

I'm still a bit puzzled as to why Ericson built it this way, with no ventilation in this enclosed space.

Thanks again! Any easier suggestions are also welcome!

Frank

 

[Sven]

There was a long thread (on www.cruisersforum.com ?) about using 12v computer fans for this kind of problem.

Low noise and power and a couple of dollars each.





-Sven

 

[Seth]

Fans are good

But dehumidifers are much better. Leave one in the dock box, and set ip inside the boat on shore power when you leave the boat. It will keep the cabin bone dry and mildew free. The condensation fill container should last at least a week, and even if it fills up, the machine will shut itself off.

Have you tried this?

S

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks very much for your replies. I generally don't have a problem with moisture or mould in the boat, except for in this area right at the bow. The problem there is that this area was entirely enclosed by the bulkhead, so no opportunity for air circulation.

I had thought I had solved it by cutting a 4" square vent into the bulkhead, but as I mentioned in my initial post, it still got damp and mouldy. I have now enlarged the vent to a 10" by 5" with a louvred plastic cover.

Do you think this will be large enough to allow air circulation, with the round/flat silver dehumidifier that I currently have, or do I need to get a large dehumidifier to solve this? I live on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada.

Thanks,
Frank

 

[Glyn Judson]

Demystifying dehumidifying.

Frank and others, Seth may well be right that the dehumidifiers are better but as you point out, your issue is inside a relatively closed space. Why not consider a fan as a Plan B alternative only if the larger hole you cut along with a dehumidifier doesn't dry out the anchor locker. The way I see it, there should be a way for air to enter the locker as well as one for it to get out. By moving the air with the fan, you would be doing just that. Good luck and keep us posted. Glyn

 

[Sean Engle]

I'm not sure about the E30+ - but my E35-3 had a pulpit where the wiring breached the deck via one of the legs. That breach occurred beneath the stanchion base - so any water running down the pulpit stanchion would run into the base, and then down the wires into the fore peak.

If you have running lights on your pulpit like mine, you may wish to check where the wiring is breaching the deck and seal it up (I used polysulfide - end of leak).

//sse

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, guys. Sean, I don't think I have an actual leak into that bow area, as the fibreglass is entirely dry, both the underside of the deck and the inside of the hull. I do have the same wiring arrangement through the pulpit, but I don't think it leaks, though I'll keep an eye on it. The area that is damp is only the wooden bulkhead and the underside of the vinyl headliner.

Glyn, I have thought about putting a small fan in the bow area, but haven't figured out how to do that yet. I'm thinking I could attach it to the back of the bulkhead and try to fish the wiring back into the salon. I don't want to attach it to the 12 volt DC system as I don't want it to run and drain the battery while I'm at anchor, even though the amps would likely be low. I could add an on/off switch, but would prefer not to have to think about switching it on all the time.

So I think it would be better connected into the 110 volt AC system to operate automatically whenever the boat is connected to shore power. I don't want it to plug into any of the wall outlets, as I prefer not to have things operating from these when I'm not at the boat (I already use the dehumidifier, but don't want to add to that). So I would have to wire it into an existing circuit, but I'm not sure how to do that effectively. I wish I knew more about electronics...

But If I can figure this out, I may install one of these.

Thanks again.

Frank

 

[Glyn Judson]

Using a fan while away from the boat.

Frank, I'm not so sure that I'd be too concerned about letting a fan run without not being there even if it were plugged into an outlet. I had a thought while reading your last post that I'll bet could work famously for you. By a 110 volt muffin fan on eBay or wherever, attach a length of cord with a plug to it and hang it over the front of the new vent (on the V-berth side) that you cut into the bulkhead such that it pulled air from the locker into the cabin. You could attach it in a manner such that it could be easily removed and stowed when out sailing with something as simple as a pair of properly bent paperclips or a wire like on a picture frame or a string even that could be worked behind both upper corners of the new vent. That way you could test to see if it kept the locker dry, etc and if so, plan a more permanent installation on the inside of the vent with the power cord strategically routed to an outlet such as to be hidden from view. Beg a favor from an electrical savvy friend to help you with the job. Hey, if it doesn't work for you, get rid of the fan and you'll only be out the small cost of it and on to another solution. By the way, I fitted my fan with a simple rotary in-line switch like you see on the cords of some table lamps. In truth, the only time I ever turn the fan off though is if/when on rare occasions, we sleep aboard without leaving the slip. Glyn

 

[Frank Langer]

Thanks, Glyn, that sounds like a workable plan.

Frank