To vent or not to vent?

Marcdohc · September 2016

Hello Owners! I have a question. We keep our 2005 300 Fiesta Vee at a private residence located in southern Massachusetts. The dock is on a salt water river about 1 mile from the ocean and does not have power so I shut of all battery switches off. The boat sits in 2' - 4' of water depending on the tide. My question is should I leave my two bow and bath windows open for ventilation while the boat is docked? My wife thinks having them open allows the moisture in and she's afraid it will cause mildew. The boat has been at this dock for 4 seasons and we always shut the windows. The boat does not have mildew and it does not smell. My argument is if we opened the windows it would probably smell better. Your thoughts Please?

floater212 · September 2016

they do make these packaged boat mildew eliminators to place inside that keeps it mildew free and eliminates any smells while closed up. I think they are made by star-brite.

LaRea · September 2016

Wouldn't salt fog accelerate any corrosion issues inside the cabin? As @floater212 said, I think you'd be better off with closed windows and moisture traps such as Damp Rid.

Marcdohc · September 2016

I probably should have mentioned that. We hang up moisture rid bags in the aft cabin and head.

Liberty44140 · September 2016

Keep them closed.

Dream_Inn · September 2016

Definitely keep closed. Believe it or not, your cabin maintains a decent temperature just because the water it is sitting in. Opening windows will allow it to change quicker and cause condensation. & in a salt environment, that is not good.

Marcdohc · September 2016

Damm, that means se's right again. Thanks for your imput, Marc

Handymans342 · September 2016

I keep my main hatch open. No problems for 9 months but maybe because I have a covered slip

Michael T · September 2016

Keep windows closed use damp rid if you want or open margarine container filled with baking soda. You get a muskrat, rat, weasel, chipmunk, squirrel etc. in through one of those windows even with a screen on and you'll be looking at a full-blown reno!

Handymans342 · September 2016

Come on you guys! You don't put damp rid in your attics. Geeez

Ian · September 2016

True. Nor do I sleep up there and it's not sitting on a base of water. All closed with damp rid bags or those tubs inside and store as around some bounce dryer sheets to keep here scented nice.

randy56 · September 2016

I keep them closed with damp rid, I'm not in covered slip. she is correct.

Don't you hate it when that happens.

LaRea · September 2016

I had an interesting experience with open windows. Had some kind of odd temperature inversion, filling the cabin with super-moist air, and then we had an overnight freeze ... I had half-inch icicles hanging from the entire headliner.

Oh, and I discovered it 20 minutes before showing the boat to a prospective buyer.

@Marcdohc - leave 'em closed, and be sure to let the Admiral revel in the glory of being right.

duane.mosley · September 2016

shawnmjr said:

Marcdohc said:

Damm, that means se's right again. Thanks for your imput, Marc

They are always right...

whether they're right or not, you at least have to let them think they're right! lol but in this case you've heard, she's right!

Liberty44140 · September 2016

I find that she is most often right just after I hit my breaking point during a project that is really going badly. You know, one of those projects that didn't need to be done in the first place but you were going to make it better but instead made it much worse. That is really where she earns those stripes!

NavyCTRC · September 2016

windows- I leave mine closed. If the boat sits very long I will wait until we get a breezy day and open everything up for several hours to overnight. We keep a fan in there circulating air and the AC is on if in the water.

Michael T · October 2016

Handy - our attics are ventilated (soffit, gable and roof venting). Is yours?

Handymans342 · October 2016

Of course!

TonyWalker · October 2016

A solution we use is a Wal-Mart type table type dehumidifier. It collects tons of water. I have it on my project list to run a drain from its catch bucket into the galley sink to keep it from shutting down because the catch bucket is full.

MarkB · October 2016

Closed. It's better to keep moisture out than worry about how to let moisture out.

By the way when you say you shut off your batteries, you don't disconnect right?

Marcdohc · October 2016

No I just turn the switch is off

MarkB · October 2016

OK good, because you absolutely need to keep your mercathode system running or your drive is going to dissolve before your eyes.

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To vent or not to vent?

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