Boat cushions in winter

[guydickinson]

When laying up in winter everyone (including me) always takes the boat cushions home. However they take up loads of space and often need taking upstairs which is quite a struggle if there are many. So I wondered... if the covers are removable one could take them home and leave the foam rubber in the boat. Is foam rubber going to suffer from the damp in winter? I mean it isn't porous is it? Any thoughts?

 

[Poignard]

When laying up in winter everyone (including me) always takes the boat cushions home. However they take up loads of space and often need taking upstairs which is quite a struggle if there are many. So I wondered... if the covers are removable one could take them home and leave the foam rubber in the boat. Is foam rubber going to suffer from the damp in winter? I mean it isn't porous is it? Any thoughts?

I try to remove anything that can absorb damp, so the cushions go home and, after wrapping in polythene sheet, they get put in the loft.

 

[doug748]

I have compromised and tend to take only half the cushions home each year, mainly because they get in the way when doing jobs around the boat.

They seem to take no harm but the covers are not fabric. Good ventilation is the key, given this, and a reasonably dry boat, you should be ok.

 

[neil_s]

Like you - I take the boat cushions home and keep them in an airy spare room. My cushions are foam with some sort of man-made fabric cover. I find that on my boat the cushions are mostly responsible for the boat's characteristic 'pong'. Overwintered in the warm, the 'pong' on the cushions dissipates and the boat is 'pong' free for the next season. If you leave the cushions on board, you get boat 'pong'! I don't have the benefit of electricity during the winter, so I can't use heaters and dehumidifiers which, I'm sure, would do a similar job of deponging the cushions.

Neil

 

[Leighb]

We have no extra room whatsoever in our cottage, so the cushions have to stay on the boat. I run a dehumidifier and that keeps everything perfectly dry.

I make sure I seal up all the ventilators so that it is not trying to dehumidify all of Suffolk.

 

[MoodySabre]

I leave mine on the boat and the boat in the water. I have a ventilator in the washboards and solar fans in the deck vents so bank on a bit of air movement to keep the boat reasonably fresh. I take off the bedding that's all.

 

[Seajet]

My opinion is to take everything like cushions, sleeping bags etc home for the winter; possibly having the odd mattress, Origo heater with meths and 4 seasons sleeping bag handy in case the girlfriend throws a wobbly; guess how I know this !

Andy

 

[johnalison]

We used to take all the cushions home on our last boat, which meant filling the car for a couple of trips. Now we use a dehumidifier we don't bother and even leave some bedding on board. Without a dehumidifier I would take fabric upholstery home and leave vinyl on the boat.

 

[Zagato]

Although our house is probably damper than the boat I am going to take out everything and leave an airbed on board. I'll bring my bedding with me each time.

 

[Momac]

We take home the bedding /sleeping bags but leave all cushions on.
I use two moisture traps, over the winter, on out 25ft boat together with a low wattage frost protection heater on a thermostat.

Went to the boat two weekends ago and the interior felt quite damp, a fair bit of condensation which is unususal for our boat. I let plenty of air circulate to dry it out and put the moisture traps on. Last weekend was foggy damp weather but there was no condensation inside the boat and it did not feel damp. So the moisture traps must be doing their job.

The moisture traps I have were from Lakeland and look to be a little larger than some other brands that I have seen. Lakelands refill crystals seem to be reasoanbly priced.

 

[Halo]

Get a dehumidifier, leave everyting on board, fit a timer to run it 3 hours a day in the afternoon, seal her up and visit ocasionally. All your cushions, sails etc will feel really dry and not milldew. At the end of last winter the crisps I left on board were crunchier than new packets !

 

[greenalien]

Get a dehumidifier, leave everyting on board, fit a timer to run it 3 hours a day in the afternoon, seal her up and visit ocasionally

At my yacht club, and I believe many others, it's prohibited to leave mains power connected to an unattended boat, due to the fire risk - so electric dehumidifiers are not a possibility.

I have fabric covered berth cushions and wrap them in cling-film over the winter - no damp, no pong.

 

[Boathook]

I leave mine on board but take 'bedding' home. Boat is reasonably well ventilated and when I go down in the winter I use electric heaters to keep me warm and dry out boat. Boat is normally fairly dry. I don't like leaving electrics connected when not around so a dehumidifier is not on board.

 

[theoldsalt]

The only time my cushions leave the boat is so that the covers can be removed and washed and that is only every 6 or 7 years.

The bedding however goes home every winter and is washed ready for the next season.

With an AWB, a dry bilge and adequate ventilation the boat should remain dry without the need for a dehumidifier and the consequent dangers, mine does.

 

[Maxi Windsong]

Get a dehumidifier, leave everyting on board, fit a timer to run it 3 hours a day in the afternoon, seal her up and visit ocasionally. All your cushions, sails etc will feel really dry and not milldew. At the end of last winter the crisps I left on board were crunchier than new packets !

That is exactly what I do (and I have written agreement from the insurers to leave the mains power on and run the dehumidifier). What I was interested in is why you run it during the afternoon? I set mine to run in the morning (say 7.00am to 10.00am) since that is when I feel everything seems to be dampest. However there is no other logic behind the timing so I wondered how you concluded that the afernoon was the best time to run it?

 

[guydickinson]

Thanks. I agree with all of that, but my query is really this - if you leave just the foam rubber insides of the cushions on the boat and take the fabric covers (probably man made) home, will you have a problem then? In other words, does bare foam rubber suffer in dampish surroundings?

 

[baffled9]

I am of a similar opinion to theoldsalt (above) and my AWB is fairly damp free without the use of dehumidifiers. However, I do wrap the berth cushions - when they are dry and warm - in plastic mattress bags for the winter months. The bags can be obtained in single or double sizes and mine have so far been re-used over five seasons. Tape them with normal parcel tape and remove it with care.

 

[KREW2]

Thanks. I agree with all of that, but my query is really this - if you leave just the foam rubber insides of the cushions on the boat and take the fabric covers (probably man made) home, will you have a problem then? In other words, does bare foam rubber suffer in dampish surroundings?

It's sponge init, sponge's soaks up water, that's what they do.

 

[theoldsalt]

It's sponge init, sponge's soaks up water, that's what they do.

It depends whether the foam is open or closed cell.

Not all sponge is the same.

 

[NickRobinson]

Crystal drying-

I do not rate those grilled plastic trays with crystals.

They quickly show an impression of doing something as they look wet

However their capacity is measured in millilitres and it is not reasonable to expect them to continued to work on a damp boat for an extended period without attention (ie drying in an oven)?

A powered dehumidifier may produce litres in days.

N