Old boat smell

[Searush]

I like the smell of old boats too. Bad loos is a different problem & I wouldn't tolerate that, but varnish, tar, wood, lamp oil etc make a delicious mix that gives a boat a unique atmosphere. As others have suggested, the last thing I would want is for my boat to be indistinguishable from a Forte Lodging House or similar.

Settle up a mud creek as the tide recedes on a sunny afternoon & boat smells become utterly irrelevant anyway. Are you seekers after odour free boats also marina dwellers then?

 

[rick-lamb]

I like the smell of old boats too. Bad loos is a different problem & I wouldn't tolerate that, but varnish, tar, wood, lamp oil etc make a delicious mix that gives a boat a unique atmosphere. As others have suggested, the last thing I would want is for my boat to be indistinguishable from a Forte Lodging House or similar.

Settle up a mud creek as the tide recedes on a sunny afternoon & boat smells become utterly irrelevant anyway. Are you seekers after odour free boats also marina dwellers then?

Yep guilty, marina dweller, fibreglass boat, no tar or lamp oil anywhere near my boat.

 

[Corribee Boy]

I've replaced just about everything inside my MAB but it still smells - I think it must be the headlining or just the GRP.
I like the smell of old boats, and had a dodgy bit of plywood bulkhead that needed waterproofing, so I sprayed it with Stockholm tar ( I use it to keep the chickens from pecking each other so had some around.)
It smelt like a Thames barge for a week or two, but the old smell quickly reasserted itself.

 

[Amulet]

I'm reminded of a family friend who recounted a schoolday story of his (female) teacher sending a note to a boy's parents saying that "Gordon needs to pay more attention to personal hygiene". The note in response from the mother said (excuse the Scottish), "Your just an auld footer who disnae ken the smell o' a man". Tempted to say "Yer just a bunch of posh yachties who don't know the smell of a proper boat".

I must admit, that while Amulet doesn't exude fragrance, the smell when open the hatch transports me into the hyper-universe of boat-space.

 

[prv]

I sprayed it with Stockholm tar ( I use it to keep the chickens from pecking each other so had some around.)
It smelt like a Thames barge for a week or two, but the old smell quickly reasserted itself.

My living room smells of stockholm tar at the moment. I bought a ball of tarred marline to put a serving on my new anchor snubber where it passes over the bow roller, and it's a lot tarrier and hence pongier than the various examples I've used in the past.

Pete

 

[Neil]

MY upholstery is fairly new but i don't know if it covers old foam. One locker reeks...of something.....I'll thoroughly scrub that one and put my head in it after a few days. No oil or diesel, yet.....

 

[FullCircle]

For those with locker smells... that's why I recommended Danboline. It is a great sealer - but you have to do your best to get the smell out of the locker first!

 

[contessaman]

I think the worst smell (perhaps other than obviously awful toilet smells) has to be the smell of diesel. I once helped somebody on a delivery trip and there was a bit of a diesel weep. I urged the owner to fix the leak before we set off but they weren't bothered. I have been sailing all my life but when we got caught in the rough for a few days every off watch crew down below (myself included) got terribly seasick with that sickly strong diesel odour which of course got much worse when things sloshed around. we were actually all in quite a bad way by the time the weather broke.
Aboard my boat my generally porous perkins 4108 makes it hard work but I always try and keep things nice and clean and flush the bilges regularly.
Incidently - that aldi caravan cleaner somebody recommended - makes a great bilge cleaner. it emulsifies and degreases everything.

I have pretty good ventilation on my boat but again in my experiences in bad weather offshore the key (for me anyway) to not getting seasick is nice fresh air below. I would like to get some proper dorades fitted to my boat this winter. theres a good reason why all swans seem to have them as standard, those boys at nautor know what they are doing!

 

[Halo]

Over the years my sense of smell has got less sensative and I can barely smell diesel - I suspect this is true of many older boaters. Personally I dont want to inflict strong boaty smells on visitors so do my best to keep things fresh. 2 tips from me are
- if your bilge is wet then put some bio cloths washing powder in there - it smells much cleaner, you can nick it from SWMBO and costs her a lot less than bilgex
- if your boat cushions have picked up a diesel smell then leave them in the car on a hot sunny day with the windows open just a little - the heat drives out the volatiles which make the smell

 

[David2452]

He had no suggestion to offer re the Russkies.....

Cabbage and dead mouse cage.............. at least pre Glasnost, maybe a bit fresher by now but I doubt it.

 

[Vara]

Every thing Fullcircle said exempt the air fresheners.

For foam and wood which is well saturated with noxious aromas, this stuff does the business;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simple-Solu...d=1371663928&sr=1-9&keywords=odour+eliminator

But having got rid of the smells, to prevent them coming back, sort diesel and oil leaks, keep boat dry and ventilated and clean all human impacts regularly.

 

[PCUK]

Get rid of the rot and the smell will go away.

 

[onesea]

An ancient (sub)-mariner of my acquaintance once observed that one could tell the nationality of a 'boat' by the smell - sweat and hot engine oil on Her Majesty's Finest, garlic and stale wine on the French boats, and fried onions on the Yanks. He had no suggestion to offer re the Russkies.....

Vodka does not smell!

I always use sugar soap to clean anywhere on the boat apparentyl it keeps mildew at bay (seems to) and keeps smells down.. Its not perfect but works for me on both accounts..

 

[scotts_mist]

Having spent some time in London on a warm day yesterday, that "old boat smell" is, IMO, far better than an Underground tube train packed full of sweaty commuters!

 

[fergie_mac66]

Probably can get it prepacked in one of them car fresheners . Might be quite nice instead of a new car smell , sort of comforting!