Storage and damp?

solent clown

solent clown

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As our mooring is walking distance from the house we have been giving lot of thought to keeping the Trident completely ready just to slip the lines and go (Yes, once we have it in the water).
We will be going out for long days, and one or two nights initailly.
Apart from bringing fresh food we do not really want to be walking with a ton of ballast, so anything that can stay on board we wish to leave there.
I have as a matter of extremely high priority designed a storage system for beer, wine, ale, and spirits as such comforts are of course essential, and worth dedicating some precious cabin space to.

Main concerns are bedding, clothes, shoes. My idea is to keep those items in sealed plastic pickle barrels, unless there is an easier way to store such items. I am way too thrifty to buy dry bags, and frankly we have several boxes of clear plastic bags at work, and gaffer tape if that would do the trick.

Any tips? Am I worrying too much about damp. I suppose every boat is different but some general advice might help us get going in the right direction
 
For what it's worth, I generally leave my bunk made up in the summer, and switch to bringing bedding down each time during the winter when the cabin tends to feel damp. But it will vary between boats, some seem to be more moist below decks than others.

If you decide your cabin is too damp to leave bedding out in, a simple plastic bag will probably do the trick. You're not trying to seal it against immersion, just minimise the rate at which moist air permeates through it leaving dampness behind.

Pete
 
For the sake of this discussion, we have no mains power (depending on where we end up on the pontoons we may not, and I would rather be further out to maximise tide, than have shore power)
 
We use dry bags in a selection of sizes. The one Greg linked to is very large: we have one that size for moving a couple of weeks worth of laundry from ship to shore. Most of ours are 10 - 20 litres in size and we keep bedding, clothing and anything else likely to suffer from the damp in them. The advantage of dry bags is that they're reusable, really are dry bags and you can fit them into all sorts of odd spaces which rigid containers won't go into. Downside (minor) is that you can't see what's inside them: the Admiral once spent several hours searching for a particular jacket, only to find it in a bag marked "winter clothes". She hadn't looked inside it at the start of the search because she'd convinced herself that she'd put something else inside it......

A collection of lock and lock boxes, lids labelled for ease of identification does us for tea, coffee, sugar and dry goods like pasta; we also use them for storing things like 12v USB chargers and so on that might suffer from the damp.
 
You need those bags that seal with a vacuum. We have less use for them these days but they have been successful in the past and I currently keep my signal flags in one.
 
Thanks chaps, I know we will just have to try things out and see but the good general advice should help us avoid making too bad a mistake. I am going to do my best to ensure it is well ventilated too.
 
For the last 30 years or so, I've kept my boats in the water all year round, and often spend a night or two on the boat during the winter. I've never used a dehumidifier on the boat; and I've never taken cushions or bedding home. Good ventilation will work fine.
 
solent clown said:
Any tips? Am I worrying too much about damp. I suppose every boat is different but some general advice might help us get going in the right direction
Click to expand...

We don't suffer from damp like you in the UK do but SWMBO use various sizes of reusable vacuum storage backs. Keeps bedding etc dry and takes up less storage space. Also waset to transport on/off the boat.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pack-large-reusable-vacuum-storage/dp/B00BCYRBEG

https://www.amazon.com/Vacuum-Storage-Bags-Compressed-Comforters/dp/B01HPV4C4G
 
In addition to sourcing some large bags for duvets and pillows ( avoid feather pillows perhaps) which I recall ikea stock these tend not to be needed in summer months but assist in winter if renaining afloat. You might also look out for small crystal bags which can be reused after microwaving to place in lockers. There is a make of matting to go under bunk cushions which you cut to shape which assists in damp control. You don't say which ventilator types you have on board but some have small fans inserted I believe to assist in ventilation if you are thinking of fitting a ventilator so that might be an option to investigate.
 
I sleep on my boat whever I'm on board to do a job and do so right through the winter and leave my bunk made up. Ventillation isn't good enough for bedding. The hatch to my cabin is very well protected by the sprayhood so is left open when I'm not on board, usually well open, but the resultant flow via that hatch and a hatch or two latched open in the saloon just isn't drying enough. I find though that closing the cabin up and given it a bit of a burst with a fan heater and de-humidifier is good enough before hopping into the bunk. I put it mainly down to the fan heater, as a de-humidifier takes a bit longer to dry out things - has to dry out the air first. If I don't do it then it feels damp and uncomfortable for the first few hours.

That said, it can't be that difficult to take bedding down to the boat when it's that close. Just get a cheap backpack and stuff a duvet and sheets in there.
 
We leave our stuff in all year round. Boat is well ventilated and everything is fine. However, if we have had a wet trip and end up with a soaking we take oilies and wet gear home with us to dry out.
 
Just to second Wansworth / PVB and Bluenote2.
With good enough ventilation I don't think you'll have a problem. On a 38 footer afloat all year on a mooring, we had two big dorades up forward (6-inch diameter each), so lots of air came in the forecabin, and it exited via (large) vents in the main hatch. Never any problem with damp or mould, over several decades and the bedding was always fine. Being on the mooring helps a lot, as the boat always faces the wind and you can arrange your vents accordingly. But these were big vents - custom made, and the boat was long and narrow, so the air just flowed along it's length.
 
Ventilation is ok up to a point, but the outdoor air in mooring areas is often very damp.
Would you leave your duvet in your well vented garden shed?
Heat and ventilation works well.
Dehumidifiers work well.
It's like old cars. If you don't use it every day and get warm air flowing through it, it will get manky.
Modern car, aircon on (dehumidifer), bit of warmth, all fine, no condensation, no mold on the inside of windows.
Old car, FFS put the heater on, open the quarterlights and cane it down the bypass.
In my experience the more you can bring home the better.

If you don't have a heater, take home everything you don't need. If there's only going to be two people aboard in winter, take 4 out of 6 bunk cushions home.
Also spare sails you won't need, excess coils of rope only needed for long Summer expeditions, guest lifejackets, anything you are sure you won't use.
Sleeping bag liners are a good idea, a nice clean leayer next to you.

Also, if you want a fresh, habitable boat, you need zero tolerance of bilge water. Go to war on the rain leaks. I mean WAR.
If you can leave the boat clean and dry, zero, I mean zilch, or less than that, rain gets in, and you are aboard frequently you are half way there. Go aboard at least every fortnight and go OCD with an antibac cleaner like Dettox.
If possible, leave cabin sole up, bunk cushions propped, think less about venting the whole boat and more about venting the trapped air spaces within the boat.

You will meet a lot of traditionalists who say 'just leave plenty of air flow', but in my experience, most of them will be smokers you want to stand upwind of, and few of them sail with their wives.
 
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