When Blue of Hamble (as she was named!) landed back in the UK and we took ownership, one of the first things we noticed was the smell! It was horrible! We swear it was not present when we viewed her in Lanzarote, so we don’t know if it had been masked or we were just oblivious to it … we just knew it needed to be resolved!
We armed ourselves with a copy of the Headmistress’s book Get Rid of Boat Odours and set about trying to source and solve the problem! Read on to find out what we did:
Blackwater pipes
These naturally get clogged over time, plus urine, particularly male urine for some reason, mixes with saltwater to create a scale problem. We also discovered that some of the pipes which had been replaced were not of the required marine grade. All these problems can lead to a “leeching” of the smells from the pipes so they were all replaced!
This was a big job as the pipes run along the infrastructure of the boat and are tucked away – the Boatcare team at Portland did the majority of the work for us and we know it wasn’t pleasant.
It is done now though, and as part of our own ongoing maintenance we use a regular monthly biologically friendly treatment and also flush through regularly with fresh water. We keep a small bowl in each heads sink and collect any water that isn’t too dirty, such as just after washing hands, or emptying hot water bottles, and use that to flush through the heads (boat name for toilet/bathroom) daily.
Bilges
Bilges gather dirt and muck over time! They are in the bottom of the boat so dirt naturally gathers there – this could include from leaks or spills from anything and anywhere! Jenni scrubbed the bilges, and scrubbed and scrubbed a bit more wherever her arms could reach.
The Headmistress also recommended a neutralising product called Pureayre and Jenni arranged for it to be shipped from the USA – it was used in a spray bottle to reach those nooks and crannies arms can’t reach and neutralise any lingering odours. We still keep a mixed bottle of it to hand just in case!
Headlining
We knew that some of the headlining needed replacing, but thought it was a small patch in the aft cabin. However, through various other jobs that required headlining panels to be removed, we discovered the problem was bigger than we thought! Multiple places had leaks and the plywood backing had warped in places. More than that though, we discovered that the actual foam on the headlining had perished and the smell it gave off was truly toxic!
We set out to replace all the headlining completely … but the challenge was with what! For us the traditional headlining which is a foam backed vinyl looks old fashioned and is often cream which darkens the interior. It also needs stapling to a plywood backing and we didn’t want the same problem again in another 10 years, as any condensation or leaks will soak into the plywood, thus hiding issues!
We found a white matt perspex that was very plain, and we believed would enable any future leaks or condensation to simply roll away or drip so we could see if there was a problem. We took all the existing headlining pieces to a provider and asked them to laser cut the product to shape. Well it wasn’t quite to shape and Chris had to sand the edges off every piece to get it to fit. We attached the new headling using stainless steel screws with cups to give it a great finished look. The result is not ‘traditional’ for boats but we think it really works and will stand the test of time!
PS – we also set about fixing any leaks or water ingress we could find – the new headlining did its thing and, for example, we discovered that the main sheet track, which we re-bedded, had failed in a single bolt. We saw the drips and were able to find and fix it! Result!
Upholstery
When we bought Blue of Hamble we knew the upholstery was 10 years old and stained in some places but it seemed functional. We wanted to deep clean it so took it back to our house, purchased a wet vacuum cleaner and set about cleaning each piece.
It came up beautifully – but when it was dry and being stored in the house we couldn’t help notice the funky smell! We could isolate the upholstery in a single room and knew it was definitely a source!
We tried different ways to obliterate the smell, using ozone machine, or bicarbonate of soda, but the smell just never went. We think some of it was the adhesive from the velcro on the back of the seat backs, as well as holding others smells from the above.
In the end we admitted defeat and decided to get all new upholstery, including the foam, as we figured it had absorbed wherever the smell was coming from.
We chose a hard wearing vinyl and a different cushion profile as well. The profile is slimmer for more “bottom” space on the seats and we think looks much better as well!
Result!
We don’t know exactly which of the above was the cause of the smell, or if it was a combination of all of them, but we are glad to say it worked!!! When Yanula Blue (as she is now called!) was finished Jenni would constantly ask visitors if they could smell anything (only a little bit paranoid!) and no-one ever could! Indeed, the Manager of the Boatcare team, who had experienced the terrible smell in all its glory, exclaimed one day that he’d been on board, the horrible smell was gone and she smelt like a normal boat!! We were happy indeed!!
