Why was the boat I bought so dirty?

[Sharkbait]

We bought our 2007 Outrage 210 sight unseen back in January (good price here in the UK for a reasonably rare boat). It was located in a muddy, dirty tidal estuary and the boat spent most of the year moored. As you can see from the picture supplied by the previous owner, it seems didn't spend a lot of time cleaning it :(

This is the underside of one of the deck access hatches - everything was coated like this.

When it was delivered a few days later I was surprised to find that the floor of the centre console, the inside of the rear under-seat lockers and the bilge (including all the cabling) were all coated in a black slightly greasy film.

This has always bugged me as I can't see how it could have got so high up the sides of the lockers. Most of the time I think that he previous owner just didn't look after the hull very much and certainly never cleaned it, but sometimes I wonder whether this boat has been swamped at some time?

I'd like to think it was the former as everything was dirty and covered in mildew, mud and algae and he had fitted a washdown pump which was presumably to try and keep the decks clean (the non-factory fit wiring was also a complete mess which is an indicator of how he kept his boats) - but what do you think? Does everything below the deck get mucky if left for 8 years in the wrong environment?

She's looking much much better now after copious amounts of cleaners, chemicals and elbow grease! Thankfully all the cushions have come up really well and almost look like new!
In her foreseeable future she will never see muddy water again as she'll be moored off a very sandy Welsh beach for 3-4 months of the year and the rest of the time under cover in my barn where I can continue to clean and pamper her!

[macfam]

With that description, I too, would suspect a swamping.
I recently ran across a 2004 Boston Whaler 130 Sport. It was caught under a dock at low tide, and flooded.
A mess.

[Oldslowandugly]

Some people just destroy things. Boats, cars, everything they touch. I once borrowed a friend's boat for a week of fishing. It was so dirty I washed it in front of my house and my wife came running out asking what in the world that stink was. Then once I went on another friend's boat and as soon as we stepped on board, about a billion flies and gnats woke up. He stored bait under the seats....

[porthole]

Looks like a typical boat that gets water in the bilge and the moisture allows black mold to grow everywhere. Even inside consoles if there is an opening to the bilge

Krud Kutter works pretty good at cleaning this stuff.

These two pictures can give you an idea of before and after with one application of Krud Kutter.

[Sharkbait]

Hmm, well the console walls certainly looked similar. It's the oily coating that had me confused - even the battery tie-down straps were oily.

[Dutchman]

If the boat got swamped and any petroleum product was around in the boat or in the water, it will be on top of the water, and, when the water is removed and drained, these petroleum or oil products will adhere to any surface, including all the dirt that comes with it.

Duane's Krud Kutter or a dish soap or Simple Green would cut this grease and clean it. Or buy a marine bilge cleaner. Any of these products put in the bilge and an hour run on choppy waters with a spray afterwards should clean most of it. Good luck

[Sharkbait]

I'm feeling better about this now. The dirt in the bilge that I hadn't managed to clean out when we first got the boat, after 8 weeks in the barn has now dried up and sort of flakes off. I'm thinking that will was just a buildup of dirt and mildew.
As for the oily floor in the console I've noticed an old oil container that I threw out when the boat arrived - the PO had cut the bottom off it and used it as a bailer .... it's still oily and he kept in in the console.
Just taken a picture of the underside of the deck - if the boat had been swamped I'd expect this to be dirty as well .... but there's nothing.

I think that the key to getting this boat looking 'right' again is the 6-7 months it will spend under cover with all the hatches and inspection ports open allowing everything to dry out.

[endus]

I cleaned sailboats during the summer as a teenager. What you are seeing is extremely typical. I wouldn't necessarily say the boat had been swamped just based on what you're seeing. Totally possible, but this happens without swamping all the time.

Black mold and mildew just happens in boats. The sailboats I worked on had cabins that stayed relatively dry, but you would still get this kind of growth in the lazarettes and bulkheads--basically any enclosed space. Most boats are going to have water in the bilge, and certainly one that size that the owner routinely washed down will. Enclosed spaces get humid from this moisture. Add in warm weather or, worse yet, warm humid weather and you have a recipe for growth.

To clean it I would make sure I incorporated bleach into the process somewhere. Either straight bleach and water, or something like soft scrub with bleach. I have always been a believer in getting in there with the hose and a scrub brush, rather than try to wipe it off. Yes, it gets everything wet but it's less disgusting to do and you can really get in to all the nooks and crannies and scrub. The more you eliminate the slower it will come back. The key is to clean it when it is as hot and dry as possible so everything can dry out. You can even put fans in the hatches and ports to get the air circulating. In the Northeast USA, where I am, the early summer months are definitely the best time to attack this project. If you have several good days in a row, so much the better to get it really dry inside.

They make those things you can put in lazarettes to supposedly keep the air dry and prevent growth, but the place I worked wasn't really operating on that level. Besides, they had me to bleach the hell out of the boats whenever they wanted!

[jimh]

Does mildew thrive in saltwater? I thought it was a freshwater problem.

[porthole]

Sure does, if you let water sit in the bilge with no ventilation.

[contender]

The problem [of a boat getting dirty or getting mildew is a result of] where and how the boat is stored, and what kind of environment it is in. I am in south Florida. If you cover your boat it gets too hot inside to [a temperature that] can screw up your electronics; if [the boat is] left open the rain and heat will bring the green stuff in no time flat. If you store your boat outdoors you need a good roof over it with sides on it for the sun. It needs to have a good ventilation so everything can stay dry. Leave the hatches open to dry out. The best would be to store your boat inside a closed garage; this keeps all types of weather off of it and any animals looking for a home, and any people looking to steal something.