Post 22: Cleaning Under the Cabin Sole

It’s been bothering me that I cannot access under the cabin sole (without tearing it all up) to clean it. So I figured the next best thing would be to re-flood the boat with bleach water, followed by soapy water and finally a fresh water flooding. The first time I tried to flood the boat, I had forgotten the holes that had been drilled into the hull to drain her initially since she was a “land sinker” when I got her. Once the water got to the level of the holes, the water drained out almost as quickly as the hose could fill her. I caught on to what was happening and plugged up the holes 🙂

This is the soapy water flooding. I had already done the “bleach” flooding. Next is the fresh water flooding. I unplugged the holes in the hull to quickly drain between floodings. I also used simple physics to set up a vacuum hose (see the white hose heading into the v-berth). The vacuum hose went out the forward hatch and out to the ground. No electricity needed.

Hopefully, this will take care of, or at least mostly take care of, any mold that may be growing under the cabin sole. I did some research in Practical Sailor (highly recommend a subscription btw, http://www.practicalsailor.com, like a Consumer Reports, but for boat stuff, no advertising) they offer a very effective homemade mold inhibitor recipe. Easy to make. I’ll put it in a garden sprayer and spray under the sole as much as I am able.