This weekend was pretty much devoted to trying to identify and get rid of things that stink.

There is a noxious odor on our boat.  When we first went aboard last month, the boat had been closed up and under cover all winter and so it was easy to assume that the odor was a combination of musty, mildewy, holding tank stuff and that a good cleaning would take care of it.  So we cleaned, and we scrubbed and the odor persisted. 

The cushions stank, that was for sure, as they had been absorbing odors (including this especially foul one) for years.  Since I was planning new cushions this year anyway we removed them.  The boat stank less, but it still stank.  When we removed the cushions and the plywood from the v-berth area we saw that the holding tank was about 1/2 full and apparently had been for quite some time as we had been told that the previous owners had not used the boat, or used it very little, last year.  We made a bee-line for the pump out dock and told the kid on the hose to suck until he saw boat gear coming through the hose.

After we returned to our slip we decided we would pour a gallon of bleach in the tank, fill it and let it sit for a week then go have it pumped out again next weekend.  After my husband filled the tank he noticed water leaking out into the locker. Eureka!!! We have a holding tank leak. 

This explained a few other things we were wondering about as well.  Like why we had a persistent little puddle in the cubby hole under the v-berth.  We thought at first that it was due to a leak around a deck fitting or the port maybe, but I kept wiping it up and it kept returning even in the absence of rain.  The cabin sole right in front of the v-berth was also heavily stained.  I thought perhaps from water splashed from showers.  The bilge also was stained an odd color.  Then came the harsh realization that this is all potty water!!!

So we poured another gallon of bleach into the bilge, filled it with water and cleaned it as best we could with a brush.  After the bilge and the holding tank had been pumped dry, there was a noticable improvement in the smell of the boat.  There is still an odor, but it's definitely less.  The cleanup will be more involved than we originally thought, but we know what we are dealing with now.  The old tank is coming out so I will be able to give that entire area a thorough scrubbing with every disinfectant known to man before we put the new tank in.  We are going to pour a bottle of bilge cleaner into the bilge, fill it with water again and let it sit for a week.  Then we will get in there with a long handled brush and scrub it better before pumping it out.  After Lance replaces all the hoses to the holding tank and rebuilds the head that should take care of the odor for the most part.  More cleaning and airing out should do the rest.

After we knew we were going to have to replace the tank we started worrying about how difficult it would be to find a replacement for a boat that has not been built since 1987.  So I went to the best source I know of for information on anything Cape Dory - - the CDSOA message board.  I did a search for holding tanks and there it was, everything I needed to know.  The Cape Dory folks apparently had gotten together some years ago and had Ronco tool up a replacement tank for the CD 28, 30, and 36 (all used the same tank).  The part number was there and a link to the Ronco site.  One CD-28 owner even had pictures of the replacement on his website along with step by step instructions of his project.  It was like being fed pablum from a spoon. 

We got rid of two other things that stink (figuratively speaking)........ the bimini and the lazy jacks.

We both always thought we would like both a bimini and lazy jacks but one sail with both and we changed our minds.  The sail got caught on the lazy jacks going up and lost a batten.  They were annoying in all respects except for a brief moment of time when the sail comes down.  We have been sailing for 27 years without them.  We both agreed that simplicity works best for us and they weren't worth the trade off in aggravation.  Lance hacked them to pieces and had them off the boat in no time flat.

The bimini was just an obstruction, and in our opinion a dangerous one.  When up, because of the height of our boom, you could not stand up under it.  Plus the straps that secured in in place made it difficult to leave the cockpit and gave you 4 trip wires on the boat.  (Nothing blew up except my temper.)  My husband likes to stand a lot when he's sailing so we knew we would never use it under sail.  We have always used awnings at anchor which can be placed above the boom for standing headroom.  Just to be on the safe side, I suggested we keep the bimini in our garage for a season, just in case we change our minds we can put it back on.  But I am sure that in the end it will either end up on someone's elses CD-28 or at the county landfill.

Fair Winds!!
Becky