Help! Too Cold, Condensation, Sick, Need Info

[a64pilot]

No issue with not currently having an excess income, I think you'll find company here, but it does limit options.
I think the best most inexpensive source of heat is some form of hot water bottle.
CO poisoning does not clear up in a few minutes or even a few hours and I would not discount that as your sickness, but mold etc. is not good for you either.
I believe that household bleach is Sodium Hypo-chlorate and the inexpensive cheapest brand is equally as effective as the most expensive and one gallon will disinfect a huge area. DOn't know the dilution ratio though, but suspect it takes very little.

[sparrowhawk1]

If you're going to use bleach to clean your boat make sure you use a lot of ventilation. I have a friend that cleaned his boat from one end to the other using bleach and got very ill. And he couldn't sleep on the boat for months afterwards.

[captain58sailin]

Just a point of interest to me. What is your definition of "selling out"?

[liveaboardL]

Cap, You're going to get me in trouble.
I think as long as we place the Golden Rule 1st, we won't be in any danger.

Bleach is great stuff for cleaning. I used to be a professional cleaner & all I used was bleach-water, or water & rarely, alcohol. It is also very toxic to breath. I know from experience. They say it's not good for mold, but it may be worth a shot. Not sure I'd want it in my breathing-space long term, though. It's best place is disinfecting toilets & getting rid of that strong pee smell. White vinegar sounds like great options.

[sparrowhawk1]

There's a bleach with mold inhibitor in it. Sorry I can't remember exactly what its called. But it's definitely the case of the medicine possibly being worse than the problem.

[captain58sailin]

So he who has the gold makes the rules? No, I got you. Do unto others, before they can do unto you. . The only reason I ask, is because, "Sell Out" means different things to different people. For me, it means being true to your own self, heart, spirit, you pick your term. Of course if one is a rotten bastard, then that wouldn't be a good thing.

[RunningRabbit]

My boat had a lot of mold when I bought it and I cleaned it up with great results using white vinegar. Equally effective but more pleasant on the senses is tea tree oil. Just a teaspoon per cup of water in a spray bottle really helps keep mold from returning and keeps the boat smelling fresh. Both are generally affordable, always important to me because I am generally "down on my luck," plus they are green, non-toxic, pet-safe solutions.

Hot water bottles do help. I know because when I use one the cats push me out of the way to get to it.

Best of luck; I'm on shore power and I've still had some very cold nights aboard lately.

[liveaboardL]

Checked out your blog. Cats, a dog, big boat. Looks interesting. Not surprised about SouthBeach diet. A raw meat diet sounds best... speaking of which, I have to figure out the easiest way to catch food in the winter. My body changed dramatically after I ate raw meat. Cheers.

[RunningRabbit]

I'm brave enough to do winter aboard but I'm a wimp when it comes to raw meat! It's probably healthy that way, though. Thanks for checking out the blog; I'd have suggested canine and feline space heaters like I have, but they come with a whole different set of energy management issues.

[Vamonos]

Regarding the removal and prevention of mold, Practical Sailor just did an article and they have two home made recipes that are inexpensive and as good as the commercial products. Here is a quote from their article.

The two homemade spray formulas we tested each cost about one penny per ounce. Like the other mildew preventers in our test, you use these as cleaners by simply spraying the product on, wiping any excess away, and leaving it on. Before applying to any fabric, test the spray on an inconspicuous sample spot.

Formula A

1 quart hot water

1 tablespoon baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)

2 tablespoons washing soda (sodium carbonate)

2 tablespoons trisodium phosphate (TSP)

Much like Concrobium (which it is modeled after), our homemade Formula A removed the mildew from test carpet on board and kept it away, even though the area got wet again. It was also very effective in the moist-environment lab test.

Formula B

1 quart hot water

2 tablespoons baking soda

2 tablespoons Borax

1 tablespoon TSP

Formula B was the second-place performer in the liquid group. It was certainly the best value. It cleaned well, prevented mildew from returning to the carpet, and greatly slowed mildew infection in the moist-environment test in the lab.

We also tried treating with plain vinegar, which reportedly works on some hard surfaces, but testers found the smell a little too overpowering. A 10-percent solution of household bleach (3-percent sodium hypochlorite) was one of the best cleaners, but this has to be used with care. Bleach will bleed or degrade many fabrics, and can harm the marine environment. For complete results and more tips on keeping your boat mildew free, be sure to check out the entire article later this month at Practical Sailor.

[sparrowhawk1]

Thanks I read thousands of threads on this forum and it's totally worth it when I get a gold nugget like that. All I need to do is get the washing soda

[sparrowhawk1]

I just bought borax and washing soda and I have all of the other ingredients. Was mixture a or mixture b better for long term mold prevention

[RunningRabbit]

From the quote it sounded like solution A was better overall, for prevention as well. I did have very good results with the Concrobium it sounds like it was based on. Just surprised about the TSP since those phosphates are supposedly not good for the waters from an enviro view; but maybe it's such a smaller volume than when used as laundry detergent that it isn't a problem.

[sparrowhawk1]

The TSP / 90 heavy duty cleaner I bought says phosphate free. But I'm thinking of taking recipe A and substituting one tablespoon of TSP with 1 tablespoon of borax. ( insert mad scientist laugh here) Concrobium sounded familiar So I re-checked my cleaning supplies. and yes I have it. I bought it from West Marine and it wasn't cheap and I wasn't impressed. It says acive ingredient sodium carbonate .95% other ingredients 99.05% that's exactly what it says it doesn't list the other ingredients. So let the experimenting begin.

[sparrowhawk1]

liveabordL. I think mold prevention is critical to staying healthy. But I definitely hijacked your thread. I think this is a good place for it. But if you'd like me to start another thread just let me know.