Teak wood - oil smell

[caltexflanc]

Interesting. I've been on a lot of boats with a lot of interior teak and other wood paneling, but like others here, have never really noticed an teak or tung oil odor. For instance various types of oil, especially tung are popular to treat the extensive afromosia paneling on classic Hatteras boats.

Now that's not to say I also haven't been on a lot of smelly boats... mildew, stagnant bilge water, gunky sumps, oil, diesel, holding tank odors. Older, lower priced, at-best-modestly maintained trawlers and sail boats seem particularly vulnerable. As Psneeld points out, seldom used boats that are shut up for long periods almost all develop some smell. That includes old Hatts too that have not been maintained or used; there is something called "That Hatteras Smell" which is a combination of stale bilge, sump and seawater heads. One of our checklist items when boat shopping was "no smells". The Po of our boat was a fanatic about this and we were too in tracking down any new little smells and eliminating the root cause. But because the boat got a lot of use, none of that stale air issue ever developed.

 

[Pack Mule]

I will gladly trade my African Mahogany today for your Bermese teak next week . Bermese teak wholesale is about 25$ per board ft and retails much higher . If you tell her that she may think teak smells like roses

 

[Poach]

Most if not all boats acquire a "nose" over time if not rigorously maintained and sometimes even then. I find the smell obnoxious too so I don't blame the admiral. The smell is usually a combination of things including molds, mildews, sanitation hoses, engine oil and grime in the engine room. If you want to get rid of it, replace as much of the soft goods as you can--carpets, mattresses, and the headliner (if you can afford to replace it). The curtins, linens, and cushions covers may be able to be cleaned, but I would put new foam in. Several have mentioned the bilges, but there are dead spaces as well that have to be cleaned. The areas around and under the engines and genset should be scrbbed clean of any oil. The engine room insulation might also be something to consider replacing. You have to keep at it too giving a lot of it regular cleaning. Consider putting a coat of bilge paint in the bilge and paint other dead spaces. Clean the wood and maybe consider freshining it with a coat of whatever is already on there. Maybe consider an ozone generator. I bought a heavy-duty one from Jenesco and use it periodically. It cost a few hundred but it helped a ton. Don't put new or cleaned soft goods back aboard until you have eliminated as much of the smell as possible. Have fun--I always do.

 

[FlyWright]

While my bilge is dry and there are no signs of mildew or mold, my boat also acquires a 'nose' after about a week of being closed up. In the past month I've been experimenting with leaving my Caframo fans operating while the boat is 'docked and locked'. I leave a couple of ports open, as I always have, and let the 2 fans run continuously.

I have noticed a significant improvement when I first board the boat. If I wasn't in a covered slip with free electricity, I'd be installing a solar vent to achieve the same results.

 

[ghost]

I get it after the boat has been closed up for awhile. As others said, its the soft goods and bilges. How you store in the winter (airflow) has a huge effect on keeping it at bay. I'm trying the Kanberra to see if it really does help permeate and eliminate molds where you can't easily get at them. It's expensive, time will tell.

 

[cappy208]

No one has mentioned it..... Leaky teak decks

A particular issue with the Taiwanese trawlers is they have teak decks. They sure do look nice when new. But after years they leak. Thousands of screw holes, 30 year old bedding compound and some freeze / thaw cycles and boom. Leaks.

I bring this up, because the 'phenomenon' is called "the rainforest" inside the trawler. It smells like walking in a lush rainforest canopy with all the decomposing vegetation under foot. Often the evidence is seen as a clear, brownish, or grey oozing sap that runs down out of lockers, overheads, bulkheads and around windows and the like. It is the deck core that has been saturated with water over the years, and is rotting out from within.

There is no cost effective cure. You could remove the decks and tear out the deck, core, and replace. Or you find a trawler that does not (never had) teak decks.

Some people LOVE the teak decks, and learn to accept the stench of the rotting rainforest inside the boat.

 

[windmill29130]

No one has mentioned it..... Leaky teak decks

A particular issue with the Taiwanese trawlers is they have teak decks. They sure do look nice when new. But after years they leak. Thousands of screw holes, 30 year old bedding compound and some freeze / thaw cycles and boom. Leaks.

I bring this up, because the 'phenomenon' is called "the rainforest" inside the trawler. It smells like walking in a lush rainforest canopy with all the decomposing vegetation under foot. Often the evidence is seen as a clear, brownish, or grey oozing sap that runs down out of lockers, overheads, bulkheads and around windows and the like. It is the deck core that has been saturated with water over the years, and is rotting out from within.

There is no cost effective cure. You could remove the decks and tear out the deck, core, and replace. Or you find a trawler that does not (never had) teak decks.

Some people LOVE the teak decks, and learn to accept the stench of the rotting rainforest inside the boat.

No teak decks on this boat. Never had them.

 

[cappy208]

No teak decks on this boat. Never had them.

Ok, but the leaky decks, windows, fuel fills, water fills, etc etc etc are enough to make it happen. If the smell isn't mold based, likely it is the core decomposing. You mention a smell that isn't sewage, isn't mold, so what's left?

 

[HopCar]

How's this for a theory. All the boats that the OP looked at were for sale. If you were trying to sell a boat wouldn't you clean it up and maybe oil the teak? I would.
I bet the Admiral was just smelling fresh teak oil and the smell will fade in a few weeks.

 

[caltexflanc]

No one has mentioned it..... Leaky teak decks

A particular issue with the Taiwanese trawlers is they have teak decks. They sure do look nice when new. But after years they leak. Thousands of screw holes, 30 year old bedding compound and some freeze / thaw cycles and boom. Leaks.

I bring this up, because the 'phenomenon' is called "the rainforest" inside the trawler. It smells like walking in a lush rainforest canopy with all the decomposing vegetation under foot. Often the evidence is seen as a clear, brownish, or grey oozing sap that runs down out of lockers, overheads, bulkheads and around windows and the like. It is the deck core that has been saturated with water over the years, and is rotting out from within.

There is no cost effective cure. You could remove the decks and tear out the deck, core, and replace. Or you find a trawler that does not (never had) teak decks.

Some people LOVE the teak decks, and learn to accept the stench of the rotting rainforest inside the boat.

Only if you don't maintain them. Not that hard to do. But people just don't take that time and cost into account (among many other users of time and cost). Love my teak decks; no rainforest. Not really any more expensive than maintaining painted non-skid properly.

 

[caltexflanc]

How's this for a theory. All the boats that the OP looked at were for sale. If you were trying to sell a boat wouldn't you clean it up and maybe oil the teak? I would.
I bet the Admiral was just smelling fresh teak oil and the smell will fade in a few weeks.

Maybe, but have been on a lot of wood-intensive-interior boats at boat shows and individually and we never really noticed it, and both of us, especially me, are very sensitive to any kind of chemical smell... varnishes, paint, cleaners, etc.. instant headache. Still, granted, not out of the question.

 

[cappy208]

How's this for a theory. All the boats that the OP looked at were for sale. If you were trying to sell a boat wouldn't you clean it up and maybe oil the teak? I would.
I bet the Admiral was just smelling fresh teak oil and the smell will fade in a few weeks.

Not likely. People who are dumping their boats usually do it for two reasons. Economics. Health. Rarely do people 'put money in' to dump it.

 

[psneeld]

Not likely. People who are dumping their boats usually do it for two reasons. Economics. Health. Rarely do people 'put money in' to dump it.

Depends on the word "dump" and sometimes even brokers will clean up a boat prior to a sale which may have included wiping down the bulkheads just to "spruce it up a bit"....

 

[FF]

I would tend to agree with the folks that do not believe the teak oil is the source of the old boat stench.

Rotten wood , usually plywood , will stink as it rots , in bulkheads , furniture and any where else there is wood.

Ventilation is the best cure , if the boat was properly constructed.

 

[Toolbuddie]

All good suggestions for sources of foul smells. Our Mainship had a similar oily, rotten, caustic, stinky odor more so after being closed up for a while. I found the main culprit by accident. BATTERY gas. I have a battery that overcharges (still trying to solve that) and in its doing so gives lots of stinky sulfur gas. I started isolating that battery and noticed a big improvement in level of stink. Battery gassing is normal when equalizing and when contained it stinks. Ventilation as FF suggested will help keep whatever it is from permeating every thing pourous on your vessel and thus decrease the Admiral's olfactory distress.
I am prepairing to install low volume AC vent blower on the pier to draw directly from the machine room to help remove all of those offensive oders from the machinery. This should help when the boat is closed up for weeks. Also installed portable dehumidifier to reduce the mold type sources. that seems to have helped a lot with those stale odors and not seeing new mildew or mold growth in the usual places.
Tell us what you find and how is works for you.

 

[Jbear]

Lots of good ideas. I guess diesel smell as it is in most of the older trawlers. I scrubbed the entire motor, tranny, and bilge with cleaner. It is a lot of work but really nice to have a clean boat. Mine doesn't have the smell anymore but it took a lot of work and we live aboard so lots of air moving through the boat.
Jeff

 

[Pack Mule]

Seal it with Epifanes

 

[FF]

I have a battery that overcharges (still trying to solve that)


First check the batt set it self , sounds like a dead batt that requires a constant charge not to go flat, which overcharges the other batts in the set.

OR Purchase one of the new units with a brain that shuts off ALL the charge (no float) when the batt is full.

 

[HopCar]

Since we're on the subject of boat smells, Peggie Hall recommended a product to me called PureAyre. I haven't tried it yet but Peggie pretty much raved about it. They claim it will eliminate diesel odor as well as just about every other odor source on a boat. I ordered some for my store but I haven't gotten it yet. When it arrives, I'll grab a bottle and let you know how it does on cat boxes!

PureAyre Odor Eliminator - Marine

 

[refugio]

Is it possible the admiral isn't fond of boating?

+1

Make sure you are addressing the underlying objection, or you will be simply facing a new alligator.