Learned a hard lesson today

I just want to pass this on so others can learn from my ignorant mistake.

Don't use Damp Rid in your sail tube. Today, I discovered I had a leak in the weather stripping of my sail storage tube. I was shocked when I pulled my sails out and they were all wet, and there was condensation dripping from the top inside of the tube. Normally I put a container of Damp Rid, about a 1/4 cup, to keep mildew from forming on the sails, and I'm glad that's all I had in there as mildw is now the least of my worries.

Beside the mildew spots on my sails. I also have a fairly new Jennaker that the colors bled from one panel and on to another...very strange. Fortunately they were still 'wet' and most of it rinsed off.

The WORST news is and I'm ASSuming the Damp Rid is the cause of this...is Something ate the anodized surface off several sections of my main sail boom. I mean it agressively ate it off. I've always thought anodizing was damn near bullet proof, but I'm hear to tell you it's no match for a wet Damp Rid enhanced enviornment. It also attacked the pop rivet heads on the sail plates. I wet sanded and alodined the afflicted areas, and hope that will arrest it until I can find a more permanent solution.

My question is how do I kill the mildew on my sails without using bleach?? And whatdo some of the rest of you do to prevent mildew in your sail tubes...aside from leak checking them.

Thanks

TC

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TC

So far, I only use my "storpedo" to transport the sails, etc. When I get home I take the sails out of the tube to dry and air them out. I noticed considerable condensation in the tube the last time I opened it.



Yup, you can damage annodizing. It really doesn't add much protection to the aluminum, mainly coloring. I researched it and you can see what I found out in my post on annodizing

Bleach kills mildew and obviously bleaches it out, but can leave the dead organism's material behind. That provides a growth media that makes it easier for it to come back the next time, just like in a shower etc. You really need to clean it off. Unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations for cleaners.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

Thanks for the info on Annodizing...too much work and $$$ for doing a repair job. I hit the bad areas again with some alodine. For looks, I'm going to cheap out for the time being and apply a little filler and shoot some of this over it http://www.por15.com/prodinfo.asp?grp=CH&dept=4
Not a s good as annodizing, but costs ten times less and not nearly as labor intensive.

Ive read several places on the net that in order to kill mildew in sails one needs to soak them in a solution of 5.25% household Bleach mixed in a 30:1 ratio with water for 24 to 48 hours. I'm really afraid to do this as it may take the color out of my sails and I've also read it may remove the resin out as well. As an alternative, I've been thinking about making a soaking solution with Copper Sulfate. I know of the anti fungal properties of Copper, as I use it in both my waterfall and swimming pool...so I think it should work. The only drawback is it won't remove any spots, and may induce a bluish hue to the sails. Just how color fast is Dacron? Comments anyone??

Also today I loaded up on 15 lbs of Desiccant! I built my 12" PVC sail tube to be the permanent storage place for my sails, as my house has too much crap in it already. This weekend I replaced the weather stripping, and am thinking of adding one of these to the inside of it with a drain tube.
http://www.amcorgroupusa.com/manuals/MD250.pdf

Thanks for the help.

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TC

My parents used to collect/show/race muscle cars and we'd place a container of descicent on floor. Worked well. Makes me wonder if it would be a good idea to place a container down in the hull of my boat for the winter. Course it won't matter if it's really fricken cold and there isn't any humidity anyway.

I think the key to keeping your sails from getting mildew is only store them in the tube after they are dry and also use desiccant. I don't think desiccant will absorb enough moisture to actually dry the sails. Also, remember salt absorbs moisture, so if you put your sails away after getting wet with salt water, even after being dried, the salt on them they will absorb moisture.

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

That stuff sounded good until I got down to the price!!!!

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Alan
'86 H16, Sail #89057

Yeah, that POR-15 ain't cheap, but it is pretty good stuff. It has really good flow out, and is also hard as nails. If you apply it it needs to be on a low humiidity day and in thin coats. Otherwise you'll be doing it over....

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TC