Carl Dirks works for a 30-year-old nonprofit foundation that introduces inner-city kids to marine studies. The foundation is a national program, sponsoring thousands of kids each year. To raise money so it can offer the program to disadvantaged youth at no charge, the foundation sells donated boats.
The foundation only accepts boats in good condition, because it doesn't have the funds to fix up a boat for selling. Every once in a while, however, a boat in good condition can have an odor problem that no amount of cleaning will fix, and the only way to sell that boat is to reduce the price thousands of dollars. That means reduced funds for the foundation's important programs.
Dirks has discovered a way to get rid of odor problems in an otherwise decent boat, which helps the foundation raise more funds. In this case, the problem boat was an old cabin cruiser, a 1973 36' Trojan with a very strong gasoline smell throughout the whole boat. The odor was overpowering, even in the aft cockpit. Dirks and his team had to get rid of the gas odor, but they couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Because the smell was everywhere and had permeated the entire boat, they couldn't isolate the source.
Unfortunately for the foundation, the smell turned customers away. Even the sales staff didn't want to be on it, says Dirks. The odor was so bad, it got into and stayed in people's clothes whenever anyone went on board. The gas vapors also presented a hazard because a spark from a switch or a fan turning on could cause an explosion.
To cover up the odor, the foundation staff had six different air fresheners distributed throughout the boat. Dirks says the resulting odor was simply “perfumed gas.” And anyone with allergies couldn't be on the boat for more than a few minutes because of the chemical fragrance emitted by the air fresheners.
Covering up the odor also left the problem of finding the odor source. Another alternative was to detail and painstakingly tear apart the boat to search for the source, then use fans to air it out. But this alternative was time-consuming and therefore expensive, and fans hadn't helped yet to alleviate the odor.
The third option was PureAyre, a plant-based odor eliminator sold by Clean Earth Inc. Dirks decided to try PureAyre for two purposes: odor removal to get rid of the odor, and diagnostic so he could finally track down the source of it. He used PureAyre with a commercial fogger to deodorize the surfaces and the air. Then he hand sprayed the walls, furniture, crevices and corners where the fogger couldn't reach in the cabin, staterooms, head engine compartments, salon and aft cockpit. He also hand sprayed the cushions and upholstery. The whole process took about half an hour and a half gallon of product and completely eliminated the gasoline smell.
After two hours, the gas smell started coming back and Dirks followed his nose to the source: a leaking carburetor in the starboard engine.
Eliminating the gas odor also led to the discovery of two other easily remedied odor problems. Dirks discovered the smell of cigar smoke in the carpet and curtains, but knew that odor could be dealt with by replacement or cleaning with a combination of detergent and PureAyre. He also discovered a stronger than usual head odor. The holding tank was up forward under the vee-berth, and the whole vee-berth area smelled. Dirks used PureAyre and again he was able to find the source of the odor: a leak in the holding tank.
With the odors gone and the problems isolated, the boat was much more marketable. The foundation staff was able to tell potential buyers about the boat's problems while keeping the odor abated using PureAyre.
To learn more about eliminating boat odors with PureAyre, call 877.787.3297.
