Quote:
Originally Posted by kmoose
. . . I think the carpet was done to help wick and dry such moisture but who knows. . .
|
I actually do know, and I'm sure Connor Davis with his background in the A/C business does too . . . what's going on is that on a real clear night with no wind, there is enough cooling due to radiation that by about 5-6 am, the temperature of your cabin top will have droped below the dew point, which is typically in the mid-70's in Florida with our humidity that's 100% by early morning. So the moisture in the air will simply condense out on any surface that's colder than the dew point, including both the outside and inside of the cabin top, just like it does on a cold bottle of beer on a hot humid day! That's why the morning dew on top of your car is so heavy that looks like it rained overnight even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky! However if you put some insulation (carpet) on the inside of cabin top, that will keep its temperature above the dew point, so you won't get "sweating" or condensation on the inside! As a Florida native that grew up on the New River in Ft. Lauderdale, Carl Moesly understood this better than most folks, so he definitely knew what he was doing when he specified the "mouse fur" for the inside of the cabin top on the Seafari. Unless you live in a real dry climate like So. Cal., I suspect that removing the carpet from the cabin top will actually INCREASE the probability of getting mold/mildew in the cabin! Also, if you don't keep a cover on the boat that will allow you to leave the hatch open an inch or two, one of these
solar powered vents installed on the hatch might also help prevent mold and mildew in the cabin.