Seafari ceiling

[kmoose]

Now that my ceiling is all new and sprayed with gelcoat I understand why carpet was added. With all this rain the condensations is bad and when I went into the cabin this weekend everything was pretty wet. I think the carpet was done to help wick and dry such moisture but who knows. At this point I am running a fan to keep the cabin dry and it is working well. Next week I'm installing the bow hatch and hope that will take the place of the fan to keep it dry up front before the mildew starts.

[Capt Terry]

Amazing our '76 Seafari mousefur is original, clean and in pretty good shape. Did have to remove it from the hatch. Under side windows and one other spot a little saggy; but not bad enough to mess with. Lasted much better than the headliners I ripped out of a couple cars. In one saggy spot considered slitting it a little to squirt some spray adhesive. But guessed the cure might be worse than the illness. Anyone tried this?

Hey NoBones- we both laughed at your remark. See you and Patty in Sept.

[Bushwacker]

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.