Hey Folks,

A few thoughts:

a) I love that word, 'foosty'! We sail in and around a boreal rainforest, and it strikes a chord!  8)

b) We'll soon be looking into and likely trying a family of foam, foamboard and fabric one-part adhesives from www.simalfa.com... Simalfa 321 is water-based. They promise high initial tack, low odors, quick drying, and vapor encapsulation (including stopping gas migration from closed-cell foams, which drops R-value over time). Brush, roll and spray.

Our application is in developed plywood hulls, and our (TriloBoats) are particularly amenable to ply-foam-ply construction, where a glue like Simalfa would shine.

c) The folks on FOOTLOOSE used loose foamboard sections, which they covered with vinyl wall-paper, then installed as one would a panel (held in with trim, not adhesive). The vinyl protected them to a considerable degree, was easy to wipe down and the whole thing looked great. They'd pop 'em out at spring cleaning to get behind them (some air-space back there, as you might find with a liner). They showed me the backside, one winter (nearly a year in place), and all looked dry and dusty.

d) We're also looking into committing mildewcide on a large scale. To gird ourselves for battle, we've been looking into ozone generators. Ozone kills everything (remove the three Ps - Persons, Pets and Plants before gassing), but quickly converts to oxides (which percipitate out) and O2 (the good stuff)... no toxic residues. Unlike UV, aren't limited to line-of-sight. Hospitals use them to sterilize operating theaters, etc..

These guys are fanatics and have the best approach we've found. Their MINI BIOBLASTER is adequate to sterilize 375sqft (higher on most boats due to lower headroom). At US$233, they're affordable, and, being built by fanatics, could pay their way as a 'cottage' industry.

Incidently, we were talking with a friend about strategy and tactics. He said, "You know what the Chinese did when their junks contracted mildew, don'cha? They burned 'em!"

Always looking for the easy way!

Dave Z

Brian Kerslake wrote:Stuck it on with CT1.

A glue and sealant with a food-safe certificate!  That's the kind of thing I was going to look for next.

Mark Thomasson wrote:

There is an alternative approach which is often used in flat roofs.  These have the same problem as a boat, in that the outer layer is a good vapour barrier.  The solution is to sandwich the insulation between a high specification vapour barrier inside and the outer covering.  These are all adhesive bonded, so no nail holes.  Whilst a small amount of moisture will still diffuse into the insulation, the amount can be calculated.  During the winter it builds up and during the summer it dries out. As long as this is not more than will saturate and damage the insulation it is ok.

This approach is how you should consider boat insulation. 

Thierry Msika wrote:I don't remember exactly what Roger Taylor used on Ming-Ming (I and II) but it hasn't been mentioned here and it's a solution for a small boat that you might want to copy. I said he was pleased with the result. Cheers. Thierry

Roger Pateman was considering Plastazote, which is what Roger Taylor used on Mingming.  I looked it up.  I like the bit about it being inert, which is important in its use for prosthetics.  If I spend significant time inside the cabin, inert sounds good to me.  I even found a German supplier who has 30mm Plastazote with a self-adhesive backing.

With polystyrene you have to be very careful what glue you use.  It dissolves in Polyester resin.  I used it to make a couple of windsurfing boards so had to use epoxy.  The resin was expensive, the foam cheap.  Using polyester resin you use polyurethane foam, cheap resin and expensive foam.  The Styrofoam / epoxy is far better as it really takes the knocks.

I don't remember exactly what Roger Taylor used on Ming-Ming (I and II) but it hasn't been mentioned here and it's a solution for a small boat that you might want to copy. I said he was pleased with the result. Cheers. Thierry