So I've had my 1880 for almost 5 years now. Poly interior. Parks outside with a cheap generic cover. After the 1st year, I've learned to remove my rods when I'm ready to winterize bc they were all moldy when I opened the rod locker in spring but the carpet was dry.
Always a bit of water in the bilge from rain or whatever. Maybe 1/2" at most. Water won't even drain when raised up as high as possible on front jack.
For whatever reason, over this past winter, there was a lot more water in my boat than the past few years. When I opened the front port compartment, everything looked perfect. Middle rod locker looked fine even tho empty. Opened front starboard and could smell it was off. Saw my spare rope looked gross. Tossed that. I have a few plastic bins in there and they all had dark spots on them. Cleaned those off. Felt inside towards the back, directly under the console and it was sopping wet. It hasn't rained much in the past few weeks. I could see dark fuzzy mold in areas of the carpet walls and such.
Middle step was clean. Always has been.
Center glove box was overflowing with water lol. I've had this happen before so I've drilled a couple holes to drain when that happens. Well a couple pieces of carpet clogged the holes and prevented drainage.
Port rear compartment had signs of moisture but this is due to condensation. Bottom of foam pad inside was damp.
Starboard rear dry. This side has always been dry. Don't know why. Wish I did so I can fix the port side.
Now the bilge. I take out the batteries when i winterize. Notice I had water in my battery trays. This has never happened before. The starting battery tray had some water almost looked gel like, even though it was clear. All my cables from the battery charger are molded up. Strange the factor cables didn't have any mold. The water in the bilge also looked jelly like. The fuel hose has mold spots.
I looked in my live well bc I keep my bumpers in there. They use to be white. Now they look like snow leopards lol. It's pretty bad.
So obviously this cover failed so replaced it with a different one. Did find a tear. The cheapies usually last about a year, sometimes 2. Fine with it for $50 or whatever and zero maintenance.
Right now I have the front compartment and bilge lids opened with cover on hoping to air out. I want to spray the hoses, bumpers and carpet with this anti-mold product but I think it's basically bleach and you know how that'll look like on the dark carpets and I don't know if it'll be safe for the wires and fuel hose. Spray on for 1 min it says.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Mold-Arm...G590/312647936
Claims to be safe for sealed fiberglass and vinyl.
I also want to prevent such buildup of water in the front starboard compartment. I think it's bc water is getting through where the console is mounted.
I'm also thinking of getting a new center glove box. I think the new ones look nicer and I wonder if they are truly waterproof.
Do I regret getting an 1880? Not really, it was the best tin available at the time for me. Now with the prices of new boats, I'll keep this 1880 forever lol.
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Originally Posted by Boat4Life
