Ben, glad you found the source. Bleach is not always good for everything. Try [url]www.pureayre.com[/url].

Ben, please tell more about the leak - where was it? Was the bulkhead cracked?

[QUOTE=benethridge;19221]No, they were tiny pinhole leaks in the aft corner joints. My guess is that either (a) Catalina got stingy with the resin when they were saturating the glass fiber or (b) water dripping down into the anchor well slowly eroded away the resin from the glass fiber forming the little pinhole leaks over the years.

I also found a leak due to a hole behind the LPG tank that Catalina left open. Sealed that one.

I also caulked all the seams at the top of the anchor well, since that was leaking into the forward cabin as well.

I posted another thread about yet ANOTHER leak I found in the anchor well, in that little tube that drains water out the lower bow.

What a pain these are to fix! You have to stretch your body deep into the anchor well sometimes.

Anyway, my entire forward section is dry now top to bottom since the entire anchor locker is totally sealed off from the cabin.[/QUOTE]
Thanks, Ben!

[QUOTE=benethridge;19214]

I'm thinking of spraying diluted bleach on the moldy parts of the wood, removing the cushion covers and washing them in bleach, and spraying the foam with bleach.[/QUOTE]

I'm not sure bleach is necessarily the right idea, although I'm not sure about alternatives. Bleach -- and particularly diluted bleach -- contains lots of water, which, of course, is exactly the medium that causes mold to thrive. With respect to mold infestations in homes, for example, environmental professionals urge against the use of bleach on moldy sheetrock for that very reason; while the bleach kills off the surface mold, the water in the bleach seeps into the sheetrock and just exacerbates the problem long-term.

We sometimes get mold buildup on the wood (particularly over the winter), but applying bleach to the wood results in the wood getting, well, bleached. We've found a wipe of teak oil removes the mold and the odor. The cushion covers we launder on gentle in cold water with Woolite in the washing machine at home. The cushions themselves we hit with Fabreeze.

Bleach can really destroy many fabrics. I think I would try gentile washing first and then using something you have plenty of in Florida - Sunshine. Strong sun kills mold better than almost anything. Wash the cushion fabric and the foam separately and then set them out to dry in a sunny dry day. Take them in at night and do it the next day also turning several times. Maybe it would be better to wait a bit for the humidity to come down a little in October.

I wouldn't spray too much bleach on the wood, but I would give it a good rubdown with a sponge with a solution. I wipe down the entire interior each Spring with Clorox Cleanup and paper towels.

Simple Green has received favorable reviews.