Cruiser & Bowrider Detailing.

A 28-foot Sea Ray Sundancer at Hurst Harbor on Lake Travis is a different beast than a bass boat or a center console. It sits in a covered slip nine months a year. The family uses it three weekends. The cabin holds a head, a galley, a fridge, and a leather settee that's been baking in trapped sun. The hull below the waterline grows a beard of algae. The cockpit upholstery accumulates sunscreen and citronella smoke. Cabin interiors smell musty by the second weekend of the summer because the air handler doesn't run when nobody's onboard. A cruiser detail is half boat work, half cabin restoration — and it's our most time-intensive single-day boat service.

Slip-kept boats grow algae and slime on the waterline that needs proper hull cleaner. Cabin interiors hide moisture in carpet, headliner, and behind cushions. Leather settees and helm seats need real conditioning to stay supple. Bilges collect slow drips of oil and old cooler-melt water that smell when you reopen the cabin after a week. Heads (boat toilets) need pump-out coordination and a full deep clean. Galley appliances — fridge, microwave, sink drains — need food-safe sanitization. We've gotten dozens of phone calls that started with 'my wife says it smells like a wet basement in the cabin' — and we've fixed every one.

Texas reality check. Lake Travis, Lake LBJ, and Possum Kingdom marinas are full of 25-35 foot cruisers and bowriders. Many sit in covered slips at Hurst Harbor, Briarcliff, Lakeway, Volente, Horseshoe Bay, or Cypress Bend. The slip cover doesn't stop algae waterlines — it actually traps humidity in the cabin and accelerates the mildew that makes a cruiser smell stale. We've cleaned more than one cabin where the previous owner just kept piling air fresheners on top of mildew. The fix is steam, ozone, and ventilation — not Febreze.