Blisters - Fix or Wait ?

[Deepdraft]

Hi - The photos are the underside and rudder of a an early 70's sailboat. Do I need to be concerned? (looking to purchase, surveyor says not to worry). Thanks.

[speedoo]

What I see is a dirty bottom, not blisters. But if there really are blisters, and the boat is still out of the water, you might look for a second opinion, to be sure before buying.

By the way, that is one very strange rudder design.. It appears that the rudder post only extends a couple of inches into the rudder, and that would really concern me. I would not take that boat offshore as is. Did your surveyor comment on that?

[minaret]

In the second pic the blisters on the keel look bigger than the transducer next to them! Get a new surveyor quick, whoever this is does not have your best interests at heart. The only way you can tell if there is a problem with osmosis and saturation, and thus potentially hydrolysis, is to remove a patch of bottom paint and get a moisture meter reading. If this surveyor told you those huge blisters are no problem without even bothering to get a reading, you need to fire him ASAP. They will most certainly be a problem, and likely a severely expensive one. Figure in at least 20k for a blister repair job if you buy, in this case maybe more like 30k. Those are huge blisters. Also consider time, if you buy this boat it will likely require at least six months in the yard to get dry. That's at least six months you won't be able to use it. Unless you can find a yard with a hotvac. JMHO.
Stab a blister with an awl and smell what comes out. If it smells sorta sour like vinegar your screwed, there is saturation and hydrolysis present. The bottom will have to be peeled (probably double peeled here), blisters ground out, bottom dried, blisters glassed and faired, whole bottom reglassed to make up double peel, fairing, barrier coat, and bottom paint. It ain't cheap.

[HappySeagull]

I particularly like this post by Cheechako...http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tml#post928102

and up and down from that post....
I'd run away.

[Deepdraft]

I am getting conflicting opinions so I'll wait to read the report and see if i get more replies to the thread. No of the rudder stock.. Boat is back in the water. Thanks.

[zeehag]

what kind of boat--the blisters donot look serious except in keel--what minaret sed....
btw, speeedo--that is a similar kind of rudder used on many deep water cruisers with full keels. there are other attachment points besides rudder post. they call those attatchments gudgeons and pintles.

[delmarrey]

Never heard of blisters sinking a boat. You can wait, but they'll just get bigger. The repair is just a lot of work and time consuming in humid climates.

[Deepdraft]

The boat is an Alden 32' Motorsailer, (Cheoy Lee), 1971, encapsulated keel. Thanks.

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by zeehag

what kind of boat--the blisters donot look serious except in keel--what minaret sed....
btw, speeedo--that is a similar kind of rudder used on many deep water cruisers with full keels. there are other attachment points besides rudder post. they call those attatchments gudgeons and pintles.

Right, I can see there are attachment points holding the rudder to the hull below the prop aperture, and I am very familiar with gudgeons and pintles. My concern is that there is so little attachment between the rudder body and the rudder post, which is the only thing that actually moves the rudder. I think it is a design weakness and I have never seen that in an offshore cruiser before.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Deepdraft

Hi - The photos are the underside and rudder of a an early 70's sailboat. Do I need to be concerned? (looking to purchase, surveyor says not to worry). Thanks.

That is over my personal limit. Your limit may vary and it may depend on boat price.

I would be factoring in a lot of time out of water and multi-boat bucks for a complete bottom peel.

If I owned the boat I would be looking to sell it cheap or save my bucks and fix it. Not an "emergency" but a do soon.

[Tony B]

I wouldnt exactly call those lumps on the bottom of the keel 'blisters'. That lower keel area looks totally waterlogged.
I agree with Minaret. The bottom will have to be peeled and dried for around 6 months before any real work can begin.
Common blisters are the size of a dime. Large blisters are the size of a quarter. And that is on the surface and what you can see. Once you grind into them they can be a lot larger. I'll bet if you popped one with an ice pick lots of goo and water would be coming out.
When it comes to project boats I am a naysayer. Unfortunately for me, it is because of experience.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Deepdraft

The boat is an Alden 32' Motorsailer, (Cheoy Lee), 1971, encapsulated keel. Thanks.

I have seen a number of cases where an encapsulated ballast was imperfectly sealed on the inside of the hull, allowing bilge water to get in and stay trapped there where it can't dry out. This led to severe saturation and blistering of the keel, although the rest of the hull was only moderately damp and blistered. Hard to tell from these pics, but at a glance it looks like it could be such a case.

[Deepdraft]

Thanks to all who replied, I guess I found the deal breaker. Its too bad as I really liked boat, but the repair costs are just too high.

[Tony B]

Dont let it get you down. I had a surveyor go over a boat for me about 4 months ago. Within 12 minutes, he found about $20,000 worth of repairs. We sat down and discussed it. I asked qustions from every angle and he told me to just walk away from it. His logic being -$20K in 12 minutes, how much will it be if he spent all day looking. To have that much extensive damage is from many many years of neglect.
Man, I loved that boat. Sometimes life is just one big kick in the groin, but there are always more boats out there.
Better luck next time.

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by Deepdraft

Thanks to all who replied, I guess I found the deal breaker. Its too bad as I really liked boat, but the repair costs are just too high.

Do you have a good repair estimate? I think Minaret's last post nails the problem... Improperly sealed encapsulated ballast. The blisters appear to be only at the bottom of the keel, so it's possible the hull is ok.

Repair in that case might not be too bad. But I do think you need a better surveyor.