DIY Osmosis Treatment in the Tropics - Advice Please.

[pir8ped]

Yes, I am concerned about the humidity there. However, the core is Airex, and there is only 1-2 layers of glass outside of that, so there isn't much thickness to dry out. I'm assuming that Airex has remained dry I guess. I saw little patches of dampness under the blisters as I was peeling, but they dried of usually in seconds, at least on the surface. That's why I think the heaters will be unnecessary.

Icarus: There is a lot of conflicting info about osmosis repair on the net. The link to the info I settled on suggested heaters were no use. What was more important was to remove the solutes from the laminate. I might have another think about the peel ply though. I'll get a price.

I have actually done this job just over a year ago on a neighbour's 40' cat in the UK. The two of us did the glassing in 2-3 days. I'll do as much sanding and fairing as my patience allows. I may do the job alone, my wife might come to help, and I might hire local labour to help out, but they'd have to know what they were doing.

I did look at hiring someone to peel the gel coat off, but there was only one machine on the island. The quote was much more than I could afford. I had originally asked to hire the machine, but the fellow wouldn't let it out of his hands. And anyway, he had the monopoly. So I was stuck, till the yard mentioned that they had a shipment coming from Miami in a few days. I bought a peeler from the US, and had it added to the yard's consignment. The yard bought it from me when I'd finished, so that all worked out nice, and now, there are two peelers on the island. The peeling wasn't that hard. Just hot work, and with the glass dust, unpleasant.

The boat is in the North Sound yard.

dohenyboy: I'm thinking November might not be the cleverest time to do the job - it's still in the rainy season. December might be better. You're right, the best people will probably be all busy already. I want to do the initial sanding outdoors before I have it moved to the shed. The wind makes it nicer to work outdoors. If it isn't rainy, that would be nicer!

HopCar: That's what I was planning on. A specialised barrier coat. I'd previously worked on the assumption that epoxy was epoxy, and pretty waterproof, and 4 coats on top of the gel coat would be a fine preventative. But that didn't work out right. Interprotect 2000 seems the standard.