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28-01-2018, 20:26
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Australia
Boat: nauticat
Posts: 8
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blisters on the hull
Hi
on the boat that I am interested to buy they found blisters on the hull when they slip it.so I am in dudes to buy or not.if the owner will fix it how long it will last.please I love her some opinions
thanks
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28-01-2018, 20:36
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#2
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: 29° 49.16’ N 82° 25.82’ W
Boat: Pearson 422
Posts: 16,306
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Re: blisters on the hull
Depends.
1. How many?
2. How big?
3. How deep? Just through the gelcoat or into the laminate.
4. What kind of boat, how well was it made to begin with.
5. Most important, how will it be fixed?
Done properly the boat can be better than new and the fix last as long as the boat.
Cautions. If really deep and lots of delaminations the fix could be way more expensive than the boat's value.
AND!!!! Has it been "fixed" before? What did they use? Some boats have been "fixed" a few times with various resins that are incompatible creating a witches brew of chemicals and a mess beyond repair. This is probably rare but it does happen.
The best fix, if it isn't too bad and deep. Shave the blisters off and apply multiple coats of epoxy barrier coat. This is the very, very short, very very simplified version of what to do.
__________________
The water is always bluer on the other side of the ocean.
Sometimes it's necessary to state the obvious for the benefit of the oblivious.
Rust is the poor man's Loctite.
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28-01-2018, 20:38
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#3
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Salem, OR
Boat: CAL, 35 Cruiser, 35 ft
Posts: 117
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Re: blisters on the hull
Hi Bodan
Here is a site with some great info about boat blisters.
Boat Hull Blisters: Blisters Again?
Good news old boats get blisters 60% of the time. Some conditions are terminal. Some are just a problem like pimples not cancer. As you will learn from the site you need to examine them and identify the layer of the hull they involve.
I’m working with the problem on my hull. Mine are surface issue and expect solving the issue but will not be surprised if next time I haul the boat there are a few more.
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28-01-2018, 20:39
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#4
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: 29° 49.16’ N 82° 25.82’ W
Boat: Pearson 422
Posts: 16,306
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Re: blisters on the hull
More.
If into the glass layers then you have to peel it down to good glass and put more glass cloth and resin back on.
Cost.
Just a barrier coat, USD$5,000-$15,000.
Reglassing USD$15,000-$50,000.
estimates based on 11-12 meter boat.
__________________
The water is always bluer on the other side of the ocean.
Sometimes it's necessary to state the obvious for the benefit of the oblivious.
Rust is the poor man's Loctite.
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28-01-2018, 21:01
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Australia
Boat: nauticat
Posts: 8
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Re: blisters on the hull
thank you, I think I will call a marine surveyor to check it properly, as he knows better
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29-01-2018, 04:54
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#6
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: 29° 49.16’ N 82° 25.82’ W
Boat: Pearson 422
Posts: 16,306
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Re: blisters on the hull
Quote:
Originally Posted by bodan
thank you, I think I will call a marine surveyor to check it properly, as he knows better
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Hi Bodan,
Before paying a surveyor you can probably get a pretty good idea of how bad it is from some photos. Can you ask the yard to take some? Several closeups and a few wide area would do. Also ask if they will pop open a few of the blisters and break away the outer layer to see how deep they go.
Then post them on here and you will get at least 5-10 different opinions on what to do.
__________________
The water is always bluer on the other side of the ocean.
Sometimes it's necessary to state the obvious for the benefit of the oblivious.
Rust is the poor man's Loctite.
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29-01-2018, 05:11
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#7
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Salem, OR
Boat: CAL, 35 Cruiser, 35 ft
Posts: 117
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Re: blisters on the hull
As Skipmac says pictures are best.
It is all about - How deep
- How many
- What size
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29-01-2018, 09:26
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: Columbus, OH
Boat: '86 Catalina 25, swing keel
Posts: 77
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Re: blisters on the hull
Quote:
Originally Posted by bodan
thank you, I think I will call a marine surveyor to check it properly, as he knows better
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Not a bad idea to get a surveyor involved anyway. You can learn a lot about your vessel and if you do go ahead with the purchase, a good surveyor will provide you with a detailed report on any and all deficiencies found and can help you prioritize what to work on first and so on.
Our Haven is 32 years out of the mold and we just now have had blisters appear on her from this past season. She had mostly been trailored and barn stored and this was her first season (that we know of) in a slip. She developed some blisters (like chicken pox, very tiny - between the gelcoats at the waterline where they went over the blue striping with the hull color) and a number of small blisters on the bottom as well about the size of a screw head. At her age and ours too, she will prolly be ours for the next 10 years. We hope to one day become live aboards and will then move up. Since we are not to concerned about resale, we have chosen to follow our surveyors advice.... sand her down, fill and fare where needed, apply a few coats of barrier paint and enjoy her. As long as it does not get into the core, its not such a big deal. We got a great deal on 5 gallons of Blue Water Marine paint with a copper ablative (prolly cause its red).
IMHO.... I've found that maintaining any one of the many toys that we have requires a good deal of research, analysis, questions to the old salts, etc... but not too much as to cause paralysis of analysis... oh and rum, lots of rum.
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29-01-2018, 09:49
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Virginia
Boat: B24
Posts: 785
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Re: blisters on the hull
Quote:
Originally Posted by JSSailem
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Hmmm… I think I learned more in that one article, than almost all the reading I’ve done over several years. My in-the-water boats (Bristols, Irwin, ODay, etc…)have always had a few blisters… I’ve seen one or two real horror stories in the yards next to me, but I’ve always had three-four, up- to half-a-dozen to grind out and rework with the bottom paint -- don’t ever recall more than a dozen, but a few each haul-out if the boat has been in more than a year… I’ve never done a full barrier coat (too lazy), but I have always done my own work and so far it hasn’t exceeded my skills/energy… Blisters are like “liver-spots,” most get some of them with age and will continue to -- some get a lot of them, and a few almost never do…
__________________
Larry
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29-01-2018, 09:58
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,483
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Re: blisters on the hull
Blisters weigh on the mind a lot. Anything short of completely drying the bottom will not last. This involves removing the gel coat and getting it dry. There's a saying out there "blisters never sank a boat" and that may be true, but they can be problematic. My experience is they will often come back. I would not buy a boat with more than a few small blisters or a blister history.
I had one boat with blisters so large and deep they could have sunk the boat! One was 5" long, 1/4" deep.
Another boat was so wet it had blisters inside the hull in the bilge!
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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29-01-2018, 10:02
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SC
Boat: None,build the one shown of glass, had many from 6' to 48'.
Posts: 10,208
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Re: blisters on the hull
Maybe an irrelevant question. What is the cause of blisters? A bad lay-up with air entrapment? Bad resin? All resin isn't equal. Just curious since it seems some boats develop them and some don't, seemingly by the same builder. Barrier coat seems to be the thing. If it is just a film that the first soft grounding will scrape off?
As to repair. If they are into the roving it would seem a quick in and out won't cut it since water had wicked and needs to be removed.
Feel free to pick it apart.
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29-01-2018, 10:07
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Skagit City, WA
Posts: 25,483
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Re: blisters on the hull
There seem to be plenty of theories on cause. It does seem still a mystery. Today's builders strive for low resin use and vacuum infusion, but I think that is for economy. Hard for me to see how a partially filled fiber wont wick water faster than one fully saturated.
__________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Broads and Boats. The rest I wasted" - Elmore Leonard
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29-01-2018, 10:38
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SC
Boat: None,build the one shown of glass, had many from 6' to 48'.
Posts: 10,208
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Re: blisters on the hull
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheechako
There seem to be plenty of theories on cause. It does seem still a mystery. Today's builders strive for low resin use and vacuum infusion, but I think that is for economy. Hard for me to see how a partially filled fiber wont wick water faster than one fully saturated.
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You and I think along the same lines. I guess in theory vacuum bagging pulls the air out. I would seem the resin would need to be slow in kicking off? The resin has no structural strength but if it isn't enough to bond the glass? A well hand laid up hull has got to be expensive since it is labor intensive.
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29-01-2018, 10:53
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: fl- various marinas
Boat: morgan O/I 33' sloop
Posts: 1,447
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Re: blisters on the hull
As far as I can confirm, there has NEVER been a case of structural damage caused by blisters. Looks to me about much hysteria concerning what really is a cosmetic issue. If anybody have evidence that my research is wrong please provide the details here.n I do know that BoatUS has no issues with covering a boat with blistering noted on the survey.
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29-01-2018, 11:03
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: SC
Boat: None,build the one shown of glass, had many from 6' to 48'.
Posts: 10,208
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Re: blisters on the hull
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dave22q
As far as I can confirm, there has NEVER been a case of structural damage caused by blisters. Looks to me about much hysteria concerning what really is a cosmetic issue. If anybody have evidence that my research is wrong please provide the details here.n I do know that BoatUS has no issues with covering a boat with blistering noted on the survey.
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I might guess the hull thickness might be relevant?
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