Hull blisters. Repair or leave alone?

[Driftwoods]

I have a few blisters too, maybe a couple dozen a couple inches in diameter. Advice I got from the marine surveyor was to pick out the worst 5-10 (depending on time and budget) at haul outs to repaint the bottom and just fix it as we go.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Jcolman

The largest blisters are maybe 1/4" deep and there is nothing but smooth glass underneath. The yard owner took a look at my hull and said that "your boat isn't going to sink so no worries if you want to put it off until next haul out".

My problem is that the boat is now 4 hours from me. I plan on bringing it down to my home port in July and once there, it will be a lot closer to home. Whenever I have a couple spare days, I drive up and work on it but I don't have a week to spare to sand the hull.

I may take my dremel tool and sand down a few of the larger blisters and fill them next week just to get a feel for the job.

When I bought the boat last December, I did a short haul and the surveyor did a tap test on the hull, pronouncing it "solid".

Dremel tool: Not enough for the job really, too slow. You need a 2" air grinder and/or can even use a 3-4" electric on the big blisters if you are handy with it. If you attack this job aggressively you'll get it done in short order. Use abrasives that are like 40 grit... the rough surface is a good thing for adhesion anyway.

1/4" deep blisters on a cored hull is getting worrisome to me. Time to save the boat. Not sure how thick those hulls are on the outside layer but I might guess only 3/8? I think I would want to grind all the blisters out at this point, dry and fill and then roll on 2-3 thick coats of epoxy resin. This may get you 10 years if the core is dry or only damp.

Surveyor: If a surveyor only tapped a little on an old cored hull and called it good I would be going after him for some compensation. He should know it's a cored hull. He should have been all over this like Oprah on a baked ham. No blisters at survey? Someone must have filled them in quick and sold the boat. Bummer.

[oldragbaggers]

Cheechako, I think he stated earlier that his hull is solid glass, not cored.

[Jcolman]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Dremel tool: Not enough for the job really, too slow. You need a 2" air grinder and/or can even use a 3-4" electric on the big blisters if you are handy with it. If you attack this job aggressively you'll get it done in short order. Use abrasives that are like 40 grit... the rough surface is a good thing for adhesion anyway.

1/4" deep blisters on a cored hull is getting worrisome to me. Time to save the boat. Not sure how thick those hulls are on the outside layer but I might guess only 3/8? I think I would want to grind all the blisters out at this point, dry and fill and then roll on 2-3 thick coats of epoxy resin. This may get you 10 years if the core is dry or only damp.

Surveyor: If a surveyor only tapped a little on an old cored hull and called it good I would be going after him for some compensation. He should know it's a cored hull. He should have been all over this like Oprah on a baked ham. No blisters at survey? Someone must have filled them in quick and sold the boat. Bummer.

The hull is solid, not cored. The inspector did see a couple of small blisters but remember, the boat was just hauled out of the water and blisters don't become apparent until the hull dries out a bit. He didn't do a moisture test on the hull because, well it was just hauled out and still wet. So a tap test was about all he could do. We did take moisture readings on the deck as it is cored and only found two wet spots.

I'm *almost* perfectly happy with my inspector. He did miss a couple other things but nothing major.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Jcolman

The hull is solid, not cored. The inspector did see a couple of small blisters but remember, the boat was just hauled out of the water and blisters don't become apparent until the hull dries out a bit. He didn't do a moisture test on the hull because, well it was just hauled out and still wet. So a tap test was about all he could do. We did take moisture readings on the deck as it is cored and only found two wet spots.

I'm *almost* perfectly happy with my inspector. He did miss a couple other things but nothing major.

Ah... good it's solid. Less worry, I read up there somewhere it was cored.... somebody else guessing I guess!
I find it easier to see blisters when wet... but you have to have it pressure washed to see them good. The shine makes it easy to see hull blemishes when wet. Once it's dull it's harder.
If the hull is solid no panic, I imagine you can wait another year, I doubt it'll get that much worse.

[Jcolman]

I guess my imagination got the best of me. I'm at the boat now looking a the blisters (or what I can see of them since the yard went ahead and painted the hull) and they are not 2" wide and 1/4" deep. The largest ones are maybe 1" wide and 1/8" deep or less. They don't look too bad with a fresh coat of paint covering them. I'll take care of them next time I pull the boat.

Thanks to all of you for your suggestions!