Ten Years without Haul-Out

[wingover]

I am looking at a sailboat in central america that was sitting in the water for 10 year now. Any damage beside barnicales can occur from not oulling the boat out?

Thanks,

Mike

[dennisjay]

Blistering can occur, especially in older fiberglass hulls that are not allowed to fully dry out every few years.

[wingover]

Thanks for the reply. I guess blistering can come out on any boat but can be fixed for $$$$$. I am wondering if there is permanent damage (that can't be fixed) by not pulling out for so long.

[Capt Phil]

The anodes have probably been stuffed for some time... check the through hulls and electrical VERY carefully... suggest you get a survey before moving much further on the deal. You might be buying more problems than you can handle...good luck. Capt Phil

[roverhi]

Any metal below the water line is suspect. The zincs went years ago so the electrons have been eating at things like the prop, shaft, through hulls, etc. If the boat is not very electrically active, it may be no big thing but I'd be willing to bet you'll need a new prop at the minimum and replace all the underwater metal at the worst.

Blistering occurs because the boat is in the water. Drying out has nothing to do with it. If the boat was built after 1973, blistering could be an issue but not necessarily. It won't have anything to do with the time between hauls. Bet it's got some humonguous barnacles and getting the hull clean again could be a challenge. Might want to see if there is some acid or something that will eat that calcium bond of the critters.

[wingover]

The boat is 1971. It was not used for a long time and is sitting on a mooring ball so no connection to an electrical outlet in a marina.

Is pre 1973 boats are better built?

[savoir]

In addition to the prop and shaft, the stern gland and cutlass bearing will both probably need replacing. You are going to have to strip the hull totally from the waterline down so that you can see whatever nasties might lurk beneath the paint.

I gave my boat a 6 month dry out and it worked a treat. The Epifill, undercoat and antifoul paint all took and are still doing well 2 years later.

[roverhi]

The oil crisis in 1973 resulted in a lot of companies buying resin from overseas sources and/or a general reformulation of resin. Before mid 1973 or so, the only boats with regular blistering problems were early Valiants and Uniflites. UniFlite laid up the hulls for Valiant as well as their own boats. UnFflite worked extensively with fire retardant resin in Navy contracts for VietNam river boarts. They used a fire retardant resin that was extremely blister prone but didn't come to light till too late. The fiasco put UniFlite under who at that time had been one of the largest power boat manufacturers in the US.

Just because a boat was built post 1973 does not mean it will have blister problems. It's just that before that time, blistering was rare. Our 1974 Westsail never had a blister problem nor does our 1969 Pearson.

Remember seeing a power boat hauled in Honolulu in 1977 that looked it had the measles. The entire underbody was covered with blisters. Believe they ended up scrapping that boat because the only viable fix was to cut the bottom of the boat off at the water line and relaminate a new bottom. That was an extreme case.

[wingover]

Roverhi, Thanks for the info. Unfotunately I can't pull the boat out of the water to look at the bottom. I was hoping there was a way to check for a rotten hull (like the powerboat you mentioned) while in the water.

[zeehag]

i bought a boat had sat in water for 26 yrs without haulout . had an iron bolt on keel.
there was no damage until pulled and no t primed then resplashed-- then the keel started to rust like a big dog. nothing else was a problem. engine didnt run-- but was it expected to after so long?? LOL.
fiberglass doesnt blister because of sitting in water without drying sorry--. blisters come because of layup style and materials that were used. the fact that the gelcoat was sprayed instead of hand laid will make a boat blister, the materials used-- not enough epoxy substance in the matt used to build the boat so sea water is absorbed into it by osmosis.
the boats of the 1960s do NOT blister. not unless someone scratched the gelcoat below the water line deeply enough to allow a lot of water to suck into it. the gelcoat was hand painted into the mold and was about 1/8 inch thick as a result. after the gelcoat was painted into the mold, the roving layers were begun-- criss -crossing each layer --different directions for strength. this was forbidden after 1973.

in 1973 environmental protection agency spawned laws were passed regarding what kind of chemicals were able to be used to build boats and how to do it-- process to be used to make boats was changed by laws made in mid 70s also.. then was when the blistering situation first became prevalent. the mfgr was using matt not roving and chopper gun process showed to be a bust.
so. please understand it isnt the lack of haulout causes blisters. is the manufacturing processes this nation chose to vote into law in the mid 70s.

you can hire a diver to check the bottom if you are worried about blisters-- they are usually not a big deal
\ if it is a 1960s boat--it will NOT have blisters.

i twas not the oil crisis causing blisters either.
it was our wonderful congress and their buddies leaning on the boat building industry, and forcing a change in composition of the materials used to build boats. hd nothing to do with poil crisis or staying in water too long.

fiberglass does not rot. that is why there are so many abandoned fiberglass boats-even before the market dropped on its butt.
ver can feel the bottom of th eboat and tell you iof ther eis any blistering. he can tell you if the blisters are wet or dry. he can tell you a lot.
blisters are overrated. they dont sink boat nor do they slow down the boat. they only actively sukk water into the gelcoatr when they have a hole in center--then they are called wet blisters. when they tunnel together-- if they do-- then grind them out n d fix em. then barrier coat the hull before painting. is not a big deal unless you make it so.

i have owned 2 blistered boats. pre 1973 boats are buiilt differently than post 1973 boats. thwre is the great debsate as to whether they were better or not-- but i would much rather cruise in a boat built before the late mid 70s than one built after then -mine is a 1976 build year , and in taiwan. they didnt have to follow the same laws that our builders did. there is no epa in taiwan.

wingover--what i s make of boat-- 1971 is a safe year-- still old pre-epa laws--- no blisters.

[Stillraining]

Well I have to disagree on the fine point of hauling out boats and its affect on blistering on hulls known to have blister issues...I have personally witnessed boats that looked exactly like the one described above that had pox everywhere...Once on the hard for a few months every blister disappears to the unaware...if you didn't know what to look for you would never know the extent of the issue.

One boat I know of was re-floated for 3 or 4 months and then pulled again for another reason...I was there and there was not a swollen blister to be found on that hull...so Drying time definitely will help a boat with a shaky layup job...and past blister issues...The damage is done but hulls certainly can and do benefit from drying time...I have seen it.

[PAR]

I've heard some "interesting" takes on the cause of blisters, but no one's gotten it yet. Blistering it typically caused by a chemical reaction, in the laminate, when water get in. In defense of some of the more bizarre suggestions, 1960's era yachts didn't have the blistering issues the 70's and 80's era craft did, but they also blistered.

Regardless of imagined bottom issues, the only two suggestions you should take seriously are to get it surveyed and get it hauled, which any reasonable surveyor will require. Anything less then this is a crap shoot, so hows your luck . . .

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by wingover

I am looking at a sailboat in central america that was sitting in the water for 10 year now. Any damage beside barnicales can occur from not oulling the boat out?

Thanks,

Mike

The boats around here that have not been hauled and anti-fouled in 3-5 years are absolute crap.

I suspect from your post that you are not local to the boat. I would definitely be shy and cautious of this boat.

You may find someone you can dive on the bottom and do some tap testing. Tap testing is not very accurate, takes lots of experience and is only intended to find sever delamination or soft spots.

I would also not buy this boat without a survey.

[Pete7]

Take some photos when she comes out, it won't be pretty but worth capturing and if you refit her the before and after pics will be amazing

Pete

[ooitn]

Originally Posted by wingover

I am looking at a sailboat in central america that was sitting in the water for 10 year now. Any damage beside barnicales can occur from not oulling the boat out?

Thanks,

Mike

I'll give you the answer.
Weight the boat and compare it with the dry weight. Can you do that? i doubted so, If the boat being obvoiusly heavy, then water might getting into the hull already.
Another way, clear away some patches of barnicales and look for the outer surface of the hull, any peeling off and the FG exposed to outside? that should be bad. Attention should be more on joint area.

Hope it help