What's This? Delamination???

[Tony Y]

Hello all,
Awesome site!
I'm looking at purchasing a 1974 Fisher 37 and am no stranger to old boats. I am prepared for the usual wear and tear and upgrades but this particular boat may have a fiberglass issue. I have been communicating with the owner by phone/email and haven't looked at boat in person. What do you guys make of this picture? my concern is that I don't see any gelcoat. The owner is certain that it just anti-fouling coming off but I wouldn't expect to see the fiberglass matt like this. Perhaps the gelcoat is clear. This hull had been treated with Interlux Interprotect about ten years ago. They also painted above the waterline, which has a few flaky spots.
Just a poor application of barrier coat or ???
Greatly appreciate your opinions. Cheers.
(First post so I hope the attached picture shows up okay.)
Tony Y

[captain58sailin]

Looks like the gel coat is peeling off. Not always, but can be symptomatic of issues when the hull was pulled from the mold. Perhaps some of the gel coat adhered to the mold due to an incomplete waxing job prior to layup. Sometimes they try to repair it after the fact and it doesn't always work out. Just one possible explanation, certainly not the only.

[brianlara 3]

There is no such thing as "clear" gelcoat. Gelcoat on production boats is merely a mixture of polyester resin and talc (talcum powder) which is always white. Very low tech. Tinting of gelcoat has been done but not successfully because powdered talc will not hold a tint as Beneteau found out not doubt at great cost.
Someone here on CF will likely be able to give you a definitive expanation of the image.
The green stuff looks like antifouling. Unlikely to be green tinted gelcoat.

[Suijin]

Just hazarding a guess that what you're looking at might be the keelstub/keel joint, given that it's a fairly straight line. Not uncommon to get cracking along there if you just slap barrier on it and then antifouling. And then, because of a bit of flexing, thermal expansion, what have you, you get damage along the edge of the keel stub and chipping of gelcoat. Pretty easy to fix properly if that is the case.

If that is elsewhere on the hull I would be a bit concerned if it's one of many spots. Hard to tell from the picture but it looks like just antifouling or antifouling and barrier on top of matt and it's coming off. I don't see the thickness I'd expect from a layer of gelcoat.

I don't think you can tell until you look at it up close and in person. I would not run for the hills based on this but I would certainly do a close inspection to see if the boat needs a full-on bottom job.

It's not uncommon for some less committed/knowledgeable owners to just slap more antifouling on spots where the gelcoat has come off. Not the end of the world if limited but certainly requires a proper repair.

Fishers are well built and very cool boats. If that's the one for sale in Nova Scotia it looks pretty well cared for in general. I would not let that picture scare you off if it's limited to that one spot.

[smj]

Could be a blister repair and bad bond between the blister repair and Interprotect.

[a64pilot]

I was thinking gel coat maybe had been removed in the past by sandblasting or peeling etc?
However does gel coat perform any function other than UV protection that is unnecessary under water and with bottom paint?

[Tony Y]

Great responses. Thanks all. Here's another pic. This Fisher would suit my needs, it's just this issue. I would not expect to see the fiberglass mat with the Interlux barrier coat peeled back, if that's what I'm looking at. Where did the gelcoat go? Suijin, you're right. Nova Scotia it is.

[a64pilot]

What did the surveyor say?

[Tony Y]

I'm not at the survey stage yet. I'm trying to decide if I should back out before I spend any money. Thanks.

[Tony Y]

I tend to agree with Suijin's notion of the gel coat having peeled off and a poor application of barrier coat. Makes sense to me. I will visit in person and will update this post later if it goes to survey. Once again thanks for the feedback.

Tony Y

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing"
Helen Keller

[Uncle Bob]

Originally Posted by Tony Y

I'm not at the survey stage yet. I'm trying to decide if I should back out before I spend any money. Thanks.

I would suggest that a hands on look and assessment would be in order, if the rest of the boat is what you are happy with. If in doubt then either walk or proceed to the survey stage.
If you walk, there are plenty of fishers out there for sale for you to peruse.

[Tony Y]

Yes, I walked. I got an opinion from a boatyard that has done top quality fiberglass work for me in the past. They told me that it looked like the hull wasn't properly prepped before the barrier coat was applied. If so, the whole thing would need to be stripped again. Above the waterline was painted and it is also flaking. It could be a good buy if the price was lowered enough to compensate but that's not happening.

Once again, thanks to everyone for chiming in.

Tony Y

[mike d.]

Strange, I used talc to thicken resin, to make a paste to spread/fair glass for surface prep for painting ! I have a can of clear gel coat paste in my garage right now ! I believe the white color of gel coat is white iron oxide, at least that is what is used for paint !

[neilpride]

See if the matt layer is dry, wet or is sealed in epoxy, dont look for bright cured epoxy because could be sanded in appearance, if there is no gelcoat could be a repair spot , blíster or who know , no gelcoat in the whole bottom mean some previous owner do a epoxy bottom job , osmosis or just preventive, no one in the right mind seal a bare glass bottom with interprotect 2000e without a previous epoxy job in the laminate.. So my guess this could be contamination or por prep..

[UNCIVILIZED]

Could be improper paint prep.

Or perhaps some form of epoxy used as a barrier coat or flow coat that took a while to do it's final curing. And that while curing the boat was painted/bottom painted. With the final cure of the epoxy forming an amine blush underneath of the paint. Thus weakening the paint's bond to the hull. I had that happen to me with an odd batch of epoxy once.

Similarly, it could be that epoxy was used in a repair, & it wasn't fully cured when the paint was applied. And such an epoxy could also have been used to fair the joint between the keel, & the keel stub.

One other thought is that there may have been some small fissures in the paint when she was last hauled out. And water got into them, & froze underneath of some of the paint. Resulting in more flaking.

Ask the owner if it's okay to scrape off some of the already peeling & loose paint so that you can get a better look. It's coming of anyway on it's own, so you can probably get him to agree to this.