A mistake no one should repeat...

[Sumner]

When we bought the Endeavour we made one fatal mistake that no one should duplicate. The prior owner had a lot of paperwork for work done and a couple years prior to us buying the boat the bottom had blister repair and new paint. The invoice showed where barrier paint had been applied. The owner honestly didn't know for sure what had been done. When I saw the bill for over $3000 and that barrier paint had been applied I didn't feel it was necessary to haul the boat out and check the bottom. We should of done that even if it would of cost us.

The story is all too long to put here but I've posted it here along with lots of pictures....

Part 1:

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/end-1/endeavour-outside-mods/page-1.html

Part 2:

http://1fatgmc.com/boat/end-1/endeavour-outside-mods/page-2.html

Briefly if you don't want to go there it ended up that the boat had.....

...a lot of blisters. Shown above after drying 7 months and then repaired. Then a year later after more drying since we wheren't ready to put the boat back in the water anyway Ruth and I cleaned the bottom, gave it a light sanding so the barrier paint would stick and ....

then applied 3 coats of Sea Hawk's epoxy barrier paint (Tuff Stuff) that has builds of about twice the thickness of other barrier paints so fewer coats have to be applied.

After the barrier paint was on, 2 coats one day and another the next, we put on...

... 2 coats of bottom paint (also the second day). A coat of black and then blue so we could see when the blue was wearing through and a final 3 coat at the water line.

It came out looking good but it was a fair amount of work and that was with someone else sand blasting the old paint off and a crew at the yard doing the blister repair.

When we bought the boat we budgeted about $1200 for new bottom paint but with the need for the blister repair the complete job and materials ended up about $5000. So the moral of the story is pull any boat that you are considering buying out and check the bottom regardless of past repair bills.

Again a lot better description of the work done and more pictures here...

http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/endeavour-outside-mods/outside-index.html

Sumner

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[Bob 04 H260]

Sum, as usual good advice. The bottom looks very good now. I think part of the problem occurs with some boat yards that can charge $3K for not much more than basic bottom paint job. Some boat owners are not hands on and don't really understand what needs to done and what was done.
Do you intend to launch the boat this year ? We are delayed leaving this year because of family health issues, we hope to launch the end of December, cruise the Bahamas again, returning in May.
Take care, Bob

 

[Brian D]

Sumner, what year Endeavour is that? I have read (don't remember where) that boast of certain years are more prone to blistering that other years. I think it was the late seventies? Something about a change in the glass or epoxy that was used. Maybe someone here can remember and give more details.

You really had your work cut out for you. When I saw the picture of the blisters my heart fell. But you guys did a bang up job. Looks really nice. Kudos!

 

[justsomeguy]

Sum, as usual good advice. The bottom looks very good now. I think part of the problem occurs with some boat yards that can charge $3K for not much more than basic bottom paint job. Some boat owners are not hands on and don't really understand what needs to done and what was done.
Do you intend to launch the boat this year ? We are delayed leaving this year because of family health issues, we hope to launch the end of December, cruise the Bahamas again, returning in May.
Take care, Bob

Sumner's selling, or so I've read.

 

[kito]

Good advice. My H30 project boat was purchased when on the hard and the bottom looked great. The PO told me the blisters were patched and has 2 coats of barrier coat. Well after 10 months on the hard in my back yard it looks like the blisters that were patched are popping out again. It looks to me that the blisters were just chipped out and just filled without grinding out a tapered dimple and cleaning properly before refilling. Just because you know something was done doesn't mean it was done correctly.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Sumner's selling, or so I've read.

I know that. I did not think that would preclude launching and using the boat ? It might be easier to sell a boat in the water than one on the hard. Some brokers will direct owners to inexpensive slips to keep a boat in the water as they tell me it makes it easier to sell the vessel.

Bob

 

[justsomeguy]

I know that. I did not think that would preclude launching and using the boat ? It might be easier to sell a boat in the water than one on the hard. Some brokers will direct owners to inexpensive slips to keep a boat in the water as they tell me it makes it easier to sell the vessel.

Bob

If she were mine, I'd wait for a potential purchaser to ask for a sea trial.

But then, I'm a cheap b*****d.

Sum, again, I'm sorry for your loss.

 

[shemandr]

Thanks, Sumner, for sharing your experience. There are often more lessons in mistakes than when everything goes well.
I still see boat for sale ads that tout a new bottom job in the last xxx years. I would urge extreme caution with those boats. You already know it has a problem. It's very difficult to tell if it was addressed adequately.

 

[Sumner]

Hi guys to answer a couple of the questions that have come up.

The boat is an '81 and I've heard of guys having blisters on boats that are just a few years old so I guess there is no hard cut answer to years and such. I've seen them repairing a lot of different boats in the yard, all years and makes. I tend to attribute blisters on this boat more to the fact that all of these years it has just had bottom paint on it and never a full barrier coat. Still I know that all boats that don't have barrier paint don't necessarily get blisters. The Mac never had barrier or bottom paint but when we were planing on having her in the water for longer periods we didn't want to take a chance so put on barrier paint before the bottom pain and she has been fine so far.

Bob I've been working the last 2 1/2 months on the Mac and will be taking her down to Florida to take out hopefully before to much longer. Still not sure where but possibly over to the Bahamas in the spring if things work out time schedule wise so keep in touch with me if you plan on going over and hope things are ok at home. I want to stay in the area while the Endeavour is up for sale so will probably for a while at least stay on the west coast.

I have 2-4 weeks worth of finish-up work to do on the Endeavour before she can go in the water to check things like the new thru-hulls out and such. I'll then take her back out as I think it is easier for people to drop by and view her in the yard. They then can see the bottom and such without having to pull her out and if they are serious then she can be put in quickly for a sea trial. With my rent in the yard I get 2 free round trips in and out of the water per year so if someone ends up buying I'll pay for their trip otherwise they will pay the $150 which is the same as what they would have to pay if the boat was in the water and they wanted to pull her out to inspect the hull.

Since I'm not crazy about singlehanding the Endeavour on trips and such she is for sale but then again with it getting cold here and Florida looking tempting I thought for $3000 a year in yard fees I could spend winters in Florida ,

Sumner

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[Joe Blizzard]

Pardon my ignorance, but when doing this kind of work, how do you deal with the stands?

 

[justsomeguy]

Pardon my ignorance, but when doing this kind of work, how do you deal with the stands?

When your paint's dry enough, you install another pair, then remove the ones you couldn't paint under.

 

[Sumner]

When your paint's dry enough, you install another pair, then remove the ones you couldn't paint under.

Exactly, except we didn't paint where the stands are yet. It would of been fine to move the stands and then painted and then put the boat in the water which is usaully what is done.

We could of moved them when we painted and done that but we were going home shortly after and I didn't want the boat to sit for a long time on the stands with still realatively fresh paint under them. Now with the paint well aged I'll have them move the stands (they don't like you doing this) and paint those areas with barrier paint and bottom paint when I go back. When they repaired the blisters they did move the stands so those areas are fixed,

Sumner

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[Gunni]

A "short haul" should be on the survey list for any prospective purchase, and is a nominal extra expense (compared to Sumner's experience). The boat stays in the lift slings for an hour or so while you inspect the underbody, to included hull, fittings, rudder, look for grounding damage, keel separation, etc.

Blistering was for a long time not well understood, and often poorly repaired. It wasn't until composite builders came to understand that polyester resins were imperfect moisture barriers that suitable barriers could be created and applied. So a lot of pre-90's boat have had multiple repairs done, and done again. Wet bilges continue to cause problems.

 

[Sumner]

A "short haul" should be on the survey list for any prospective purchase.....

Yep, exactly the point I was trying to make, but probably didn't word it very well :cry: (you said it better ) Also as has been pointed out don't necessarily trust any work orders to reflect on the work done or the quality of it. At least after hauling it out you can decide if the blisters or something else is a problem that you want to address or ignor.

In our case we could of put bottom paint on and put the boat back in the water later but we had the funds to do the repair and didn't want the boat sitting on stands part of each year looking like it did so paid for some of the work and did the remainder ourselves.

So the post had kind of two parts. Part one....'haul the boat out before buying'. Part two....'this is what is going to be involved if you want to do blister repair and what it might cost you',

Sumner

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[Gunni]

Blister repairs seem to work better if the blisters are opened and the boat is allowed to dry out for a good long time - 6 months or more. Ugh.

 

[Sumner]

Blister repairs seem to work better if the blisters are opened and the boat is allowed to dry out for a good long time - 6 months or more. Ugh.

Yep, we were going to be gone for at least 8 months and they were opened and dried for a little over 7 months till they seemed to be good. The drying started in June so there was a lot of hot summer and fall weather in there, but the humidity is also high in Florida then.

Actually there were on 6-10 that seemed to be draining at all. After they were repaired it was over a year later before the barrier and bottom paint went on so in our case the whole situation was handled under pretty much ideal conditions. I if you have a boat in the water and sail all of the time the drying period can be a real bummer,

Sumner

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[Joe]

When your paint's dry enough, you install another pair, then remove the ones you couldn't paint under.

What you do is: Paint, read instructions on paint can to know when you can paint over... normally 4 - 6 hours... So before your next coat, move the stands(most yards require this be done by yardmaster)...just the width of the pads... then paint the bottom with second coat. Now... be friendly with the yard master, (the guy who drives the lift) when he comes to pick up the boat you will have a can of paint and a disposable brush.. he lifts the boat, paints the second coat under the pads.. goes and has lunch.. then comes back in an hour to drop the boat in the water. Now you tip the hoist operator for his kindness... 10-20 bucks is cool.