I'm retiring in January so I'll have more time than money. I'm pretty handy so I'll do most if not all of the work myself. I've got a place nearby to store it free so I can take my time.
Blister repair possible?
- Thread starter MaryEllaRose
- Start date
If you want somebody to tell you if the deal is good or not, you probably won't get a satisfactory answer. The spectrum of advise is just way to wide. The way I look at it with an old boat like this is that if you aren't willing to take a chance on throwing away all of the money that you will spend on the purchase price and all future expenses, then don't do it. If you think that you will spend the money anyway, then go for it. You can always continue looking and put off your decision until you find the boat that makes a light come on in your head to signal that this is finally the boat for you. OTOH, you may go on looking for a very long time and never go sailing.
I'll probably end up doing the same as my Catalina 22: spend two years and more $ than it's worth fixing it up, sail it for two years and then lust after another boat.
I hope that was a joke!
I neglected to notice that you have a Catalina 22. Where are you going to be sailing? Great lakes or one of those beautiful inland lakes that dot the magnificent countryside of Michigan! How I envy the choices you have in that part of the country! If you are planning to sail the Great Lakes, I'd have to suggest that a Pearson 26 is not a sufficient step-up in size. You should look for something in the 30' to 32' range, I think. Just my opinion 
Gunni, your second link is for epoxy primers used for topcoats. Are you suggesting he prime with these first, fill and fair, and then barrier coat? If that's what you are suggesting, that is overkill for this small hull.
Strip off the pocked gel coat to the underlying laminate (might as well strip all the gelcoat to reduce the likelihood that new blisters will form at the unstripped areas and to facilitate drying the hull).
Grind out the larger blisters. Wash thoroughly & dry (See previous post). Check moisture levels. As Gunni advised, paint the inside of larger blisters with inter protect, then fill & fair as many times as necessary to get a nice fair surface where the larger blisters were located. Uses interlux's recommendation as to how many coats of inter protect barrier coating to apply ( 4 to 5 coats)and the weather conditions in which it should be applied. Again, Gunni's advice to hot coat is critical. Get some friends to help on the day that the barrier coat is applied. Start early in the AM. Roll on a coat & wait the prescribed time before the next coat is applied. The idea is to get successive coats on before the previous coat sets. This eliminates sanding between coats & promotes better adhesion. All coats of barrier coating should be applied in one day. Some even recommend hot coating the first coat of anti fouling paint to promote better adhesion of the anti fouling paint to the barrier coat----better check with interlux first. Would also recommend application of a flash coat of anti fouling paint that is a different color than the final coats. On future haulouts, when roughing up the old bottom paint with the sander you will have a visual reference to avoid sanding into the barrier coating.
Last edited:
I stand corrected. See the interlux link that Gunni referenced. Interlux advises a coat of their "epi glass" product in the bottom of ground out blisters and over the entire bottom laminate where the gelcoat was removed. Then fill blisters and fair repeatedly until a smooth contour is achieved. Finally, apply barrier coats. Seems that epiglass promotes adhesion of the inter protect barrier coat to the laminate. Probably a less viscous form of resin to thoroughly saturate the laminate. Takeaway here is to follow interlux's instructions EXACTLY; you can't take any shortcuts in doing this repair.
Last edited:
I wouldn't bother with this boat if the project required all that BigEasy is talking about (stripping the entire gelcoat to fiberglass laminate, excavating and drying blisters). If he can simply do what I decided to do, and as Gunni is suggesting, it isn't really much of a problem. The bottom would be fine for the rest of MaryEllaRose's natural life. It would be no big deal and not an extraordinary expense if he hired a professional to do the work - maybe $3,000 to get the bottom completely finished. That is assuming that the blisters aren't actually any worse than they look in the photo.
Of course, if he wants to move on to the next old boat, maybe he finds one with no evident problems and spends $10,000 for the boat ... only to later discover something else that he has to resolve. It will always be a crap shoot.
Aside from all of this repair talk, I'm not even sure why he should worry about the condition of the bottom at all. It will be a freshwater boat. Why even worry about the dimples? Just put some paint on it and sail it. What difference does it make? If it's practically a free boat to begin with, why is the bottom a problem? It's not like it is a safety issue. The boat will be on a trailer or stands for more than 6 months every season.
Of course, if he wants to move on to the next old boat, maybe he finds one with no evident problems and spends $10,000 for the boat ... only to later discover something else that he has to resolve. It will always be a crap shoot.
Aside from all of this repair talk, I'm not even sure why he should worry about the condition of the bottom at all. It will be a freshwater boat. Why even worry about the dimples? Just put some paint on it and sail it. What difference does it make? If it's practically a free boat to begin with, why is the bottom a problem? It's not like it is a safety issue. The boat will be on a trailer or stands for more than 6 months every season.
Last edited:
Scott,
Your advice might be best! Put some bottom paint on and go sailing and don't worry about the blisters! However, if the intent is to refurbish the entire boat and "fix it properly", then I would look for another boat.
Another thing that has me concerned about this boat is the statement that the transom was professionally rebuilt. Wonder what that was about? Storm damage, rotten core, stress cracks? Would definitely research this to determine if this model boat is prone to transom problems and if the repairs were done effectively.
But when all is said and done, there are no right & wrong answers here. It's all about individual choice, just as long as that choice doesn't place one in harms way & obviously that is not the situation in this case.
Your advice might be best! Put some bottom paint on and go sailing and don't worry about the blisters! However, if the intent is to refurbish the entire boat and "fix it properly", then I would look for another boat.
Another thing that has me concerned about this boat is the statement that the transom was professionally rebuilt. Wonder what that was about? Storm damage, rotten core, stress cracks? Would definitely research this to determine if this model boat is prone to transom problems and if the repairs were done effectively.
But when all is said and done, there are no right & wrong answers here. It's all about individual choice, just as long as that choice doesn't place one in harms way & obviously that is not the situation in this case.
I have no intention of completely "rebuilding" this boat. Filling/sanding/painting with Interprotect are in my budget and skill range. If that lasts a few years I'll consider it worth my time and money. Peeling the bottom is over the top as far as I'm concerned. After all that, it's still a 40 year old boat.
We sail on the west end of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Detroit river, never out of sight of shore. Would I like to extend our horizons, sure. But circumnavigating the Great Lakes is over the top. We just want a bigger, more robust boat than the Cat 22. I'm willing to spend some money and time on this boat but a total overhaul ain't gonna happen. Before I spend that much I'll definitely be looking for something newer / nicer.
How about a reality check. OP didn't say how much he would pay for the boat. Probably not all that much. It is a 40 yer old boat not worth much. Would all that bottom work really make the boat anymore valuable? I doubt it. Anybody ever hear or know of a boat sinking from blisters, especially the ones that are pictured. Buy the boat cheap, fix the rudder play, bottom paint and go sailing have fun.
Bottom line - given the price, equipment, and your willingness to finish the bottom work I believe you have a high likelihood of getting a fun boat for a few seasons of sailing. This boat is a nice design, all boats of the era had a blister problem. And I have seen many boats that were cured of the blister problem with proper repair, now that we understand how this works.
That's the plan! Thanx for all the advice, especially on how to fix the bottom and for everyone's frank opinions, I really do value the insight of others who have gone through this.
I'll keep you posted...
Tom G
I'll keep you posted...
Tom G
An interesting tidbit about blisters first came to my attention when I came across a youtube video titled "I'm on a boat fixing blisters". Towards the beginning of the video he makes this comment:
"...it's because that back in 1973 during the Irianian hostage situation, fuel prices went up, the prices for fiberglass polyester resin also went up, and boat builders reduced their manufacturing cost by using less expensive and inferior quality resins, and for this reason boats since about 1973 have had more and more blisters.. ..today many boats are built with vynlestic resins (for the first coat) which are less permeable to water. so blistering does not occur as often - it is thought..."
With a few quick searches I found numerous articles to support this, I wrote about it briefly on my blog..
http://grampian26sailboat.blogspot.com/2016/06/blister-me-this.html
"...it's because that back in 1973 during the Irianian hostage situation, fuel prices went up, the prices for fiberglass polyester resin also went up, and boat builders reduced their manufacturing cost by using less expensive and inferior quality resins, and for this reason boats since about 1973 have had more and more blisters.. ..today many boats are built with vynlestic resins (for the first coat) which are less permeable to water. so blistering does not occur as often - it is thought..."
With a few quick searches I found numerous articles to support this, I wrote about it briefly on my blog..
http://grampian26sailboat.blogspot.com/2016/06/blister-me-this.html