I just bought an F235. It has been in the water about 3 yrs and has about 7 large (~1.5x3") oblong-shaped blisters under the waterline, which I will repair before putting it back in the water. Please tell me if my repair plan is missing anything, or just plain wrong: Wearing a good dust mask, goggles, and coveralls ... 1. Grind blisters flush with hull, and then proceed carefully into the hull to remove remaining 'wet' glass. I plan to use a wire brush grinder on my electric hand drill - OK? ?? will it be easy to tell how much glass to remove? Are there any helpful tricks here? 2. I'll blow out the dust and let the cavities dry out a day or so. ?? can I squirt some acetone in the cavities to help drive out the water and hasten the drying? 3. As the blisters are large-ish, I plan to fill the cavities with West System 405 epoxy, mixed with some West filler (to make fairing easier) and some chopped strand mat to add back some structural strength. ?? I have some experience with this epoxy, and with woven fiberglass mat, but not with chopped strand mat - are there any tricks working with this pesky-looking stuff? 4. (This is where it gets particularly hazy for me) ... I guess I should fair the repair spots flush with the hull, and then sand the entire hull to remove the old antifouling (it's currently the blue chalky kind that rubs off when you wipe it with your hand). Then I plan to paint a coat (more than one coat?) of some sort of barrier paint over the entire underwater surface, sand lightly (??), then put one (or more??) coat(s) of antifouling on. ?? I may as well repaint the keel while I'm at it (I'll follow the great advice on the rusty keel repair someone posted recently) - but I'd like some advice about the various coatings I should/could use. I plan to use the boat mostly for club racing so I'd like a nice smooth bottom - I gather there are two maiin types of bottom paint but I can't remember the main differences or the pros and cons of each. Finally, the topsides seem dull. I gather one can 'wax' the topsides to shine them up - what are some recommended products? I live in an inland area where the local marine shop only knows about power boats and the only commercial haulout yard doesn't do sailboat repairs (they bent someone's keel a few years back and got scared off sailboat repairs after that), so it's hard to get advice locally. Any helf anyone can give will be much appreciated. Thanks, Neil
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R
Randy
Blisters
I don't believe your giving the blisters enough time to dry after you've ground them out. It could take from several weeks to over a month depending on heat and humidity. You might try the West Marine web-site, they have a pretty good explanation of the process.
I don't believe your giving the blisters enough time to dry after you've ground them out. It could take from several weeks to over a month depending on heat and humidity. You might try the West Marine web-site, they have a pretty good explanation of the process.
K
Kelly Holsten
Time...and more time to dry
I agree with Randy's assessment as well. The main pain with doing blisters seems to be the inordinate amount of drying time needed to let the blister completely drain and get fully dried out. If you repair too early, all the work is really for naught. This drying time can be quite lengthy depending on conditions and how bad the blisters are. I have heard of cases that last more like MONTHS instead of days, but this is excessive. And through all this, you must strive to keep the boat covered as much as possible. Do a search via the newsgroups and on variuos forums. Count yourself lucky you only have three blisters, though. I was actually astonished that my F235 had NO blisters after being in the boggy, hot, shallows of Charleston, SC's Wando river since its purchase in 89. It's amazing how some boats are far more problematic, sometimes within the same line. Here is the article Randy was referring to via West Marine Online. See "related link" below. Kelly www.beneteau235.com
I agree with Randy's assessment as well. The main pain with doing blisters seems to be the inordinate amount of drying time needed to let the blister completely drain and get fully dried out. If you repair too early, all the work is really for naught. This drying time can be quite lengthy depending on conditions and how bad the blisters are. I have heard of cases that last more like MONTHS instead of days, but this is excessive. And through all this, you must strive to keep the boat covered as much as possible. Do a search via the newsgroups and on variuos forums. Count yourself lucky you only have three blisters, though. I was actually astonished that my F235 had NO blisters after being in the boggy, hot, shallows of Charleston, SC's Wando river since its purchase in 89. It's amazing how some boats are far more problematic, sometimes within the same line. Here is the article Randy was referring to via West Marine Online. See "related link" below. Kelly www.beneteau235.com
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Dan
Glass cloth
I have had my F235 on a trailer for a couple of months and among other repairs I also have 4-5 blisters that have been drying out. It does take a long time, especially if you are planning to apply a barrier coat. You need to be absolutely sure the hull is dry before you seal it up with the barrier coat or you could cause even more blistering problems. Here is a link to a flyer I picked up at Boat US about blister repair: http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/03.htm Also before putting wax on the decks you may need to use rubbing compound to remove the oxidation and bring back the shine then you would want the wax applied afterwards to protect the surface. Hope this helps. Dan
I have had my F235 on a trailer for a couple of months and among other repairs I also have 4-5 blisters that have been drying out. It does take a long time, especially if you are planning to apply a barrier coat. You need to be absolutely sure the hull is dry before you seal it up with the barrier coat or you could cause even more blistering problems. Here is a link to a flyer I picked up at Boat US about blister repair: http://www.boatus.com/boattech/casey/03.htm Also before putting wax on the decks you may need to use rubbing compound to remove the oxidation and bring back the shine then you would want the wax applied afterwards to protect the surface. Hope this helps. Dan
S
Steve C
the dreaded blisters
Let them dry out over the winter. If te rest of the boat is usable and you want to use it this year, throw it back in the water and use it as is; chances are the blisters won't get much worse in a few months, they probably been growing for years. Then haul out at end of season and build a cover that you can work under, but will keep rain/snow out. Strip your bottom and open blisters and let then dry out over the winter. Next spring repair, barrier coat and bottom paint at that time. As far as how far to grind out the blisters? You will see when you get down to "good glass", the blistered glass is seperating the glass stands from the resin. Use your head though, you don't want to grind through the hull. You can use the chopped or cloth, use Interlux watertite to fair. I'd use Interlux 2000 or 3000 system for barrier coat if you roller on. If you can spray on, VC Tar is good, but don't try to roll VC TAR on, it'll sag and run. Use VC 17 for your race ready bottom coat, since your on a inland lake, you don't need too much of an anitfouling much bottom paint. Go to the Interlux web site, they have info on blister repairs, and bottom paints, etc.. I wouldn't sand the bottom to remove the old bottom paint, unless you only have one very thin coat that sands off easy. Sanding is a mess. Strip it with either Interlux stripper or better yet - a lot of folks have had good luck with the stripper you apply in sheets and let sit over some number of hours, you can get it at Home Depot or a Marine store. You'll need to wash hull after with acetone. As for your topsides, try the Island Girl system before you take a buffer with rubbing compound. Compounding will eat some Gelcoat, if it's done too much, your gelcoat will get thin. See Island Girl on theis web site for information. Be careful of mixing wax and paint. If you wait, as I recommend to do the bottom after this season, go ahead and do the topsides this year and wax. Just be carefull that you don't wax topsides after you strip bottom ( let's say while your waiting for something to dry, and want something to do ) wax will cause havoc with paint.
Let them dry out over the winter. If te rest of the boat is usable and you want to use it this year, throw it back in the water and use it as is; chances are the blisters won't get much worse in a few months, they probably been growing for years. Then haul out at end of season and build a cover that you can work under, but will keep rain/snow out. Strip your bottom and open blisters and let then dry out over the winter. Next spring repair, barrier coat and bottom paint at that time. As far as how far to grind out the blisters? You will see when you get down to "good glass", the blistered glass is seperating the glass stands from the resin. Use your head though, you don't want to grind through the hull. You can use the chopped or cloth, use Interlux watertite to fair. I'd use Interlux 2000 or 3000 system for barrier coat if you roller on. If you can spray on, VC Tar is good, but don't try to roll VC TAR on, it'll sag and run. Use VC 17 for your race ready bottom coat, since your on a inland lake, you don't need too much of an anitfouling much bottom paint. Go to the Interlux web site, they have info on blister repairs, and bottom paints, etc.. I wouldn't sand the bottom to remove the old bottom paint, unless you only have one very thin coat that sands off easy. Sanding is a mess. Strip it with either Interlux stripper or better yet - a lot of folks have had good luck with the stripper you apply in sheets and let sit over some number of hours, you can get it at Home Depot or a Marine store. You'll need to wash hull after with acetone. As for your topsides, try the Island Girl system before you take a buffer with rubbing compound. Compounding will eat some Gelcoat, if it's done too much, your gelcoat will get thin. See Island Girl on theis web site for information. Be careful of mixing wax and paint. If you wait, as I recommend to do the bottom after this season, go ahead and do the topsides this year and wax. Just be carefull that you don't wax topsides after you strip bottom ( let's say while your waiting for something to dry, and want something to do ) wax will cause havoc with paint.
N
Neil
Much thanks
Thanks for the great feedback - especially the thoughts of which products to use. The idea to 'sail now, fix later' finally occurred to me last night after reading advice about how long to wait to let it dry out. Thanks, Neil
Thanks for the great feedback - especially the thoughts of which products to use. The idea to 'sail now, fix later' finally occurred to me last night after reading advice about how long to wait to let it dry out. Thanks, Neil
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