I can clean,buff,wax and fix the small stuff on our new boat and it will look pretty good for a 1984. I do have alot of quarter inch blisters on the bottom that are not popped open yet. I plan on dry sailing the boat and it has been out of the water for a couple of years. Open to opinions if i should just leave alone or fix now as the hull is dry. Thanks
Blistering
- Thread starter nitemare
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fix them now
My advice is to fix them while the hull is dry and before they get bigger. Having spent $9000 to fix a hull on a 30 footer because I waited too long and the hull stated to delaminate, I can tell you blisters need to be fixed. Y0ou can pop thenm sand them out, put in fiberglass as needed, then barrier coat and sand down and then finish off with gel coating and then bottom paint. If you are on a trailer all the better. good luck.
My advice is to fix them while the hull is dry and before they get bigger. Having spent $9000 to fix a hull on a 30 footer because I waited too long and the hull stated to delaminate, I can tell you blisters need to be fixed. Y0ou can pop thenm sand them out, put in fiberglass as needed, then barrier coat and sand down and then finish off with gel coating and then bottom paint. If you are on a trailer all the better. good luck.
Count them
I had a 1986 C22 with small blisters. I took a piece of waxed paper and mapped a 3 square foot area noting each blister. Then I repeated it each year for two years. No change at all. The vast majority of small blistering does not lead to delamination. Whatever is going to happen to a 23 year old hull has probably already happened. Do some more study before undertaking a big hull job.
I had a 1986 C22 with small blisters. I took a piece of waxed paper and mapped a 3 square foot area noting each blister. Then I repeated it each year for two years. No change at all. The vast majority of small blistering does not lead to delamination. Whatever is going to happen to a 23 year old hull has probably already happened. Do some more study before undertaking a big hull job.
Epoxy filler not fiberglass
Many boats last a long time with plenty of blisters especially if you are planning to dry-sail and not store the boat in the water. I would still probably opt to fix them. It is not that difficult, just time-consuming. There is a lot of good information about blister repair on the web. The holes should be filled with an epoxy filler not to be confused with epoxy resin. It goes on like bondo (or wood putty). You have to sand well, make certain that there is no residual moisture in the area, over-fill with the epoxy filler, fair it down with wet sanding, then apply gelcoat over the patched areas with a sprayer. The last step is to sand down the stiple (texture) of the gelcoat that you have applied with wet sanding finishing with 400 grit paper. If you were planning on keeping the boat in the water, I would suggest that you then do a good epoxy paint barrier coat and then bottom paint. I know the gelcoat is not usually applied with a sprayer, but a professional plastic mechanic that has done work on my new boat when it was delivered taught me that trick. It worked great. He buys disposable propane cartridges to power a small sprayer with a glass bottle. You can find these in most paint stores.
Many boats last a long time with plenty of blisters especially if you are planning to dry-sail and not store the boat in the water. I would still probably opt to fix them. It is not that difficult, just time-consuming. There is a lot of good information about blister repair on the web. The holes should be filled with an epoxy filler not to be confused with epoxy resin. It goes on like bondo (or wood putty). You have to sand well, make certain that there is no residual moisture in the area, over-fill with the epoxy filler, fair it down with wet sanding, then apply gelcoat over the patched areas with a sprayer. The last step is to sand down the stiple (texture) of the gelcoat that you have applied with wet sanding finishing with 400 grit paper. If you were planning on keeping the boat in the water, I would suggest that you then do a good epoxy paint barrier coat and then bottom paint. I know the gelcoat is not usually applied with a sprayer, but a professional plastic mechanic that has done work on my new boat when it was delivered taught me that trick. It worked great. He buys disposable propane cartridges to power a small sprayer with a glass bottle. You can find these in most paint stores.
Barrier Coat
InterLux'ss Interprotect 2000E applied to the bottom of my 1974 C22 about 4 years ago has held up wonderfully well. And I think I had a few more and larger blisters than you describe. Gouged and filled and sanded well before applying and then followed paint directions with about 5 coats. Fine sanded afterward and have never added a bottom paint as its used mostly in very clean fresh water. RK
InterLux'ss Interprotect 2000E applied to the bottom of my 1974 C22 about 4 years ago has held up wonderfully well. And I think I had a few more and larger blisters than you describe. Gouged and filled and sanded well before applying and then followed paint directions with about 5 coats. Fine sanded afterward and have never added a bottom paint as its used mostly in very clean fresh water. RK
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