Blisters on Legend 35.5

[Ian Bailey]

I just hauled my 1990 Legend 35.5 for its annual bottom job, and much to my dismay found about one dozen blisters. There were no blisters last August. I previously owned a 1976 Hunter 27 which did not have blisters at age 15. I am interested if any other owners of 35.5's or larger of the 1990-1995 vintage have experienced any blistering. If so, what was your fix for the problem? Can you treat individual blisters, or is it necessary to strip the entire bottom gelcoat down, reseal with barrier coats, and re-gelcoat. If you had the problem, would appreciate some information to include your approximate cost for the job you had done. Many thanks. Ian Bailey.

 

[Ron B]

35.5 Blisters

When I hauled my 93 35.5 this spring I found about 30 new blisters and about 20 more that had been fixed but the bottom paint wasn't sticking to the repair. My choices were to either (1) have all the bottom paint ground off (not including the gel coat) grind out and fill all 50 blisters (old and new and repaint the bottom with a barrier coat (two part epoxy) and new bottom paint. I was told this wouldn't stop any blisters that were already started but not visible yet from appearing in the future, but no more water would be absorbed to start new ones. I am to expect 5 to10 more next year which can be fixed on an individual basis and less each year until they will stop all together. This fix cost $3,500.The other option was to grind off all the gelcoat and wait for the hull to completely dry out (up to 12 months on blocks in the northwest) and then recoating with barrier coat and new bottom paint. This option was $10,000.The yard I used has been doing my bottom work (on my other boats) for several years and they haven't led me astray yet so I went with their advice and did the $3,500 option. I have my fingers crossed for what I'll find next year.

 

[Trevor]

osmosisinfo.com

I found a very useful series of articles online regarding osmosis problems...Take a look at the following link:http://www.osmosisinfo.com/Trevor

 

[Duane]

osmosisinfo.com

Just read the 'book' at osmosisinfo.com.Very good stuff.Im not a chemist, so it took a slow read.It surprised me that its left so much to chance as to which hulls blister and which dont.It was also interesting to read why hulls built in the '80s (mid to late) were more prone to blistering.All in all, this looks like real good research.I wonder why, given the depth of this research that so much of the old wives tales still exist re: blisters ? This would be a good discussion topic -- the research doesnt do too well as to how to detect early hydrolyze, although given what it says, maybe there /is/ no way to detect it.Spooky...Duane

 

[Bryan C.]

Yachtsurvey.com also has good articles

I had about 6-10 each side on my 88 35 when I pulled her. I'll keep my eye on them, but at this point its not enough to worry about. You can do more harm than good trying to fix them.