Blisters @ Waterline

[Allen]

Hey Guys,I have a slew of small, pin head sized blisters in the forward 1/3 of my boat. I also have a few pea-sized blisters at the waterline across the entire waterline. I've seen osmotic blisters, and this is not what I have...these are clearly voids in the gel coat from when the boat was first built.How would you fix these? I could sandblast the entire waterline & cover with 6000 barrier coat, but I'm concerned this will leave too rough a surface to paint a new boot stripe. I could also grind out each individual hole with a dremel tool, fill with epoxy, fair and paint. Ideally, I'd like to do this ONCE & not have to worry about it. The gelcoat below the waterline is perfect...no problems there. The boat has been out of the water since last October & should be sufficiently dry.Any thoughts out there??? Thanks in advance,Allen Schweitzers/v FalstaffC-30 Hull# 632

 

[Sean]

Blisters

Geez Allen. I know your Catalina is like mine. The darn blisters just seem to have a mind of their own. I just got a quarter sized blister on the cockpit seat. How can that happen? That's 4 feet from the water. I'm just going to drill a very small hole in it, get the water out, and then seal the very small drill hole. That's about the only way I can do it without screwing up the gelcoat. Did you ever get the Garhauer boom vang? Sean

 

[Tom]

Is the bootstripe painted on?

I have several small blisters at the waterline on my '86 Oday 272 which turned out to be blisters in the bootstripe paint. Same question as everyone else... Why after all these years are there blisters... in the paint?Also last season I repainted the rudder with Interlux Two Part and took a chance with it being submersible... not a good idea. I have to sand the rudder and repaint below the waterline this season... blisters? Yeah, whatever!!

 

[Allen]

Response

Guys,Thanks for the quick responses!! Sean: Good to hear from you! I ended up not getting the vang...the Figawi last year fell on a day that I had a family get-together & I couldn't enter. It was a BUM-MER, let me tell ya. This year I'm entering, though and I plan on getting the vang. I'll let you know how it works!! If you want to check out the race, go to: www.figawi.comTom: I definitely have gelcoat blisters, not boot stripe blisters. They're actually not that bad, it's just that there are literally thousands of them and I'm not sure what the easiest approach is. Keep in mind, these are different from osmotic blisters which are anywhere from the size of a dime to the palm of your hand, are between the layers of fiberglass mat and are filled with acidic fluid that can eventually lead to a leak. Mine are small pock-mark voids in the gell coat that are just air bubbles. I just want to seal them up before cappilary action wicks water into the roving of the fiberglass.Anybody have some advice??Thanks,Allen

 

[Chris Burti]

Not an Expert on blisters...

But, if you are satisfied that these are really just air bubbles and if they are small, it seems as if fairing compound covered by an adequate barrier coat should do the trick without making the sanding any more arduous than necessary.

 

[Allen]

Thank you!

Chris,Thanks for the suggestion. That's exactly what I was thinking. I'll post how it turns out.--Allen