e-mail from a friend
Pat, This is an e-mail I recently received from a very knowledgable friend. "Roger, In 1991 Donna and I brought a 84/85 Catalina 30. It must have had a 1,000 blisters from the size of a pin head to the size of a silver dollar. The boat price was depressed because of the blisters. I called Catalina and they told me that as long as water did not get into the glass matting of the inner fiberglass and that a proper repair was done the hull should be OK. I had the boat surveyed, the surveyor used an electrical meter to test for water in the matting. He found the blisters were caught in time. Toledo Beach Marine gave us a quote for $ 3,500.00 for the repairs per Catalina instructions. We gave the owner a low bid minus the $ 3,500.00 for repairs, he took it. TBM sand blasted the hull and ground the blisters in the fall and left it until later May to let any moisture dry out. Then the blisters were filled, VC Tar was used as a water proofing and the hull was painted. We used the boat for 4 seasons before we sold it and the hull was still in perfect shape. In fact we sold for $ 8,500.00 more then we had in it. So the RIGHT boat with the RIGHT blisters and at the RIGHT price may be a good buy. Catalina did not start using a blister resistant gelcoat (vinylester?) until the later 80's or early 90's. And they only use it below the waterline. If you can see the hull gelcoat below the waterline and it is gray in color, not white, it is the new resistant gelcoat. Dan"
