Hi All,
When I bought Vagrant last year, the survey stated that the moisture readings in the hull were very high. The moisture readings showed "full deflection", i.e. maximum moisture readings at all tested points below the water line. This was perhaps not surprising as the boat had just been hauled out of the water for the first time in, I believe, three years and was covered in a huge amount of weed.
My inusurance company asked me to have another moisture reading done when the hull had had more time to dry out. I have just done this. My local surveyor said that three days out of the water would suffice before taking the reading. He has reported that the moisture readings again showed full deflection. This time the hull had been fully scraped back, prior to antifouling it.
The hull has a some unknown time in the past been epoxy treated. I was not present when the present survey was carried out, but the surveyor said that the epoxy coating (if that's what it was) was pink in colour. The surveyor was familiar with the colours of the different proprietary brands of epoxy coating available in the UK, but didn't recognise this one. He said that the hull was fine, with no signs anywhere of osmosis blistering, but could not explain the very high readings. Does anyone have any suggestions? Mike, the surveyor, who is very experienced, and whose opinion I trust, was wondering if it could be the epoxy coating itself. He says that, odd though it may seem, some epoxy coatings do themselves retain moisture. Mike used a Sovereign moisture meter and on a scale of 1 to 25, the readings reached 25. Above the waterline, the readings were 10 to 12.
All views gratefully accepted!
Fair winds,
John Booth
V1718 Vagrant.[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
When I bought Vagrant last year, the survey stated that the moisture readings in the hull were very high. The moisture readings showed "full deflection", i.e. maximum moisture readings at all tested points below the water line. This was perhaps not surprising as the boat had just been hauled out of the water for the first time in, I believe, three years and was covered in a huge amount of weed.
My inusurance company asked me to have another moisture reading done when the hull had had more time to dry out. I have just done this. My local surveyor said that three days out of the water would suffice before taking the reading. He has reported that the moisture readings again showed full deflection. This time the hull had been fully scraped back, prior to antifouling it.
The hull has a some unknown time in the past been epoxy treated. I was not present when the present survey was carried out, but the surveyor said that the epoxy coating (if that's what it was) was pink in colour. The surveyor was familiar with the colours of the different proprietary brands of epoxy coating available in the UK, but didn't recognise this one. He said that the hull was fine, with no signs anywhere of osmosis blistering, but could not explain the very high readings. Does anyone have any suggestions? Mike, the surveyor, who is very experienced, and whose opinion I trust, was wondering if it could be the epoxy coating itself. He says that, odd though it may seem, some epoxy coatings do themselves retain moisture. Mike used a Sovereign moisture meter and on a scale of 1 to 25, the readings reached 25. Above the waterline, the readings were 10 to 12.
All views gratefully accepted!
Fair winds,
John Booth
V1718 Vagrant.[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]