Hull Blisters in beneteau 37.5 First 1985

[ManiacHunter]

I am buying this Beneteau 37 model and on the haul out, it was obvious that there was at least one quarter-sized blister per square foot on average and that some had been fixed a year ago and the others painted over or were new. There were few fixed and were of the larger size. Bottom pain job is one year old.

The rest of the boat is in very good condition - not for just its age but for any boat. The interior is immaculate and shows care over the years

I realize that these blisters will have to be addressed but for the meantime, the survey says that this blister volume is "normal" for the model and year - beneteau 37.5 first, 1985.

Is this reasonably accurate? Thanks.

I have had some suggest that any boat of this age will have blistering due to any number of factors, one of which is simply age.

 

[tommays]

I had none on the 1981 J24 # 2733 or 1981 J24 # 2930 or the 1970 #163 Cal 29 and BUT all the boats spend only 6 to 7 months a year in the water

 

[Warren Milberg]

I've owned 5 sailboats in my lifetime, none of which were bought new. Average age was 15 to 25 years old. None had, nor developed, blisters. None had, nor have, barrier coats. I do not think that blisters are a "normal" condition, nor do I think that most cases of blisters are really serious. I think the propensity to blister occurs when the fiberglass boat is born. That is, it is a function of how careful the manufacturer is when pouring or curing the boat in the molds. That said, I am unaware of any boat actually sinking or foundering due to blisters. In most cases they are cosmetic, they can be opened, drained, dried and filled by the average boat owner. If it were me, I would make a decision based on how I would deal with the blisters -- or walk away. There are lots of good boats out there that don't have blisters.

 

[Steve Dion]

Our 1985 Hunter 31 never had blisters. It lived in fresh water all of it's life in the California Delta. It seems that some brands of boats are more susceptible to blister than others. I think that some of the mfg. have also changed their processes to mitigate these problems too.

If I were purchasing a boat with blisters I would discount the price to pay for the repair. I agree that they are "mostly" cosmetic, but if/when you sell the boat the next guy will probably do the same thing to you (discount the price).

 

[Gunni]

The mid-80's were the dark age of blistering, especially the Beneteaus. However, Beneteau got very proactive about blisters and did a lot of the research to determine why they occur and how to prevent them. Eventually offering a 10 year hull warranty. Now you never hear about Beneteau hulls blistering.

Blisters aren't an enhancement to the boat's value. Who wants a First with rough hull? And until it is right, annual bottom maintenance will be a major job with mixed results. The good news - there are now well known techniques to repair and prevent blisters on a Beneteau; BeneteauUSA offers great support, and the dealer service network is large. If you decide to buy, make sure you know what it will take to do the repair, deduct the cost, and have it done under your supervision.

 

[RichH]

Here's some definitive info on 'blisters' http://www.yachtsurvey.com/blisters.htm

Generally 'blisters' that only penetrate down through the gel-coat and it's 'cushioning' matting layer are usually only 'cosmetic' ... rarely will you find 'blisters' in the important 'structural' or roving portions of the laminate. Many boats have been 'ruined' by ineffective and needless 'blister repair', etc.

 

[Joe]

I repaired 40 something blisters 11 years ago on my 77 catalina 27, a few months after I bought her. I opened them up, dried them out with a hair dryer, left them alone for a day or two, then used a 3M system blister repair kit. I covered all blister repair area with a 2 part epoxy primer before applying the bottom paint. The primer was made by Proline...... but is essentially the same as Interlux E2000 barrier coat. In the 4 bottom paintings I've applied since 2000, NO NEW BLISTERS....

So, after researching around, talking to yard mechanics, internet, dock neighbors, etc... I believe that the blister phenomena is product related. In other words, it was the quality of the resins, and perhaps building techniques, but mostly the product used... that gave a boat its proclivity to develop blisters.

And ALSO.... most boats that will be prone to blistering will do so during a certain time window..... So it they are repaired after that time span, there is a good chance the blisters will not re appear. That seems to be the case on my 35 year old boat.

If you do the work yourself, it isn't very difficult, and you will save a TON of money on the repair... but I'd get a ballpark estimate from your local yard first, before I made an offer.

The flavor of your post, however, implies that the blisters are still re occuring.... is this what you think? If so, there's no reason to believe that a simply repair would solve this boat's acne problem.... It also sounds like whatever the owner's efforts were to solve it, the problem remains active ........ for that reason alone, I would pass on the boat, unless I committed to repair the blisters and barrier coat the bottom correctly.

Good luck....

 

[Cayennita]

Many Beneteaus of the mid 80's had blister problems. The factory did free repairs to correct the problem. However the reapir is only as good as the yard worker. I bought my 1985 Beneteau built Idylle 15.5 in 1998. There were two rows of blisters in line on either side of the hull. They matched exactly the width of the cloth and also the cut length. The blisters were in the location where the 4 cloth corners came together. It was obvious that it was not a good application job during the warranty work. The seller had to grind out those locations and filled and seal the areas. Sold the boat 13 years later and never had any blisters when hauled out for survey.
Many boats get peeled and sealed. Others you must add more glass because of the depth of the blisters. One boat in Trinidad had hull separation. It was found when power washing the bottom. The water entered one place and came out 10 feet further forward.

 

[Shoaldrafter]

Blisters, continued

I am buying this Beneteau 37 model and on the haul out, it was obvious that there was at least one quarter-sized blister per square foot on average and that some had been fixed a year ago and the others painted over or were new. There were few fixed and were of the larger size. Bottom pain job is one year old.

The rest of the boat is in very good condition - not for just its age but for any boat. The interior is immaculate and shows care over the years

I realize that these blisters will have to be addressed but for the meantime, the survey says that this blister volume is "normal" for the model and year - beneteau 37.5 first, 1985.

Is this reasonably accurate? Thanks.

I have had some suggest that any boat of this age will have blistering due to any number of factors, one of which is simply age.

- - - - // - - - -

Check the archives for the many previous discussion of blister. Above it was said that blisters are result of production flaws. Others said it was manufacturer dependent. And other reasons give above and in other threads.

In addition to those reasons is time spent in water, temperature of water, acidity of water, and more reasons.

Generally blisters are cosmetic and as stated above can be repaired. In fact in southeast such is routine in corp of engineer lakes due to acidity of waters.

Make your decision if you like and want the boat. Blister repair is a routine thing around here and it happens even on the boats that are alleged not to get blisters.

But do check for many discussions in threads in archives that Captain Herring provides on this site.

Ed K