hull blisters on 1986 35' O'Day

[Sandra S]

We're looking at purchasing a very well-maintained 1986 O'day which was recently pulled and surveyed and reported to have 150 or so 1/4" hull blisters. There seems to be a vast amount of opinions on the seriousness of blisters.... does anyone have a recommendation for some reading or personal stories that might help influence our purchase decision?

 

[chas1776]

This can get Expensive

I have repaired blisters on my boat before but size and depth is critical. Before you can fill the blister it has to be dry. We used a vacuum pump on each blister before we filled and this repair worked very well. Pull boat two years later with no blisters. I would think twice about buying a Oday with blisters.

 

[Gregg18035]

Proceed with Caution

I purchased a 1988 35’ Oday with 300 to 400 blisters according to the surveyor. When I started removing bottom paint, it was more like 3,000 to 4,000. I ended up having the bottom sand blasted and then epoxied, sealed and painted the bottom myself. Quite a big job and very expensive if you don’t do it yourself. However, I am very happy with my 35. Look before you leap and buy right.

 

[J.B. Dyer]

Morning Sandra:

The Great Debate!!!There are more opinions. pro and con, on osmotic blisters in the boating community than there are on which came first, the chicken or the egg? There are also too many articles to list or talk about, so I won't try. Go the the archives of this site or Google and enter "osmotic blisters", you'll see what I'm talking about. Make up your own mind and then bounce that decision off on the price of the boat, your intended use for it, what your survey says, and how much you really like it other than the blisters. Good Luck!