Hull Blisters

[Robert Tuten]

I sail a 1992 Beneteau 310. the boat stays in the water year round and is used year round as freezing is not a problem here in the Deep South. The boat is kept in a fresh water marina on the Tennessee-Tommbigbee Waterway.Three years ago I had the boat hauled for bottom painting which I have done regularly about every two years since new. The bottom had many blisters that seemed to have come up all at once. The yard did a complete bottom job keeping the boat out of the water for almost 8 months.I recently had the boat houled out aging for bottom painting and guess what. More blisters. Is tis going to be a regular thing every time I haul the boat? I thought once a bottom job was done it would take care of the blister problem. Any other Beneteau owners have similar problems?Beneteau blames the ph balance or lack of balance of the home waters for the problem and was quick to point out that the hull lasted a long time with no troubles. Subsequent blisters this soon was due to bad work by the yard. The yard says I got a lemon. Any thoughts?

 

[Steve C]

did the yard put a barrier coat on ?

when the yard repaired the blisters the 1st time, did they but a barrier coat on to prevent more blisters?

 

[Neil]

Web resources

I found (and have since lost) a web page that gave a great summary of blister causes and cures. Try searching for 'fiberglass blisters'.As I recall, if one sees occasional blisters that develop over a long-ish period in the water, they're probably caused by a lack of/defects in the barrier coat - simply repair them, apply more barrier coat, and ... wait a few years for more to pop up. However, the article did say that if conditionas were not right when the hull was originally layed up (humidity, temperature, etc), one can end up with a systemic problem of blisters all over the underwater hull - this condition is apparently hard (impossible?) to completely fix. I hope you have the former problem (which I have on an F235), and not the latter.Good Luck!Perhas you can let us all know if you find some good info on the web.Neil

 

[Dr. Robert A. Brown]

Tenesee River blisters

After ten years in the Tennessee River at Guntersville, I finally had a bad case of "boat pox." Just having the bottom repaired and painted isn't enough. You have to apply a barrier coat. Coal-tar Epoxy followed by regular bottom paint worked fine on my Hunter 25, and I haven't had any more trouble since (about ten years ago).  I don't think you have a "lemon" just normal aging. Perhaps the yard was remiss in not applying a barrier coat before the anti-fouling.

 

[Robert Tuten]

Boat Blisters

The Yard was supposed to apply a barrier coat and said that they did. Once the boat was back in the water it was hard to tell for sure.

 

[Steve C]

next time ithe boat is hauled out, check

scrape or sand a little bottom paint to see if they did put a barrier coat on .. But either way, they should stand behind their work and not tell you "you got a lemon". If the barrier coat was done right, you should not be getting blisters, the yard, or the materials manufacturer need to stand behind their work or materials. If the yard used a reputable company's product, like Interlux, and they did everyting correctly, and you still got blisters, I would think the paint manufacturwer would be interested in looking at you boat to see how their product failed. They could also conclude the yard did not apply it correctly, in that case, you have ammunition. It's worth persuing.