hull blisters

[Walt Tice]

I wonder if any Catalina30, '83 owner (especially early '80s) has suffered as much expense as I have repairing hull blisters. In the first five years, right after the warranty, I had to be sandblasted and West epoxied for $4K (which Frank anted $1.2K, since I notified him a year before warranty ended)- six mos. dryout (five year warranty). Now they're back and and the cost is $6,650, with a Hull Tech peel, a layer of FG and a layer of vinylester, one mo. out and another five year warranty. HullTech estimates approximately a 1/4 in. add. Considering both the sandblast and peel I can sure use it. I go on the hard today!I think it must be in the production process where they do not mix in a vacuum and so wind up with airbubbles they can't avoid - some hulls more than others depending on quality assurance at the time.My feeling is that few Cat30's have the problems I've had for a total cost of almost $10K for a $41K vessel. What's yours? Gerry Douglas tells me they now use vinlyester after gelcoat and then outside the hull! I guess I am worse off than most who had earlier, thicker hulls at relatively the same cost and too late to get the "inside" vinlyester barrier coat.I coastal sail almost everyother day and mostly solo (retired engineer) so I try to get my moneysworth out of hull #3158 laid 82DEC and commissioned 83MAR.Walt Tice

 

[LaDonna Bubak - Catalina Owners]

Sad tale

My 27 year old C27 had about a jillion blisters when I bought her & we fixed most of them by hand with a dremel. Pain in the a*s but nothing compared with what you're going through. Good luck!LaDonna

 

[Dick Keenan]

What's Best To Do?

Looking for opinions here... is there any problem with just boring and filling blisters, as LaDonna explains? Someone once told me that's a cosmetic cure -- unless you spend a lot of time and $$ drying and coating the hull, they'll just come right back. Is this true? Blisters seem to be a way of life with some fiberglas. We're walking distance from a big yard and some boats I see there obviously have big problems, most have none. often mixes from the same manufacturer and vintage. Amazingly, I even had blisters on the gelcoated side of a spa I once owned.

 

[John J]

Blisters

This is one of those projects that you need to do right, and do it once. You need to let the hull dry thoroughly, drill and fill, then put a good barrier coat on to keep the problems from coming back. If it is a new boat, put 2000-2001 barrier coats on before you put on the first coat of bottom paint. There is no rhyme or reason to blisters, my first boat was 20 years old and never had any. (C25, 1978) On my 310 we applied the barrier before the paint, and hope to never have any.

 

[Dave Ullrich]

I have an 83 C30, had blisters

I also have a 1983 Cat 30 (tall rig). About five years ago she developed a fdew blisters. At that time we fixed them one at a time. But in sprint 1998 we had a diver scrub the bottom and he warned that we had the "pox" really bad. When we hauled out in the fall, sure enough she had about a dozen grapefruit sized blisters that ozed out a terrible smelling fluid and she was speckeled with thousands of baby blisters that looked like pencil points. After much consideration of all the choices it was decided that a full peel was needed. She was peeled within a week of hauling. After 4.5 months of dry time, the hull was still above the limits for sealing, so it was decided that a second peel was needed (peeling fist layer of choped matt), then 2 more moths of drying. Finally the hull moisture averaged lower than 3% and it was time to seal it. I had 3 options, polyester, vinalester, and epoxy. Although Epoxy was more expensive and doesn't look quite as nice when done, it is the least likely to blister again, so I caughed up the extra cash and went with an epoxy bottom. I am very happy with the results. Although the bottom is not as fair as a new boat, it's more fair than a boat with 20 years worth of bottom paint on it, and the bilsters should not reurn for many moons, if ever. I intend on giving her a month or two to dry each winter. So, my advice, if you've got bad blisters, do it once and do it right.

 

[Chris Allen]

My 85 has blisters and I'm looking to hear from someone who could suggest/recommend a boatyard here in so. ca. to do it for me......

 

[Sean]

Blister commentary

Here is a very complete site detailing the cause of blisters and "the truth" about them. Read the section "to buy or not to buy a blistered boat."yachtsurvey.comInteresting reading!Sean