I have the pox

Sep 15, 2013
708
Catalina 270 Baltimore
So I hauled out yesterday and I discovered the hull below the water line has many pea sized blisters. I did some research and found I have something call the "pox". The recommendations go all the way from doing nothing about it to completely removing barrier and gelcoat and resealing the entire hull. I know it has to be addressed but I do not want to spend half the price of the boat fixing it either. The yard guy said water did not come out and they do not have the "vinegar smell" so he thinks the blisters are not into the laminate. I have pictures of the pox and some blisters that were dug out.I would like to ask if anyone had the pox and how did you deal with it. I am sure the yard will recommend a pricey repair. I need to get smart on this subject quickly so I can make an intelligent decision. I have grown to trust the knowledge of the members on this forum and all wisdom will be greatly appreciated.
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Bob J.

.
Apr 14, 2009
775
Sabre 28 NH
The fastest thing to do is soda or sand blast her so the bottom paint comes off, the blisters open up & she has the winter to sit & dry out. You don't need to "strip" the gel coat off. Come spring fill/fair the blisters & barrier coat her.
Anything less & you won't get a bucket of horse piss for her if/when you decide to sell her.
 
Feb 26, 2004
23,077
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
They are called blisters, not pox, although it may feel that way. In many cases they are only in the bottom paint. Mine disappear after a new coat of bottom paint. A bad case of blisters become structural. From your pictures, they aren't.
 
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Aug 28, 2015
190
Oday 28 St Joseph, MI
There is a condition they call " pox" on a boat bottom. I had a Pacemaker fishing boat in the late 1980's and it had thousands of pencil eraser sized bumps on the bottom. they called it " pox". Had to strip the gelcoat from the bottom and epoxy. Not something I could gave done myself. They has a machine like an electric planer that stripped the gelcoat and left a very smooth finish.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
I have about as many on my boat, but from the pictures, mine may be a bit smaller and not so promenent, but I do have three larger ones about the size of a 50cent piece.... in the research ive done, the bigger ones are the problem ones....
but its true that the resale value of the boat will be questionable.

from all I have read about the subject, what you have is not troubling, but more of a nuisance for a racing boat.
the yard I used to haul the boat when I had the survey done said about the same as all the experts who have done in depth studies and written books on the subject say... when the boat drys out, the small ones may disappear and are not a real problem at this time... but they can develop into a more serious problem at any time. rarely bad enough to put the safety of the boat in jeopardy, but severe problems are not unheard of some of the early built FRP hulls.

there is a lot of good reading on this subject, depending of course on how interested you are in it... after reading you will probably come to same conclusion the experts have, that the "repair" of the small blisters that dont grow very fast is not really necessary, but for vanity reasons people dont like their boats to have a "pox", or have any problem that may diminish the value of it...and so will spend thousands to repair it, if they can afford it.

a couple things the experts all agree on is, when a boat has a few small blisters, a "questionable" yard may use this opportunity to make clear the dangers of blisters in the hull, and in turn, make a lot of money from the fear factor that they have instilled in the customer.
the questionable/dishonest boat yard does not differentiate between the small gelcoat blisters and the big deep blisters that can be troublesome. and so after the education the boatyard just gave the customer, he/she will shun a boat with any sign of hull blistering in any future boat or discussion about it.
and another agreeable point is... if more people knew what they were seeing when looking at a blistered hull, there would be a lot less worry about the small blisters that most of the older boats have (or had) at least a few of...

what you show is not an immediate problem, so I would do exactly what Stu Jackson does and give it a new coat of paint, and in another 3-4 years, see if they are getting worse.... its really no more work to repair blisters that are twice that size later than it would be to try and "cure" the problem now... if they dont get worse, enjoy the boat and sell it when your done.
if putting 10-12,000 dollars into it isnt going to make it sail better, then whats the point, because you probably wont get the money back out out of it when or if you do decide to sell it. unless its a newer or high end boat..
here is another FACT... just because you repaired it with the latest and greatest technology available, there is no guarantee that it will keep it from happening again. it has been noted that after some attempted repairs,in a few years the blisters came back worse than before. money well wasted!

what I have wondered is,.... if a person let the hull dry out for a year so the small blisters had a chance to dry out, then bead blasted the the gelcoat to clean it and rough it up, and then painted it with a barrier coat of epoxy or vinylester resin, how would it hold up then?
if one is only trying to keep the non-waterproof/porous gelcoat from swelling as it soaks up water (and in turn creating a bubble behind it that holds water), then this procedure should be an affordable fix for most of us with gelcoat blisters (as opposed to the more serious deep hull blisters).
at the very least, it doesnt cost much to try and should be a smooth finish. and if the time ever comes to do the $12,000 repair, its easy enough to strip off with the gelgoat, and the foundation with be fresh and clean without previous attempts at grinding and filling.
this is what I plan to do to my boat when I get it home for a couple years...
 
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higgs

.
Aug 24, 2005
3,712
Nassau 34 Olcott, NY
Did you dig out the gel coat because you wanted to see what was underneath or was it part of the blister. If the gel coat was sound, then the blister may be in the paint. I friend with a Catalina 34 has those when he pulls out in the fall, but by spring they go away.
 
Sep 15, 2013
708
Catalina 270 Baltimore
Did you dig out the gel coat because you wanted to see what was underneath or was it part of the blister. If the gel coat was sound, then the blister may be in the paint. I friend with a Catalina 34 has those when he pulls out in the fall, but by spring they go away.
higgs. The yard guy dug out several of the blisters to see how deep they were and to show them to me. Those were the biggest ones on the hull. Those will have to be addressed for sure (now that he opened them) I will tell the yard not to tinker with any more of them until I know more.
 
Sep 15, 2013
708
Catalina 270 Baltimore
Thanks to everyone for your responses, especially Centerline for your in-depth response. I have not yet spoken to the owner of the yard yet but I am not going to authorize anything radical. My inclination at this time is to just let it dry out for a while. I will at least have to fix the blisters that were dug out. I will report back after I meet with the marina owner and let you know as I find out more. Thanks again for the collective wisdom.
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,623
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
I would want to remove all that bottom paint anyway. I kinda think that the gelcoat is intact underneath. Why don't you get the bottom bead blasted (Not sandblasted!), with soda, walnut shells of whatever and get that old paint off of there. You may find decent gel coat that needs repair in a few places and you could then apply a new antifouling coating. If the gelcoat is bad, then you're in for a bottom job. If you do the work yourself it won't be very expensive except for the Advil bill. Once the bottom paint is off the majority of the really awful work is done. With the blisters dried and filled, you sand to 80 grit, apply barrier coats, and then antifouling paint. You'll miss the early season in the spring because you need at least 24 hours over 50 degrees for the barrier coatings. Sand ... paint ... sand ... wash ...wipe ... repeat.
 
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JamesG161

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
Feb 14, 2014
7,810
Hunter 430 Waveland, MS
Skin eruptions of any kind, are caused from behind the skin. Can you use a needle to extract fluids, if any, from behind the blister? If yes, then save the liquid for analysis. It may have been caused when that last bottom paint (looks fresh) was applied. If it rained the day, or not finished and dew formed in morning, then it might appear like that.
Jim....
 
Jun 21, 2004
2,942
Beneteau 343 Slidell, LA
Unfortunately there is no long term cure for this. It's one thing to grind out, dry, fill/fair, & barrier coat a few blisters; however, it's different ball game when you have thousands. Yards will tell you to "peel" the gelcoat, dry, & barrier coat, but try to get a written guarantee! It won't happen. I went thru this entire process about ten years ago with a previous boat; the blisters/pox were back 18 months later. The repair was an absolute waste of time & money. I would strip off all the bottom paint only. It's likely that theses small blisters are confined to the interface of the gelcoat & chopped strand layers. In the spring, bottom paint & sail. Yes, you will likely have a bit more difficulty selling & will have to accept a lower sales price; however, at least you won't spend a fortune trying to repair. I very much regretted having mine repaired; it actually made the problem worse.
 
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Sep 15, 2013
708
Catalina 270 Baltimore
Update. I looked at the boat again today and noticed the blisters reduced greatly in size and number and that is only after less than 24 hours out of the water. I met with the marina owner and he proposed his solution. He recommended stripping off everything and relaying gelcoat, barrier coat, bottom paint, etc. With a perfectly straight face he said it will cost $500 per foot ($500 X 27 feet = $13,500).
After telling him that simply is not an option we decided to let the boat dry out and do a regular bottom job (sand and paint) and watch it from year to year. The man is in business and I can't blame him for trying but good grief. Also he pointed out that it looks like I need a new cutlass bearing. But that will be the subject of another thread.....
 
Feb 26, 2004
23,077
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
Steve, your original pictures were very good. When the bot is first hauled and wet, and especially with the lighting you had, they show up. My experience, similar to what you showed but with far less of them, is they always disappeared, always. This is for six haulouts in the past 17 years. You've already received my comments above. Good luck, I don't think you have any structural issues.
 

Bob J.

.
Apr 14, 2009
775
Sabre 28 NH
I like Wing15601 also had a power boat that suffered from this affliction. With the exception of having someone sand blast the bottom, I fixed it myself. There's no reason to peel the gel coat off unless there's structural damage in the fiberglass laminate.

The blisters are getting smaller because you've pulled the boat, there's nothing to feed them. The yard guy that popped a few of the blisters, your pictures do show the gel coat being compromised & exposed glass beneath. Whether the gel coat under each blister is in the same shape, don't know. The only way you'll ever know what's going on here is to strip the bottom paint & see what the gel coat looks like. If you decide too sand or soda blast the bottom paint off, the gel coat beneath any "blister" that is not sound will pop. Then you'll know how much of a problem you have.
 
Sep 8, 2014
2,551
Catalina 22 Swing Keel San Diego
I had blisters on my C22, and you can see the job I did to repair them in my restoration thread in the C22 forum. I did overkill, I flipped the hull over, sanded off bottom paint and the sanded off gelcoat too (it was nightmare). Ground out all blisters with a carbide burr... the majority of my blisters were like yours, very shallow... meaning the water was between the gelcoat and glass, not in the fiber laminate. I filled all the holes with Interlux Water-tite epoxy filler and sanded down smooth. I then added a new layer of 8.5 oz glass with epoxy, this is a barrier coat in itself. Then painted with Interlux Inerprotect 2000 as yet another barrier coat, then new bottom paint. The over-kill in my job was that stripping off the gelcoat is not necessary, nor is adding the new layer of 8.5 fabric, but I have a slightly stronger hull now and a bomb-proof barrier coat.

In your case with a C-240, I think Mistfits posted the best suggestion. Have it soda blasted to get the bottom paint off and any painted barrier coat there may be (but there probably isn't anything under bottom paint but gel coat). No need to take off the gel coat, and having the paint soda blasted will be worth every penny compared to the misery of belt sanding it off. Lightly open up the blisters using a small burr bit on a grinder. Let it dry out for a few months. Use the filler I recommended and then 2 gallons of Interprotect barrier coat. Then your bottom paint of choice... you'll probably never have blister issues again.


The fastest thing to do is soda or sand blast her so the bottom paint comes off, the blisters open up & she has the winter to sit & dry out. You don't need to "strip" the gel coat off. Come spring fill/fair the blisters & barrier coat her.
Anything less & you won't get a bucket of horse piss for her if/when you decide to sell her.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
Update. I looked at the boat again today and met with the marina owner and he proposed his solution. he said it will cost $500 per foot ($500 X 27 feet = $13,500).
After telling him that simply is not an option we decided to let the boat dry out and do a regular bottom job (sand and paint) and watch it from year to year. The man is in business and I can't blame him for trying but good grief. Also he pointed out that it looks like I need a new cutlass bearing. But that will be the subject of another thread.....
I think almost any yard will sound you out and see how willing you are to part with your money, but if you have done your homework and show some knowledge on the subject, they will quickly see that they need to come about on a differnt tack if they want to do any business with you at all... a bit of income from a simple paint job and bearing replacement is better than having you taking your money elsewhere.... with bad memories of how you were treated.
 
Aug 16, 2006
281
Ericson 32 Oregon coast
I had blisters that I some cases were as big as a quarter. Fortunately I had a very honest and decent boatyard operator. He said, "Y'know, no boat ever sank from blisters" He then said that he could let the blisters dry out and then repair some of them each time I hauled it out at a very reasonable price. After a couple of haul outs the bottom was perfect. Previously the yard at which the original survey was done said that they would have to peel the bottom and replace the entire gelcoat giving me an estimate of over $10,000.