my offer was rejected and countered.. cal 3-34

[jibes138]

For 16 grand for a 34 foot sailboat you will get an old worn out boat worth 16 grand. A brand new 34 foot sailboat will cost you $200K to $300K. Now a Cal 34 hull from that vintage is a heavy hull built like a tank. So strip the boat, put in a new motor refresh the interior systems, put in some new rigging, add some electronics and some new sails and canvass, and for 50 to 75 grand you will have a boat as good as a new one for 1/4 of the price.

 

[BobM]

Flood insurance

If the boat flooded maybe he got the insurance check and pocketed it to pay bills...otherwise he wouldn't be underwater in more ways than one!

Can't wait to hear what the survey says.

Good Luck!

 

[Chris Patterson]

Jibes said it man. A sound platform to start, and make it your own way. And keep us posted, very interesting buying procedure I think will be seen later by someone considering the same.

And oh yeah, good luck at ya, man. Sharp mechanic like you I doubt is going to get 'taken'..

 

[centerline]

as of 10:30am when I left the yard, all outer portions of the hull had been inspected.

the findings this far is,
-the rub rail should be replaced...
-there is some minor blistering below the waterline...
-it needs bottom paint.....
-the Zinc on the shaft has become inactive, possibly due to a poor quality zinc in a fresh water environment... recommended an aluminum zinc for in the river.
-a couple of the stanchions should be rebedded
-1 pulpit leg should be welded rather than a slip together joint (it was previously pulled out of the deck)

standing rigging is good, (it is oversized and was replaced when refitted in 97) shows no sign of problems, but its older than 10 years. recommend replacing.
running rigging, recommend replacing due to age....
Sails... he does not inspect sails, but I already know they arent in top condition.

the deck and hull is sound, all other exterior items seem to be in good order.

I spoke to the yard foreman and he said small blisters of this size are very common on fiberglass hulls as they age, and that there is not too much concern until they get to be an inch or bigger, unless I plan to race the boat...
the yard guy recommended I NOT worry about the blisters at this time, but to paint the bottom and to check the blisters annually and repair any big ones, but accept the rest as part of the boat....

I will find out about the condition inside the boat tomorrow.....

 

[Sumner]

....I spoke to the yard foreman and he said small blisters of this size are very common on fiberglass hulls as they age, and that there is not too much concern until they get to be an inch or bigger, unless I plan to race the boat...
the yard guy recommended I NOT worry about the blisters at this time, but to paint the bottom and to check the blisters annually and repair any big ones, but accept the rest as part of the boat..........

Personally I think you are getting bad advice to "NOT worry about the blisters at this time". I'll also go on to say I would never again buy a boat with know blisters unless the full price to have them taken care of, not by me, but at yard rates was taken into account in the final selling price.

We have about $4000 in blister repair that we didn't count on that we will not recoup when we sell the boat.

I've mentioned this before that we didn't have the boat hauled after seeing that there had been blister repair and barrier and bottom paint applied 3-4 years before we bought the boat. The bill was for over $3000, but with the boat out of the water later we found out that it had just been repaired where there were evident blisters and only barrier coated in those areas like what your yardman is saying to do. Not a good long term strategy in my mind if you are keeping the boat.

After the bottom was cleaned and the boat put on stands for storage until we returned we found about 6-8 blisters that were draining through small holes. I picked those open so they could drain and dry. Next I got a bid to sand the bottom back down to the gel coat and it was over $2000 (37 foot boat). Then I got a bid from a guy that had good reviews to media blast the bottom for $1200 and we went that way. Well after taking all of the old bottom antifouling paint off lots more small blisters appeared that would of eventually probably grown.

Above you can see where the blisters were repaired. The large one behind the saw was only an inch or so when the boat came out of the water, but once opened the damage was much further. You need to open them all back to the point of solid fiberglass.

So what started as looking like 6-8 blisters grew into 6-8 that when opened all the way to sound fiberglass were much larger. Then probably 40 to 50 smaller ones appeared. You can see some of those above and probably another 100+ of very small ones that aren't visible in the photo above.

To avoid the small ones from becoming big ones they all had to be opened up and filled. If I would of been living near the boat I would of done this but that wasn't the case so we paid a little over $2000 to have that work done. I really don't feel that we got gouged on the bill as we were given a bid and they ended up doing more than what was initially in the bid for the same price. I've done a lot of car body work and enjoy it and know the hours they ended up doing to do a good through job. I could of saved the labor part of this expense except for the materials by putting in many hours myself. Still the materials you need to use are not that cheap and this is hard over your head work on you knees or sitting in a chair.

One other big thing to consider is that it took a few of those blisters about 6 months to finish draining and drying and that was in warm Florida. You could be without your boat for that period of time if you end up with some similar blisters. Paying a yard to have it sitting there on stands and not be using her. Remember even on haul-out the blister problem did not seem anywhere as extensive as it ended up and I've seen boats in the yard that were much worst than ours.

So now we had the hull down to gel coat and the blisters opened and filled and return. We still had 5-7 days of hard work prepping the hull and putting on 3 coats of barrier paint and 2 1/2 coats of antifouling. That paint and supplies added about another $1200-$1400.

If at this time you sand the hull and put on bottom paint it is going to have to come back off to do the blister repair and reapplied again at additional cost and labor. If you just fix blisters bit by bit as they appear you are going to continually sand off bottom paint in that area and repair blisters and then apply barrier paint and more bottom paint. I think eventually you will see that to do it right it needs to be stripped, fixed, completely barrier coated and bottom painted. In the long run regardless of if you are racing the boat you will want the bottom to the point where you are just re-applying bottom paint as needed.

Of course you might not go down the same path that we took, but I'd look for a boat where someone like us has put all of that time and money into fixing it right and there are 'no' blisters or consider the above work and materials that will be involved and factor that into the selling price. I'd say the minimum you will have into the job if you do 'all' the labor would be $1400 to $1800 for materials and paint and you will have a lot of work. Stripping the bottom will make the head repairs look minor.

If you got a boat with no blisters that had been properly barrier coated and you just needed to scuff sand the bottom and put on new bottom coat that would be a whole other deal.

I can tell that you want 'this' boat to work. I can tell because I was the same with our boat. I thought I could do this and that and so on and have but we haven't been using the boat and have a lot more into her now than we expected and won't ever get all of that back when we sell her and that doesn't even count the hundreds of hours of labor.

The best whatever you decide,

Sum

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[Chris Patterson]

I'm with Sumner here. Saying not to worry about a blister 'at this time' is the exact same as skinning the hell out of your knee and replying, "I'm not going to worry about it at this time", which is not a correct analogy because the knee WILL heal itself, while the blister.....

 

[jibes138]

How about this for an analogy. You go buy a $16K car, for that price you get say a used pickup truck with 45K miles on it. You drive it for 5 years putting 20K miles a year on it. At that point the truck has 145K miles on it, tires are shot, brakes are shot, muffler is shot, body is all rusted, shocks are worn out, interior upholstery is ripped up, exterior needs a pain job. You trade it in on a new used one and get $1K for the trade.

So will this $16K boat work pretty well for 5 years at which point you cut it up and throw it in the trash? Why do people expect a boat to last forever but throw away equivalent investments in cars every ten years or so? This is a 35 year old boat (or maybe more) if you are looking for a 34 foot boat in perfect condition for $16K best of luck to you. Will it work fine even with blisters for 5 years, probably. What I would be concerned with in a boat of this vintage is what in aerospace we call "safety of flight conditions." So is there anything that would make the boat unsafe for use, will the keel fall off, will the rigging fail and cause a dismasting, does the bilge pump work and is there a manual backup that works, is the motor in reasonably good working condition, and is the wiring OK, etc. Another item that would be very hard to deal with is if the hull to deck joint is bad. I'm not sure how you could ever re-seal a hull to deck joint without removing the deck. Look around the inside for any sign of leaks at the hull joint.

 

[Sandy Stone]

For a $16K boat, I would go with the yard foreman's advice on the blisters. Just know that every time you do a bottom job, fixing some blisters will be part of it. And at this point, I wouldn't be too worried about a barrier coat over the repairs; after all, you're probably using thickened epoxy for a filler anywaay. Pretty much every old boat I've owned through the years has had its share of blisters, and I dealt with them every time I hauled out, but I never felt like there was any kind of structural concern, like the hull was going to delaminate and sink. Maybe not ideal for racing, but I didn't see the logic of spending a large percentage of what the boat was worth to fix a not-so-large problem.
Also, through the years, I have seen complete hull peel jobs, at who knows what expense, fail after a few years. In my personal opinion, unless you ship the boat to the Mojave Desert and let it sit there for a year or so, you are not going to dry out the hull enough to eliminate the possibility of the blisters recurring. Although some people selling hull peels may disagree.

 

[Sumner]

I think one thing to consider here is that the OP doesn't look at this boat as a 16K use it and get rid of it in a few years boat. He feels that the boat is maybe a 25K boat he is getting for 16K. I think he would like this boat to maybe take him into the future further than a few years.

Will that be the case, who knows but fixing blisters on a 16K 34 foot boat is not any less expensive than on a 75K 34 foot boat. I still say you can find a boat without blister problems where someone else has spent all the time and money to have them fixed properly for probably about the same cost. Why not do it. Also our boat was fixed with the fix only what was wrong at the time and it cost that owner money and then us money. Fix it right with a complete barrier coat and hopefully you are pretty much done with that problem,

Sum

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[Panta Rei]

Center,

I have to tell you, I get a little nervous when I see someone fretting over a few thousand bucks when buying a 34 foot boat. Get ready to write a stream of big checks. That boat will cost you well over 3 times the operating costs of your 25. Slips, launching, retrieval, bottom cleaning, sails, motor work etc.

Just make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into. A 30 year old 34 footer has exactly the same operating costs as a new one, even if its 1/10 the procurement cost.

Completely agree !!!!!

 

[centerline]

a couple of things about the blisters....

how it was explained to me, it all makes sense.... but I have no actual experience with hull blisters so I dont KNOW for sure what the correct answer is, or if there is a correct one. sometimes situations dictate the the direction rather than a text book.....

the yard guy said ALL FRP boats will eventually get blisters, and some worse than others...
he said all the little ones i have can be repaired, and there will be others crop up elsewhere that can be tended to next time... it goes on forever. OR, I can wait til there are a few big ones that need done, and just take care of a few at a time.

I asked him about a barrier coat of epoxy and this is what he said....
"it may slow them down but wont stop it from blistering because the FRP is water permeable and moisture gets into it from both sides and can even come thru it vertically or horizontally thru any strands that werent wetted out during lay up.. (i have seen these myself in other projects)
in some cases the barrier coat will make it worse, as when there are water temperature differences. whenever there is a blister that was either missed or developed after the barrier coat, the small amount of pressure of the water in the blister in the temperature change can lift the surrounding gel coat a bit more, making the blister bigger"..... I am currently in the process of learning more about this.

he also said boats im warmer waters usually have more blister problems than boats in cooler waters....

so I still dont know what to think of it.... I am going to get a couple more opinions from other yards before deciding what to do....

He had 16-20 boats in his yard from a 17' to a 55', and he showed me 2 that had the blisters repaired and a barrier coat put on, and there were more blisters forming.... the owners said to let them go this time, as the blister repair bill on the one boat was 12,000 dollars.... and although it may have made the boat seem like a better, more valuable boat at the time, its still the same boat with some blisters 3 years later....
(a third boat, the 17' hunter daysailer had a blisters all over it, and they were ground out and ready for fill. so Ive seen the process)


so.... I have not made any firm decision yet, as I still havent heard the results of the rest of the survey.

and for anyone and everyone saying a 16,000 dollar boat will only be a 16,000 dollar boat, while insinuating that I am being cheap and not budgeting enough money for the "RIGHT" boat, I will counter with.. a 40,000 dollar boat could still be only a 40,000 dollar boat, but after a few years when it gets blisters, it may very well be a 16,000 dollar boat....

in my opinion, its not what is wrong with the boat, as it can all be fixed, but what matters more is how much will it cost to bring the boat back to good condition, and, is there an equivalent appreciated value in the boat afterwards... too often the answer is no, but sometimes we get lucky and find the small amount we put in, gave us a 10-20% increase in value.
but.... as soon as time does its thing, the value begins to diminish, and that is why ALMOST all boats ever built are in the "recycle" program... by one owner or the other... its the way it works....

whatever boat we buy will need work... if we buy a top quality, premium priced boat that will be good to go for a couple of years, and dont do much to it, its almost guaranteed we are going to take a big hit when we sell it....

but if we buy a nicely outfitted boat that has some blems that need repaired, at a cheap price, we can fix them, use the boat a few years, and quite possibly sell it for at least what we paid for it... because im a fixer. thats what I do.... I dont like fancy, but i do like dependable.... I am not saying this boat is the one, but it seemed to meet my criteria somewhere in the middle.... we will see what the paper says...

 

[centerline]

AND another thing....

I appreciate ALL the opinions, responses, replies and commentary.... from everyone.
without it all of it, there would be less balance to my thoughts and decisions during this process...

 

[shemandr]

Centerline,
Please don't do anything until you have a WRITTEN report from the surveyor. Verbal reports are useless and can differ from the written. Written is the report of record.

 

[Sanfelice]

RE: Blisters

Good article on blisters. Best to have an understanding. Blisters are as common as there are boats and very few manufactures avoid the problem. It is a question of severity which is different for the seller and the buyer.

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/blisters.htm

 

[centerline]

RE: Blisters

Good article on blisters. Best to have an understanding. Blisters are as common as there are boats and very few manufactures avoid the problem. It is a question of severity which is different for the seller and the buyer.

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/blisters.htm

excellent, well written and informative article....

its a bit long but never boring...
I clipped a couple of things from it to paste here for those that dont feel like reading the entire write up.... but really, without the rest of the article to put this all in context, you may come away with more questions about it all... the complete article seems to answer a lot of my questions. one of which kind of lends credit to what the boat yard guy told me about the small blisters/pimples on the boat im looking at...

We draw a distinction between a bottom that had thousands of pimples and those that have larger blisters. Pimpling is a different phenomenon than a hull that develops just a few larger blisters. While we do not know what the cause is, we can say that it is often associated with solvent softening of the gelcoat. In many cases of pimpling we find the gel coat to be soft and pliable. With larger blisters the gel coat is usually brittle.
Boats with a relatively small number of larger blisters (1" for example) are amenable to spot repairs, which are often successful. If the bottom of your boat has, say, 100 blisters on the bottom, we would recommend spot repairs over stripping and recoating the bottom. We would not recommend barrier coating after spot repairs. Spot repairs are inexpensive, and if they do fail, at least you won't be out a lot of money.

Determine how porous the mat is. The better the saturation of the mat with resin, the higher the odds of success. The mat should appear translucent, NOT OPAQUE. If it is opaque or whitish looking, the chance of success if slim. If the mat shows numerous small voids, these are the propagation points for new blisters and the repair is likely to fail.
If you are unwilling to pay the cost of stripping off heavy layers of mat, consider whether the blister repair is really necessary. You may be better off just leaving it alone.

as Sanfelice said, (in different words) the blistering issue, as major or minor as it may be, the severity will always be interpeted differently by the buyer and the seller.

 

[BigEasy]

First boat that I purchased had blisters that were discovered on the prepurchase survey. I initially refused to buy the boat as per the "sale pending satisfactory survey" clause in the purchase agreement. After talking to the surveyor & and yard, I was foolishly convinced that it wasn't a problem that couldn't be corrected (because I was in love with the boat); therefore, the purchase price was reduced by approximately 2/3 of the cost of repair and I bought the boat. The hull was peeled, dried, filled, and barrier coated. Long story short, the repair failed within a year and a half and the blisters came back with a vengeance. Hurricane Katrina totaled the boat after I had it for about 8 years and my blister problem was solved once & for all. After researching the blister phenomenon thoroughly and learning from experience, there is no permanent cure for a hull that blisters. The yards know this and tap dance around it; just try to get a written guarantee on a blister job and see what happens!! Believe me, I have gotten bad advice from a surveyor and yard, and I got the same BS from a broker that "I have never had a sale not happen because the boat had blisters".
So, this Cal is not a boat that I would purchase and put a lot of money into. If you renegotiate this deal, patch the blisters, and use as is, it may not be a bad deal for you as long as you realize that you are going to have more blisters on every haul out that will require repair, and of course you are going to have to deal with the issue on resale. This is not a boat that I would purchase with the intent of major upgrades because you are going to take a beating on the eventual resale.
It took two years of searching to purchase the boat that I presently own (with no blisters)! I think that most of us realize that you really like this boat and were willing to accept some of the problems before the survey; however, the survey has now brought to light another major problem. I would proceed with caution; might be wise to hold off for now to investigate other boats. I would bet that the Cal will remain for sale for quite awhile. Good Luck with your search.

 

[centerline]

First boat that I purchased had blisters that were discovered on the prepurchase survey.
the purchase price was reduced by approximately 2/3 of the cost of repair and I bought the boat. The hull was peeled, dried, filled, and barrier coated.
the repair failed within a year and a half and the blisters came back with a vengeance. Hurricane Katrina totaled the boat after about 8 years and my blister problem was solved once & for all. After researching the blister phenomenon thoroughly and learning from experience, there is no permanent cure for a hull that blisters.

So, If you renegotiate this deal, patch the blisters, and use as is, it may not be a bad deal for you as long as you realize that you are going to have more blisters on every haul out that will require repair, and of course you are going to have to deal with the issue on resale.
This is not a boat that I would purchase with the intent of major upgrades because you are going to take a beating on the eventual resale.

I think that most of us realize that you really like this boat and were willing to accept some of the problems before the survey; however, the survey has now brought to light another major problem. I would proceed with caution; might be wise to hold off for now to investigate other boats. I would bet that the Cal will remain for sale for quite awhile. Good Luck with your search.

BigEasy, I cut your message a bit in the quote for perspective, so I can reply to what Im getting from it...
as with many other replies, your points are well taken. I have not gotten the full report back yet(hopefully today,) but i keep going back and forth on which direction i want to go... but with caution either way.


I do like the boat im looking at, but im sure in time I could find another one I liked.


but as I read what you wrote, this is what im thinking about it.. correct me if im too far off...
the boat you owned previously had blisters, but in the 8 years you owned it, although you spent some money trying to eradicate them (which was a failed attempt), the blisters didnt otherwise cause you any problems other than knowing they were there. and im assuming that if they wouldnt have diminished the resale value, you wouldnt have worried about them as much as you did...

this boat im looking at has been refitted as a heavy weather boat. all running rigging, oversized standing rigging, boom, mast, and electronics (owner is keeping his single side band/HAM radio)...

this is not a new refit(older than 10yrs), but it isnt 36-37 yrs old like the rest of the boat.

the upholstery is all nice and in modern design, the interior has been exceptionally maintained, with no signs of wear or repairs...

so... im kinda thinking outloud here...((and while doing so, I still dont have the report back), I may be able to get this boat dirt cheap with a pimpled hull.. any repairs necessary can be done by me. OR.. let them go, and have my fun until they need to be repaired,.. if the dirt cheap price is low enough, the resale price doesnt really matter too much, as it still floats and the living quarters are nice....

my biggest fear (especially after reading the article posted earlier about hull blisters),
is moving on and finding another boat that has no hull blisters, paying a fair price because of it, and having blisters appear on it in a couple of years, either due to the natural process of it, or due to the fact that it had blisters and someone attempted to repair them to increase the resale value....
one thing that the yard guy and the surveyor both agreed on is that there are no signs THIS hull has had any blister repairs done on it previously... the bottom paint was nearly gone and the gelcoat was visible over 60-70% hull below the waterline after pressure washing...
it seems to be original original and it isnt very bad at all for a boat from this era.... This maybe a credit to the way cals were laid up as compared to some other brands of the time.

but it still comes down to the resale value... so if I can get the boat really cheap, sail it for a few years, then put it in a yard and repair the blisters and sell it, maybe I can make money on it.
is this ethical?... it happens quite often in this world of boats, but I dont want to be that unsuspecting buyer and I know none of you reading this want to be that guy...

or, I could purchase the boat cheap, put it in a yard and repair all the blisters and pimples, then sail it for a few happy years... and more than likely have it end up with blisters again...

so how do you know?... time and environment is the enemy of most, if not all, man
made objects

what I do know for sure... to find a boat in a $30,000 price range, that is guaranteed not to ever have any blistering problems, and is in sound and safe condition in every respect, that is NOT going to cost at least another 5-8thou to bring it to A-1 condition(rigging,electrical,sails,ect), and will hold is value longer with very little effort or cost involved, will NOT be a boat big enough to accommodate the lifestyle i want to have with it, as i have just described an 18" aluminum fishing boat...

any boat that has absolutely no problems or repairs necessary, the owner knows it and neither the listing agency or the owner would let it go cheap. it will ALWAYS sell at the upper end of its market value...

so I am trying to keep it all in perspective...

 

[Sumner]

....one thing that the yard guy and the surveyor both agreed on is that there are no signs THIS hull has had any blister repairs done on it previously... the bottom paint was nearly gone and the gelcoat was visible over 60-70% hull below the waterline after pressure washing...
it seems to be original original and it isnt very bad at all for a boat from this era.... This maybe a credit to the way cals were laid up as compared to some other brands of the time...

From all I've read boats either get blisters over time or don't. It isn't related to one manufacture or even one line of boats, just something that can or can't happen over time.

If this boat has very small blisters that aren't bleeding water and the bottom has never been done then I wouldn't be so concerned about it. Sounds like you might be fine. If a boat is this old and has no blisters I'd also think it is going to be very unlikely that it will in the future.

As far as later fixing the blisters before a sale I think you would be where you are now and with a boat that old you would never make back the additional cost of the repair even if you did all the labor yourself. A buyer is going to be looking at the deal pretty much like you are now.

One other thing to consider is that your boat is going to be in the water where the blistering is out of sight. Our boat and all of the others in the yard where it is are up on stands most of the year as people go down in the winter, sail to escape the snow back home, put the boat back in the yard late spring and go home. Ours and their hulls are out in the open for everyone to see so I think some of us in this situation are doing it out of pride in that we want the boat to look better sitting there in the yard when we are gone. There are a lot of boats in the yard and a lot of them are from the 70's and 80's and walking around you will see clean painted, no blisters showing, bottoms for the most part. Nothing is forever on a boat, but I feel very good about the fact that our blisters were fixed properly, with a good drying time, and with a good barrier paint. I think the way we will use the boat with it in the water a max of 4 months at a time blisters will not return while we own her. Will they never return? No, that isn't realistic to think that.

If as much of the bottom is showing now to the gel coat as you say I'd sure look at repairing the blisters, with or without a barrier coat (your choice but I'd use one) before putting bottom paint on the boat. Way easier now than removing expensive bottom paint to do it later.

Sounds like you might of found a boat you will be happy with. If you get it then stop looking and saying 'if only' ,

Sum

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[BigEasy]

I felt that I got a good deal on the blistered boat that I purchased years ago. The blister job was started 6 months after I purchased. I had to deal with the ordeal of having the boat laid up for about 6 months (mostly over the winter) while it was repaired. Even though the price of the boat was negotiated down after the pre purchase survey detected blisters, I still had out of pocket expenses for the repair. As I mentioned in the previous post, the blister job failed one year after it was completed. I lost the boat in hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Yes, I did enjoy using the boat for 7 to 8 years; however, I was approaching the point that I planned on selling the boat within a year. I was faced with the dilemma of selling "as is", hoping that I could sell it at a below market price because of the failed blister job or going through the ordeal and expense of another blister job and disclosing the fact to a potential buyer. So, one way or the other, it will present further problems for you on resale. As you noted from other posters, some buyers will not consider a blistered boat. Period!
Again, regardless what anyone tells you , just be aware that there is no permanent repair for blisters, they will reoccur in new spots as well as areas that were previously repaired, even with a barrier coat.
Believe me, I understand your predicament. I don't even want to think about the hours that I spent looking on the web for boats over the last three years, the expense that I incurred traveling to look at boats, and yes, sleepless nights, before finally pulling the trigger on another boat last year!! Again, we know that you like the Cal; however, I would continue looking awhile longer. Don't be surprised,the owner / broker will get back to you with a lower price for the Cal; both realize that there is another problem with the boat that has diminished its value. If you ultimately decide on the Cal, just make sure that the surveyor can assure you that it is safe for your intended purposes and don't "sink" a lot of money into it on upgrades. And, realize that you will face the same dilemma that I had when you get ready to sell. Good luck with the ongoing search and let us know the outcome.

 

[centerline]

From all I've read boats either get blisters over time or don't. It isn't related to one manufacture or even one line of boats, just something that can or can't happen over time.

If this boat has very small blisters that aren't bleeding water and the bottom has never been done then I wouldn't be so concerned about it. Sounds like you might be fine. If a boat is this old and has no blisters I'd also think it is going to be very unlikely that it will in the future.

As far as later fixing the blisters before a sale I think you would be where you are now and with a boat that old you would never make back the additional cost of the repair even if you did all the labor yourself. A buyer is going to be looking at the deal pretty much like you are now.

One other thing to consider is that your boat is going to be in the water where the blistering is out of sight. Our boat and all of the others in the yard where it is are up on stands most of the year as people go down in the winter, sail to escape the snow back home, put the boat back in the yard late spring and go home. Ours and their hulls are out in the open for everyone to see so I think some of us in this situation are doing it out of pride in that we want the boat to look better sitting there in the yard when we are gone. There are a lot of boats in the yard and a lot of them are from the 70's and 80's and walking around you will see clean painted, no blisters showing, bottoms for the most part. Nothing is forever on a boat, but I feel very good about the fact that our blisters were fixed properly, with a good drying time, and with a good barrier paint. I think the way we will use the boat with it in the water a max of 4 months at a time blisters will not return while we own her. Will they never return? No, that isn't realistic to think that.

If as much of the bottom is showing now to the gel coat as you say I'd sure look at repairing the blisters, with or without a barrier coat (your choice but I'd use one) before putting bottom paint on the boat. Way easier now than removing expensive bottom paint to do it later.

Sounds like you might of found a boat you will be happy with. If you get it then stop looking and saying 'if only' ,

Sum

Sum,
concerning the blistering/pimpling dilemma that has been going on since this type of construction materials has been being used in boats, and reading what i have, there are a couple of things that seem to be alluded to, but not directly said.... you hit on one of the unspoken reasons.

and then some things are agreed on by all...

the blistering happens because polyester is hydroscopic/permeable, and when there is a void inside the structure for whatever reason, the water will collect there and react over time, causing a gas bubble that causes the void to increase in size... and make room for more water in it. the less voids, the less blisters...

a hull that develops small blisters over several years is of less concern than a hull that develops many or large blisters within a couple of years....

with this material, no one has figured out a way to stop it from happening, but they have realized some of the causes of it, and in turn, some manufactures have take steps to minimize the occurrence. no one has figured out why some hulls will get larger blisters and some only get small blisters (pimples)

but "minimizing the occurrence" is too late for a hull that has already been laid up.

when there are signs of pimples/blisters, It can, but not always, be destructive to the hull if its not repaired.

although the idea of the blisters are not good, no matter what or who they are on, it seems since the problems Hatteras yachts had, on new, high end boats that were 2 and 3 years old, and under warrenty, the issue with the blisters has been addressed with as much negative publicity as possible (understandably so on new boats), this negative publicity seems to stem from the fact that Hatteras tried to decline any responsibility and weasel out on the problem.. whereas before that time the blisters were just a problem that just happened on older hulls, and were not thought of so negatively... you just ran the boat or repaired them....
(i think if hatteras would have taken the problem in stride and made the repairs without such a fight, the views of owning a blistered hull would not be so unanimously one sided as they are today)

and because of all that publicity, I think Pride is the one thing that continues to play the biggest roll in dictating what is right or wrong with owning or buying a blistered hull... another thing most everyone agrees on is the repair yards will almost always use the rumors and facts associated with the problem (twisted or otherwise), to their advantage... they have no scruples about telling you it is a bad and serious problem, when they know you are going to give then a few thou to "fix" it... then after the repair, your pride of owning a perfect boat has been realized and you're happy for a couple more years... and you tell your buddy how much better your boat is now, and how its value jumped up, and how he needs to do his because the yard guy said if you dont get it done soon.... well, the rumors go on and on... for profit. and in a few years he gets to fix your boat some more....

and then some dont ever worry about all the blisters their boat has... without any problems.


but the rumors and the views of it all is what gives the buyer leverage, and leaves the seller with a very small stone to stand on in a rising tide....

with all that I think I have learned, with a thick hull such as this, the small blisters/pimples seem to only be a problem for the seller during the sale of it.... we will wait and see what the outcome of the survey/valuation says...