Found a few small blisters upon haul out on Tuesday, ranging from 1/2” to 1.5”. Yestarday, after a day and a half they seemed pretty dry so I ground them down and filled with West System G/Flex. My plan is to sand/fair them today and barrier coat 4 coats of Interlux 2000E. Does this all sound right or am I missing something?
Osmosis
- Thread starter skunther
- Start date
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,455
I did essentially the same. Used a thickened epoxy instead of G-Flex. It was harder to sand smooth. Then I added two coats of barrier epoxy paint. Let that cure for 48 hours. Then came back and painted 2 coats of Trinidad bottom paint.
You have a decent plan. It will take some time to get the barrier coat to harden.
You have a decent plan. It will take some time to get the barrier coat to harden.
Apparently you did not run a moisture meter around them, so you have no idea how much moisture has been sucked how far into the fiberglass. Normally, I would grind out a much bigger area, demoisturize the area with heat lamps and/or a vacuum system, depending on the severity of the infection.
I hope your repair will be OK for you.
I hope your repair will be OK for you.
That is my thought as well. It takes a while to dry even with enhanced methods as described above.
The two fiberglass technicians I spoke with (who everyone at the yard seemed to respect) looked at the crack and blisters and said to just grind and fill.
It’s called ’job security’. More work for them next haul-out season. Hulls don’t dry overnight.
Mighty impressive that they can make that determination w/o a moisture meter. I'm sure you'll be fine, but keep an eye on them, as you said.
Just an FYI, Osmosis is sun degradation, which caused chalkiness on a hull or deck. What you have are blisters from moisture eaking through the gel coat.
I think you’re thinking of oxidation - that’s what happens to plastics over time and exposure to the elements. Osmosis is definitely the transmission of water into the hull. Osmotic blistering is the technical name for the damage to the hull from water migrating into it.