Pinhole of light through hull. Best way to fix?

[dlochner]

Before accepting it as fact I'd like to see some support for the comment "water absorption into the fiberglass will cause degradation of the laminate instead". If true, how could anyone sleep at night with a wet bilge?

Water in the bilge exerts very little hydrostatic force which is necessary for the water to enter the laminate.

The hydrostatic force on the outside of the hull is significant and gets stronger as the depth increases. It is this force that causes water to enter the laminate.

 

[Old Skool Neil]

I'm not going to be shifted to an osmotic blister discussion. However for future reference, search "osmotic blisters and uncatalyzed resin" . This discussion is actually water solubility of polyester resin. Search that too.

 

[dlochner]

I'm not going to be shifted to an osmotic blister discussion. However for future reference, search "osmotic blisters and uncatalyzed resin" . This discussion is actually water solubility of polyester resin. Search that too.

I think the OP might have been concerned with osmotic blistering and wondering if the pinhole is evidence of blistering about to occur or had occurred. Given the age of the boat, any blistering that was going to happen should have happened by now.

 

[Alan Gomes]

I think the OP might have been concerned with osmotic blistering and wondering if the pinhole is evidence of blistering about to occur or had occurred. Given the age of the boat, any blistering that was going to happen should have happened by now.

There's nothing in the original post that even remotely suggests a concern about osmotic blistering. Quite clearly, the concern was whether he might have a (partial) hole in his boat, based on the fact that he was seeing light through it. Any discussion of possible delamination from osmotic blistering seems to me quite foreign to this discussion.

 

[Groundhog246]

I would carefully examine the exterior of the hull with extra attention to that area. If below the waterline, I would expect the anti-fouling would be opaque enough to block all light. I would strip anti-foulant from the area and see if the area of transparency expands. All of the hull above the waterline on my Tanzer allows some light through except cored areas of the deck. And I know from installing fittings that are in areas almost 1/2" thick. If concerned about blisters, strip the bottom paint and apply Interprotect 2001 barrier coat.

 

[cagreen75]

Tapping on the hull with a sounding hammer or in my case the plastic handle of a screwdriver could tell you a lot.