Soft spot on Gelcoat

[patmacdonald]

Found a soft squishy spot abt the size of a 50cent piece on the side of my sail boat. Is that what a blister looks like?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Usually a blister occurs on a hull below the water line where water is trapped between the gel coat and fiberglass. Over time there is a chemical reaction of water to fiberglass and eventually will need to be repaired.

You mentioned on the side of the hull. More details would be needed to include specific location and a picture would help. If above the water line, the hull could have been damaged, possible water leak from topsides draining down, etc...

Please provide a photo and more details as to location.

Crazy Dave Condon

 

[RichH]

If below the waterline, then probably an osmotic blister.
If above the waterline, then probably a 'void' that was erroneously created when the boat was being laminated - a 'lay-up' error.

 

[dscribner]

If it's a concern, I'd find the spot from the inside of the hull and fill it with epoxy.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Generally soft spots are on the outside of the fiberglass between the fiberglass and gel coat. You have to first identify what it is and then repair accordingly. Most of the time will be from the outside but again not much information was given to determine what is going on.

crazy dave condon

 

[RichH]

Generally soft spots are on the outside of the fiberglass between the fiberglass and gel coat. You have to first identify what it is and then repair accordingly. Most of the time will be from the outside but again not much information was given to determine what is going on.

crazy dave condon

Dave is correct re.: voids.

These can be corrected by carefully drilling two small holes, and injecting (with large syringe) a SLOW cure epoxy. If you inject a fast cure epoxy you risk the epoxy becoming exothermic or heat producing and the resultant 'foam out' can push the void apart. Even with slow cure epoxy its best to cool the surfaces with ice to even more 'slow down' the rate of the "cure".

Delaminations or separations (usually due to severe 'impact', etc.) within the deeper structural layers of 'roving'/cloth are a different matter and need to be 'excised' and a full repair made .... .