Bottom paint and blisters

[n0w0rries]

The divers say my boat needs bottom paint, and it has blisters. From what I understand there's a fair amount of small blisters on the hull (1980 catalina 27)

So if I go to get the bottom painted, will they go "Oh you got blisters, it's going to be $$$$ to repair the blisters, then paint the bottom" What can I expect from the yard?

[mitiempo]

The proper way to repair blisters depends on how many. If there are only a few you grind them out, allow to dry, fill with thickened epoxy and then fair and paint. If there are lots of blisters then depending on severity you either sand all off, dry hull, fill, fair, and paint or peel the gelcoat and redo it all. At the end of the process it's best to barrier coat the hull to stop water absorption in the future. Here's a link to another thread about this problem with pictures and a link to a site that documents the whole process. Good luck.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...tml#post548175
Boat Peel At the bottom of the page it goes to part 2 - application of new bottom.

[Siamese]

Let's just hope the divers were wrong. That'd be REAL nice. Definitely time to haul her.

My new 30 footer was painted by the dealer, who did a lousy job of preparing the bottom, so after the first season my hull was covered with small blisters. The good news: they were all in the paint and all I had to do was remove the bottom paint and contemplate how to torture the dealer.

On a 1980, we can rule out the original mold wax causing an adhesion problem, but maybe just maybe the blisters are just in your paint.

In answer to your question of what you can expect from the yard, my first thought is: misery. Yards may vary, and there are probably some good ones out there, but if you really have blisters, you'll probably have to take this bull by the horns. The amount the yard could charge you could be stunning, when in fact, on a 27' boat, this is owner fixable for a great savings.

Guess I'm just saying, if they are blisters, and the yard tells you how much it's going to be $!$!$!$!$!$$!!$....there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but it involves sandpaper and epoxy.

Definitely take a look at the instructions the previous poster linked you to.

[mitiempo]

Repairing a blister job is not brain surgery. It involves a lot of sanding, fairing, and sanding again. The yard cost for a complete job on a 27' boat could easily hit 7k to 10k depending on yard. If you have to sand the entire hull (and we don't know this yet) and then barrier coat the hull after filling and fairing, you might be looking at 1 to 2k tops in materials. And I might be high on that. So I would be prepared to do it myself as I have trouble writing large cheques.
It's not too complicated, more time consuming. Most often you would sand blisters this time of year and let dry till spring before filling and barrier coating. But I am talking about a worst case, it might not be that bad at all.

[mintcakekeith]

If its got blisters it needs proffesional opinion.my current boat had been messed about by previous owner grinding out and filling etc . finished up having 1/4" chiseled off and relayed up with epoxy. Do it right ,do it once .K

[mitiempo]

Professional opinion, but not necessarily $60+/hr professional sanding.

[mintcakekeith]

absoluteley

[Yorksailor]

Henry's site has some good information.
Mustin Marine Surveys, Miami, Florida, USA

[n0w0rries]

Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for the info!

[T37Chef]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

The proper way to repair blisters depends on how many.

Not just how many...but how deep they are into the hull. Most people freak out about blisters, I did when I found out. Hopefully you'll find they're not past the gel coat and something similar to what I did is fine if that the case. You could have a surveyor or a blister repair company come and do a core sample for minimal $$.