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Any idea what these are?

2217 Views 16 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  TQA, 
T
I have heard a few different things. Any ideas? I was thinking gelcoat blister repair patches? Or am I way off?

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boatpoker
Old throughulls filled (and not very well).
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SHNOOL
Boatpoker has you covered.
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S
Not sure where this is in relation to the waterline, but its either a badly covered through hull as mentioned or a cradle pad that could not be moved for painting.
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Faster
Another vote for poor repair, most likely a through-hull removal, or some badly chosen and prepped fairing/patch of some sort.
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M
When you grind it out, as you will have to, you'll see what's under there, and then you'll fix it.

If they're old thru-hulls:
WEST SYSTEM | Projects | Fiberglass Boat Repair & Restoration - Repairing machined holes in fiberglass

If it's blistered:
WEST SYSTEM | Projects | Fiberglass Boat Repair and Restoration - Repairing individual and early stage gelcoat blisters

General fibreglass boat repair:
http://www.westsystem.com/ss/assets/HowTo-Publications/Fiberglass-Boat-Repair-and-Maintenance.pdf
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T
Ok...Well, they are on the boat we are currently interested in buying. I know there is a lot of bottom paint. So maybe I should strip the bottom paint with peel away and then attempt to do the patches correctly? I am SO glad you guys told me they are through hull patches. Now I am going to head to the boat this weekend and see the work from the inside.

The reason I am saying to remove the bottom paint is that it seems like there is just so much on there that it is beginning to chip easily. Is that possible with that much paint? In the one pic you can see a small chip with blue underneath. My guess is that was the original color.
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Faster
That is a problem with antifouling... getting rid of the old paint is such a crappy job that most/many people don't do it often enough. Chips and flakes become common - most annoyingly when the solvent on the new paint attacks the old and lifts the chips while you're rolling on the new.

Getting down to the bare gel or barrier is a good idea. One of our friends down south has it right.. a thin coat of ablative paint when they launch in November, frequent scrubs with snorkel throughout the winter, by the time they go back on the hard and come back north there's not much left.

Soda blasting is a way of getting rid of old paint with minimal effort (but not minimal cost) and no damage to the gelcoat but it will also probably remove/compromise any existing barrier coating as well so that needs to be taken into account. Replacing a good barrier coat is not cheap either.
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SHNOOL
Could be poor or poorly prepped base/barrier coat, or could also be failing. I had that on my old boat, and yep, I think a bottom job could be in your future (ugh). That being the case you COULD be dealing with blisters in places, but those rings are too perfect to be anything but a bad/poorly faired repair (be it from filled in through-hulls or prior blister repair).

My personal opinion would be to have someone soda-blast it, and then from there they or you, fix blisters, re-fair, then barrier coat, and bottom coat. When it's done you'll be happy you did, but boy what a PITA if you don't have someone else blast the bottom for you.

Faster beat me too it.... but yeah thinner layers are better.
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TQA
Hmmm unless it is a hard to find boat AND everything else is nigh on perfect I would pass.

Of course if you can get the seller to soda blast then grind out the suspect areas for inspection ON HIS DIME, then you might go on.

There are a lot of boats for sale out there.
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T
Everything else is pretty much good to go. Is there any way I could use peel away to remove the bottom paint. Patch the thru-hull's properly, and then just paint the bottom? I know it's a lot of work but I have all winter
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S
Those sure look like not just thruhull patches, but badly done patches. Bad patches in the hull are a bad thing, something you'd want a professional to review. My worry would why is there so much fairing/filler material visible, and the lifting might imply the patches are working, ie moving. Such patches should be all fiberglass, with no filler beyond the thinest of a final fairing skim. These look pretty scary to me.
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C
Can you report back on what it looked like on the inside? As badly done as the outside does not bode ;well?
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M
Yes, they do look like thru hull patches. Perhaps not the best job, though it could be that the ablative paint just did not adhere to it as well as the surrounding(improper prep before bottom painting). But it should not be too difficult to grind down, and re-fare. If you really like the boat, and the way it is equipped I would not let this be a deal killer, but it should be a bargaining chip on your behalf. Ask that they fix it to your specifications, or lower the price by an appropriate amount. Kind of what happens after a survey and you reassess the price/work that needs to be done to complete the sale.
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T
Well, he lowered the price by 2k last night. So that got me thinking about the patches and what they were. Now I am sure they are thru-hull patches because every one of you basically said the same thing. I am going to check the boat again this weekend. I am guessing it will be annoying work for me to do but not too hair pulling. Strip bottom paint, do patch correct, coat, and paint. Of course I would have to do some reading and research :)

The bottom is real rough to feel. And it almost reminds me of French burnt peanut candies I used to eat as a kid. Interior is nice, no complaints. Going to get a survey in two weeks.
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S
I've messed about with FG repairs a number of times over 40 years, but I would not personally attempt to repair three or more hull holes. A proper repair is pretty important underwater. If these repairs are not well laid up, I'd get a professional yard repair quote first, and negotiate that into the offering price, before paying for a surveyor. What you do later, well up to you...
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TQA
I will repeat that I would not think of proceeding with that boat UNLESS you remove all the bottom paint and do an inch by inch examination of the hull. It is clear from the pics that there is a considerable thickness of filler with not glass reinforcement that is no longer adhering to the hull. I would suspect that the filler might be polyester which does not adhere well to cured polyester resin which is usually used in sailboat hulls.

All similar patch areas would need to be ground out and redone properly.

Removing the bottom paint would be possible to do by hand but everybody I know who has this has said " Never again". Soda blasting is the way to go.
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