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Blister repair from Hell

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John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2012 : 09:24:39

My favorite artical on the subject:

[url="http://www.yachtworld.com/offshoreatlantic/offshoreatlantic_7.html"]Blisters Don't Matter by Jan de Groot[/url]

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2012 : 11:00:45

Peter,

Your comments pretty much sum up my take on all of this.

John,

It's a good article...I do not think my boat is in danger of sinking. So, this repair is not like an emergency. But I like to keep the boat in pretty good shape and these blisters detract from what I desire. This then becomes to some extent a personal decision...and blisters whether cosmetic only or whatever are not exactly an enhancement when it comes time to sell a boat. The author of the article also acknowledges this and from personal experience, why would I buy a boat with blisters when most boats at the marinas have little or no blisters.

Bear in mind that the article is about Gelcoat Blisters and he describes the 3 main types of blisters with Nos 2 & 3 primarily effecting areas of the hull on or below the waterline. Gelcoat Bisters are #3 and that is primarily the focus of the article. But what about if you have blisters of the Number 2 type or a mix between #2 and #3 type with #2 type being blisters into the laminate ??
At least in the first 3 feet of the hull at the bow, there are blisters into the laminate.

Larry

Edited by - on

NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
957 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2012 : 13:11:52

And I used to have a false sense of security thinking that the rumored factory barrier coat would help protect my 89 since it has been in the water longer than it should be. I'm watching this topic carefully and dreading the day I pull mine back out of the water. (currently building a trailer)

Edited by - on

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4024 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2012 : 14:10:43

Not a rumor, At least not for your 89 but I think your just a little past the warranty. Also note that its not a barrier coat,Just a different gelcoat. Resistant not proof.
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">3.5 BOTTOM PAINT PREPARATION:

All Catalina 25's built after February 1. 1988, have a blister resistant
gel coat. Special precautions must be used when preparing this bottom
for painting. Do not sand or reduce gel coat film thickness. Use "no
sand" type primer to prepare the bottom for painting. Improper bottom
preparation will void your Catalina Yachts Gel Coat Five Year Limited Warranty.

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Edited by - islander on 01/10/2012 14:15:09

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 01/10/2012 : 16:41:48

Also consider that a boat in freshwater is more likely to have blisters if the hull is prone to blisters. Then consider the past owner and I have had the boat in freshwater all year-round for approx 10 years.

If your boat is in saltwater, not in all year and not every year and is not that prone to blisters due to the way the hull was laminated, then chances are you will not be prone to getting blisters. My hull was just one of the lucky ones.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 01/29/2012 : 19:00:47

Here is an update:

It appears the contractor's facility has survived all the inspections from County, Building Owner and marina. They still have some addl work to do within his building but enough progress was made chopping up derelict boats and general yard cleanup. This past week approximately 90% of the hull has been sanded down. They are planning on going over it all again this next week and then will be able to assess all the blisters needing repair before the waterproof epoxy coatings are applied. I loaded onto my website the initial photos when the boat was hauled out end of October and the most visible/major blisters were opened up at that time. Click on the link labeled "Blister Repair and Waterproofing". I'll try and snap addl photos as the work progresses. Here is one - Port side of the hull very close to the bow:

Edited by - OLarryR on 01/29/2012 19:01:14

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2012 : 05:00:08

Beauty is more than skin deep...

Time heals all wounds....

Ouch... I didn't get to see mine before the fairing. The boatyard was on it before I could believe it. That's gotta be tough to look at for ya, but I'm sure it will all be over soon enough...

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2012 : 10:14:58

I should have rated my last posting above as "R" rated as it may be too shocking for all too view !

It has been tough viewing especially when after seeing 90% of the hull sanded and many areas of the hull do not look too bad to be just told by the professional that there are many addl blisters/soft spots that will be opened up as they go over the hull with another sanding. (Yard is not allowed to do a soda blasting due to the river, etc issues.) Also hard to digest when I'm working topsides and the owner points out to some one boat that was adjacent that had minor blisters and then "this one" with major blisters. I don't like that talk about my boat.

Edited by - on

OJ
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4382 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2012 : 13:29:33

Looks like they're going for speed . . . using a grinder is way faster than a counter-sink bit (what I used) but they're taking considerably more material off also!

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2012 : 13:45:39

I'm surprised that they seem to be grinding the blisters before stripping all the old paint. Any particular reason for that?

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 01/30/2012 : 16:38:22

They wanted to open up the major blisters first while the boat was just out of the water and then give them time to dry. The smaller blisters will be attended to after the final sanding.

Also, I think they were anxious to just see how bad the major blisters were...but they were not ready to do a major sanding since they had another boat alongside that was in the middle of getting it's 7 coats of waterproof epoxy and did not want the sanding action to get all over the adjacent boat. But then when that boat was finished up, the boat shop got hit with 3 yard/building inspectons after the other and all boat work stopped for ~ 2 months while they chopped up derelict boats and cleaned up the place.

Edited by - OLarryR on 01/30/2012 21:15:03

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 02/18/2012 : 17:47:21

I was down at the marina yesterday and today. Work is progressing daily. Repairs are now in full swing. These blisters as they grinded away at them seem to spread out which was not so apparent when they were first opened up and many go into the first layer of laminate ! Since these areas are so large, they are fiberglassing (applying epoxy resin to the area, fiberglass cloth and then applying epoxy resin into and over the cloth). Almost all the repairs have been fiberglassed and today they started sanding down/contouring the repaired areas to the hull.

See my website for many photos w/close-up shots. Here are two photos:

Edited by - OLarryR on 02/18/2012 21:32:23

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 02/18/2012 : 23:06:47

Wow. Tough to go through it, but it looks like it was a good idea.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 02/19/2012 : 09:06:03

They were working Saturday and will be working agsin on it starting tomorrow. I have off tomorrow so I will probably go down and see how far they have gotten with the sanding/contouring to the hull. I was not going to have them work on the rudder as I was planning on replacing it but they didn't see any immediate need to replace it and were going to be working on checking out it's blisters as well as attending to some keel work (some dings in it from past adventures) maybe later this week.

If you view the above photos and those photos of this repair on my website, they look pretty bad compared to a freshly painted hull bottom. However, I can honestly say that as of yesterday I am now on the upswing. It has been pretty hard on me for the past few months of inactivity while the weather this winter has been better than usual for those sailing year-round. Meanwhile, the hull bottom has been hideous to view each time with no work proceeding. But as of yesterday, the work is definitely progressing, hull is past it's worst days, now in rehab/recovery mode and will soon be awaiting it's sports release !!

Edited by - on

GaryB
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4312 Posts

Response Posted - 02/26/2012 : 18:45:31

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by OLarryR
 They were working Saturday and will be working agsin on it starting tomorrow. I have off tomorrow so I will probably go down and see how far they have gotten with the sanding/contouring to the hull. I was not going to have them work on the rudder as I was planning on replacing it but they didn't see any immediate need to replace it and were going to be working on checking out it's blisters as well as attending to some keel work (some dings in it from past adventures) maybe later this week.

If you view the above photos and those photos of this repair on my website, they look pretty bad compared to a freshly painted hull bottom. However, I can honestly say that as of yesterday I am now on the upswing. It has been pretty hard on me for the past few months of inactivity while the weather this winter has been better than usual for those sailing year-round. Meanwhile, the hull bottom has been hideous to view each time with no work proceeding. But as of yesterday, the work is definitely progressing, hull is past it's worst days, now in rehab/recovery mode and will soon be awaiting it's sports release !!

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Hey Larry,

How's the repair coming? Any new pictures?

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 02/26/2012 : 22:07:55

I'll try and post a photo or two by this next weekend. They have been sanding and contouring the blister repairs. Last Thursday afternoon, we picked up 4 boxes of Interprotect and 2 gallons of Micron Extra. This past Saturday, the hull was inspected again for any small blisters that remained and needed attention and any blister repairs that needed some tweaking. There are addl blisters in the keel to hull joining area that they are assessing and I suspect keel work and a few addl spots on the hull will take the next 3-4 days to square away. Depending on the weather and progress made, they will then start on the rudder or put first coat of waterproofing on the hull by...next Monday (3/5). Finishing the rudder and then all the paint coats and anti-fouling....it will be at least another 2 weeks or more to complete. Last week of March hopefully it will be ready to go back in the water.

Edited by - OLarryR on 02/26/2012 22:10:02

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 03/01/2012 : 18:42:35

I took off the afternoon from work to see the progress. The boat repair progressed much faster than I expected this past week. Whatever remaining areas to be attended to turned out to be minor repair work if any. They then started to apply the barrier paint - 7 coats. I originally thought that it would take much longer to apply each coat but they did not want it to fully cure, otherwise they would have had to sand between coatings. So, once they started, they kept on going until one day it rained. Then when they resumed the following day, they had to first lightly sand the hull before putting on the last coat. They started applying Micron Extra (Copolymer multi-year anti-fouling paint) this afternoon. They may get 2 maybe 3 coats out of the 2 gallons of it. It looks like the work will be completed this Saturday or Monday/Tuesday at the latest. So, it won't be long before I am back in the water. I just have to figure out when is a good day to sail back to my marina. Probably within the next 1-2 weeks ! I have more photos on my website. Here are two taken today ! First one is showing the barrier paint on the starboard side and they started applying the first coat of the anti-fouling paint to the port side.

Edited by - on

JimGo
Admiral

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USA
962 Posts

Response Posted - 03/01/2012 : 22:06:19

Yeah, that looks too much like a boat hull for it to be your boat. Who are you trying to kid?

Edited by - on

NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
957 Posts

Response Posted - 03/02/2012 : 06:31:40

Awesome. Not long now. Bet you can't wait!

I wonder how they get under the pads? When I applied the Interlux 2000E to my rudder, I noticed that it was just like garage floor coating, and was extremely thick! So when I imagine that they paint the hull, then move the pad around to get that missing area, it would leave very noticeable overlaps and edges that would have to be sanded down after curing to get smooth.

Anyone else have experience on this?

Edited by - NautiC25 on 03/02/2012 06:36:21

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 03/02/2012 : 10:25:30

Yes - It looks like a hull again !!

I did not notice any overlaps where the pads are located. On my website there are addl photos and you can see that area a bit better. I suspect that since they worked non-stop not letting the each coat fully cure before laying on the next coat, they just kept repositoning the stands. They did lightly sand the whole hull prior to putting on the 7th coat and so that probably helped as well but may have been coincidental only because it had rained and when they resumed application of the barrier paint, since the last coating had fully cured they had to sand the whole hull so the last coat would properly adhere. The only area that I guess they may not be able to do would be some areas on the underside of the wing keel that is sitting on the blocks. I would think that would only be accessible when the travel arm lifts the boat off the blocks to transfer it to the water.

Edited by - on

NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
957 Posts

Response Posted - 03/02/2012 : 10:59:11

The 2000E I used took a full day to dry to the touch, but left a finger print if you pressed too hard. Putting a pad under it at that point would ruin it. I would think they would have to let it fully dry for 2-3 days, then move the pads around after each coat.

What type of barrier coat did they use? Looking at the wrinkles in the pics, it appears to be rough.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2012 : 10:09:49

They definitely did not wait 2-3 days to apply each subsequent coat and that is what thru me off since I thought it would take at least another week or more to complete application of the barrier coats. They did use Interlux Interprotect 2000E - I was with them at WM and received their contractor's discount - 4 boxes of it. Checking the 2000E data sheet and Interlux website, drying times can vary quite a bit from taking a day or so to dry but still leave a fingerprint to as little as 3-5 hours still tacky but not coming off on the finger depending on temperature between 50-70F and humidity levels. Humidity levels right now are pretty low which helps speed the drying time...except for the one day it rained and that's the day they lightly sanded the next day prior to applying the last (7th) coat.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3477 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2012 : 10:23:24

The blister repair, waterprroofing and applying the Micron Extra anti-fouling (copolymer multi-year) paint is now complete !!

On the starboard topsides, I wanted them to fix two gel coat chips and scuff marks that occurred when my boat had to wait for an extended time (3 weeks) on the derelict pier adjacent the travel arm. They moved my boat once to get a big boat out and where they moved it a wood stud caused this minor damage. In any case, Fiberglass fabricators has that small area almost finished - Monday or Tuesday and it will be completed.

If work completed Tuesday, the go ahead for travel arm to transfer boat to waterside either Wednesday or Thursday. So, weather and schdule permitting, I could be sailing back to my marinat this coming Friday or Saturday !!

Here's two photos...more on my website of completed bottom repair. One or two photos, you may see what looks like some drips on the underside...They are only some water droplets left over from yesterday's early morning light rain. (Also, the multi-year paints are generally not as smooth as a racing finish.)

By the way - note in second photo below my ladder with quick release. That allows someone in the water to drop the ladder by pulling the line out of the cam cleat !

Edited by - OLarryR on 03/04/2012 10:30:57

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5907 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2012 : 11:28:36

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by NautiC25
 
I wonder how they get under the pads? When I applied the Interlux 2000E to my rudder, I noticed that it was just like garage floor coating, and was extremely thick! So when I imagine that they paint the hull, then move the pad around to get that missing area, it would leave very noticeable overlaps and edges that would have to be sanded down after curing to get smooth.

Anyone else have experience on this?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">I have used Interlux 2000 to barrier coat 2 boats, and covered everything except under the pads, and then moved the stands after it cured, and applied the same number of coats under the pads. I used small foam rollers to apply the paint, instead of the 9", more thickly napped rollers that marinas use, because the foam rollers put it on much more smoothly. It takes more time to apply it with the small rollers, but you get a smoother job. If I had to pay someone $90. an hour to do the work, I'd probably want him to use a 9" roller.

Throughout the entire job, I sanded lightly after every coat, and, between light sanding and the smaller foam rollers, that significantly reduced the roughness of Interlux 2000. Likewise, doing it that way didn't leave any noticeable overlaps at all.

Both boats were smooth enough to be race competitive, and could have been even better if I had taken a little more time to sand them, and applied another coat or two to compensate for what I sanded away.

According to the manufacturer, the reason why System 2000 is rough is because it is formulated so that it creates layers of overlapping "plates", and that is what creates the barrier. You can make it smooth, but it takes considerably more time and effort.

Edited by - Steve Milby on 03/04/2012 13:37:51

dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 03/04/2012 : 14:47:46

Is it an optical illusion or does something look a little off with your lower pintle?

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