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Hull Blisters

clarkem

New member
"Any one have hull blisters??

"Any one have hull blisters?? What should be done if a boat has them, is the boat now worthless?

Any thoughts???"
 
"Matt..
What type of boat &#4


"Matt..
What type of boat (how old) do you have them on? How many are there? How big are they or how large of an area do they cover?

I think if they don't go too deep through the gel coat into the inner layers, they could be sanded away and have new gel coat applied.

I had a repair done to an old boat hull once. There was a chunk bust out of a strake near the back of the boat. This was done by a rock on the edge of Lake Ontario. It was about the size of a ping-pong ball. I took it in to a marina in St. Catherines. I'm not sure if they did the work or sent it out to a body shop. They had no problem grinding it out, cleaning it up and laying in some new fiberglass and gel coat. It only cost about $200, but that was about 10 years ago. I would think that you could do the work yourself, get a kit for the exterior finish, and spend your Oakville winter fixing it up and saving a few bucks.

Wrench"
 
"Most cases of hull blisters t

"Most cases of hull blisters that I've seen are in the underlying hull, not in the gel coat.
Sometimes, there are just a few...sometimes it looks as if the hull has a bad case of acne.
The fix is to grind out the blister and fill it with the correct epoxy, and then apply a barrier coat (not gel coat).

I've seen boats in the marina that have more than a blister per square foot and when the yard finished grinding and filling, they barrier coated and then bottom painted (two coats) the whole hull.

If its just a few blisters, then it's possible to do it yourself...more than that, its a job for a yard that knows how to do it correctly. Not a job for an autobody shop.

Blisters on boat hulls usually have trapped liquid in them, not something the average "vette" specialist ever sees. Gel coat only "dings" are usually DIY jobs."
 
What is the issue if they are

What is the issue if they are just left. The boat is a 2001 champion and I have been told that there is no harm in leaving them as long as they don't get bigger or pop. The blisters are hard as a rock and vary in size and density but nothing bigger then less than half a cm.

I thing I will just leave them what harm can that do???
 
You'll have some increased

You'll have some increased drag on the hull... depending on how many and where they are.

It's a bigger issue for sailboats.
 
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