2006 P15 Hull Blisters

[Mike Rog]

Hello Again
Need some more advice please
As mentioned in the post below Im new to sailing but not new to boating
Looking a 2006 P15 . One owner . The boat is moored at a slip during the summer for the past years.
Owner states little pimples have developed in the gel coat below the waterline .  Could not get a definitive answer on how prevalent the blister (pimples) are
Is this "boat pox" ?  Is this a big issue and what may be the cause
Also the boat has a 2hp Honda air cooled . Ive read a lot of reviews on the motor . Would be interested in your personal opinion

As always thanks for your help
Take care
mike

[tjspiel]

Had this happen to my boat a few years ago and the remedy was to grind/sand away the bad gelcoat/fiberglass in and around the blisters, fill with epoxy then paint the entire bottom with a "barrier" coat and then put on a top coat of your choice which might be some sort of antifouling paint. Note that "Barrier Coat" is something of a misnomer. It's actually several coats of paint. Between the barrier coat and top coat I probably applied about 8 coats of paint.

The barrier coat will keep the water away from the fiberglass and prevent it from happening again. I'm on my 3rd season since doing the work and the blisters have not come back.

In my case almost all the blisters were on the port side. The cause are tiny flaws in the fiberglass that soak up water and cause deterioration. This happens with polyester based resins. Epoxy based resins don't have this issue but they are more expensive.

Only a problem if the boat is left in the water for long periods of time.

But if you do plan on keeping it in the water, it's not something you want to ignore. The existing blisters will get larger and you may end up with more.

It was a fair amount of work to do myself and I'm sure it would have cost a pretty penny to have it done by someone else. If there's only a few, they're small and you plan to trailer the boat, maybe it's not a big deal but it will certainly hurt the resale value down the road.

kudos though to the existing owner for disclosing this to you. Knowing that they were up front about this would make me feel better about dealing with them.

 

[Mike Rog]

Hey TJ
Thanks a lot for your response . Much appreciated
Will reevaluate my thinking process on buying the boat

Thanks again
mike

[tjspiel]

Hey TJ
Thanks a lot for your response . Much appreciated
Will reevaluate my thinking process on buying the boat

Thanks again
mike

I should mention that Precision (and other manufacturers) recommend a barrier and top coats for boats that are being kept in the water. And people often want anti-fouling paint on the bottom of their boats in that situation anyway.

So if your intention is to keep the boat in the water, painting the bottom should be part of your list of things to do regardless of the boat, - unless it's already been painted. But small boat owners often don't bother and some boats will get blisters while others won't. Depends on the type of resin used and luck.

In the case of this boat, there will be the added work of repairing the blisters that are there but in my case they were minor and that took less time (and money) than the painting did.

[Quantico Frank]

I have on rare occasions heard about those blisters forming on boats in the Potomac and what a pain they are to resolve. I haven't heard about them in a few years, but this is enough of a wake-up call that I'm going to make sure I have the bottom repainted after taking last offseason off. Thanks, Mike!

[johnandcandace]

Our 2013 P18 owner's manual, the inside cover, advised to apply a barrier coat if the boat is too be moored.
Once barrier coated, the bottom must also be painted with an antifouling paint. This is because barrier coats are epoxy based, and therefore subject to Ultra Violet (UV) degradation.

Many people disregard owners manual, thinking their boats have premium gel coat and will not blister.  Some boat owners also think they can disregard the epoxy UV degradation issue, because the "sun don't shine on the bottom of their boat". Wrong again. Some owners, most foolishly, scuff sand the gel coat, then apply bottom paint directly over the scuff sanded gel coat.

Amazingly some boats don't blister. Others do. What's for sure is that once you have blisters, it's too late. They don't heal, they only get worse. The remedy then is to completely dry the hull, sand, fill and smooth over the repaired blistered areas, then apply barrier coats and bottom paint. All I can say those in this predicament is "too bad"; as with many thousands of other boat owners who trusted their high-quality boat manufacturers, they were wrong. There is not much new under the sun, read Eccelesiastes, and your owner's manuals.

[Mike Rog]

Hey TJ , Frank and John

Thanks a lot for your responses . Could have possibly made a costly mistake here. On my other boats I never had this problem so this is new to me.
Something for me to be aware of as I continue to look at boats
Thanks again
mike

[tjspiel]

Amazingly some boats don't blister. Others do.

I was in a small boat sailing club for years and for a few seasons I was in charge of taking care of the Catalina 16.5s and a Hunter 18. I also helped out with the scows.

All the boats were moored but of the many boats that went through the club while I was there I can only recall two that had bottom paint and only one that ever had a problem with blisters.

I don't know if that's because the manufacturers used epoxy based resin or because blisters only happen to the unlucky ones.

Typically only the boats with keels on the local lakes get bottom paint. In the club we flipped the boats on their sides at the dock to clean the bottoms. Each boat was supposed to get cleaned at least once a month but that didn't always happen. But the boats people liked to race got cleaned every week.

[tjspiel]

Amazingly some boats don't blister. Others do.

I was in a small boat sailing club for years and for a few seasons I oversaw the maintenance of the Catalina 16.5s and a Hunter 18. I also helped out with the scows.

All the boats were moored but of the many boats that went through the club while I was there I can only recall two that had bottom paint and only one that ever had a problem with blisters.

I don't know if that's because the manufacturers used epoxy based resin or because blisters only happen to the unlucky ones.

Typically only the boats with keels on the local lakes get bottom paint. In the club we flipped the boats on their sides at the dock to clean the bottoms. Each boat was supposed to get cleaned at least once a month by its volunteer "boat captain" but that didn't always happen. But the boats people liked to race got cleaned every week.

[talbot]

Having done a total hull repair on a blistered O'Day 17, I would not consider a boat with compromised gel coat unless I was totally in love with it. I guess it depends on the extent of the blisters. If the problem is extensive, don't buy it. Realize it's a months-long process. After the blisters are identified and opened, the hull needs to dry for months before faring and barrier coating. If you are in a cold climate and can't move the boat indoors for the winter, you would not actually complete the repair until some time >next< season.

[tjspiel]

Having done a total hull repair on a blistered O'Day 17, I would not consider a boat with compromised gel coat unless I was totally in love with it. I guess it depends on the extent of the blisters. If the problem is extensive, don't buy it. Realize it's a months-long process. After the blisters are identified and opened, the hull needs to dry for months before faring and barrier coating. If you are in a cold climate and can't move the boat indoors for the winter, you would not actually complete the repair until some time >next< season.

When I repaired mine the boat came out of the water in the first week of October. I opened up the blisters within the week, then didn't touch it again until the Spring when I filled them with epoxy then applied the barrier and top coats.

Was back in the water by the 2nd week of May. I missed maybe a week of the sailing season so not so bad.

But, it's not something I'd like to have to do again and there are plenty of good used boats out there. If it was a deal I couldn't pass up on a boat I've dreamed of owning, then maybe I'd consider it. So not an absolute deal breaker but pretty close.