Blisters on a P15k?!

[Tollerowner]

I am selling my P15k.  Due to recent events it is just way too much trouble to get it into and out of the lake where I keep it moored.
A guy emailed me and asked me to get it out of the water and take photographs to show it isn't blistered.  I am not willing to do that.  I have owned it for 6 years and power wash the bottom every year; it needs paint badly, but has no blisters.

Is blistering a problem with P15Ks?  I've never heard of that.

[Brian N.]

Some boats do develop osmotic blisters. The buyer obviously has a concern. Photographs might not reveal blisters, and checking the hull would best be done in person. Precision boats are not frequently reported to blister, but that does not rule it out. If the buyer is close or willing to drive a bit, and wants an inspection, I would pull the boat. Of course, if you have the fixed keel pulling the boat may not be so easy. Also, a couple of small blisters should not break the deal either, as they can be repaired easily. BTW - I have the P165 which draws 2 feet from the waterline, about the same as the P15K, and launch and retrieve the boat every sail, not a big deal and I usually do it solo.

[tjspiel]

I had small blisters on my P18, - almost all one side of the hull. I grinded them out, put on a barrier coat, then a top coat and have not had problem in the 3 seasons since.

I used to belong to a sailing club and those boats were kept in the lake all Summer with no paint on the bottoms of any kind on most of them. Just gelcoat. Only one boat that I can recall had blisters but it got them bad.

So it's not a common occurrence and apparently if an epoxy resin is used instead of polyester resin during construction, it mostly eliminates any potential blistering problems. Don't know if or when Precision ever made that switch. S2 did.

After 6 years, if blisters were going to be an issue on your boat, it would have likely happened by now. But the buyer is not out of line to be concerned and I'd want to see the bottom of any boat I was buying anyway.  They may have had a bad experience before and it might cost more than the price of the boat to repair.
 
It's your choice what to do of course and I wouldn't do it unless they could provide some assurance they were a serious buyer. Unless they're going to keep the boat on the same body of water, the boat's going to have to come out for them to purchase it anyway, so maybe they can do a final inspection at the time of purchase.

[Tollerowner]

The boat launch is 7 miles from the mooring.  I am not going to struggle with that for a photo.
I told him that there were no blisters in 6 years, bu if it was this year he didn't have to take it.