What causes blistering of the hull?
Water in the lay up?
poor resin in the lay up?
bad gel coat?

What is the fix for this?
Jason

This is a huge subject. I have been following this saga since the early 80's and still dont know for sure, but when most manufacturers switched to Vinylester resins in the late 80's, most of the problems dissappeared. I had an 85 scarab that one half of the hull blistered and the other half did not. Surveyor told me that probably 2 different people layed up the hull, one on one side and another on the other. So layup does have something to do with it. The repair is extensive and expensive dependind on the extent of blistering. The hardest part is drying the fiberglass, usually an over the winter deal with the blisters open and the hull enclosed and heated or de-humidified. With a new boat that is going to stay in the water, a barrier coat is important to stop water from seeping through the gelcoat (which it does). A good source of information would be to search through the www.boatered.com site.

Good Luck

Tom

Check out this link. Probably more than you wanted to know.
Gary
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/articleslist.htm#Blisters

Just went yesterday and checked out my SeaRay Sundancer that had been chocked up for a bottom paint job. It's a 1995 Vinylester boat. It has 3 blisters, none particularly bad, but there nonetheless.

The boatyard plans to pop them and grind away any delaminating gelcoat, apply penetrating epoxy sealer and primer, then fairing compound to smooth it back up. They will prime over the fairing compound before painting. I asked if didnt searay have a 10yr hull/blister warranty and he said yes, but he's fixing them gratis anyhow. I reckon his fix is acceptable. Thoughts?

More significant is that both of the bronze grates on the big water intakes for the motors (big turbo Caterpillars) are just completely creamed and mashed in. I do a good bit of logbashing on our Tennessee mudhole lake, but I was not expecting the grates to be so trashed. The good part is that the grates are removeable from the thruhull fittings so I've ordered new ones. Also found was a bunch of wood crammed in the starboard strut bearing (cutlass bearing). Now I know why the starboard shaft would squeal at docking speeds after a long (4hr plus) run...

I have also looked for info on blisters cause I thought vinylester cured the problem. Apparently there is a host of issues that can contribute to the blisters and no boat is immune to them. What I understand, though, is every other year or so, yank the boat and fix em... All will be well if you do this.

M