Jason, I have had blister problems three different boats,a Catalina 22, Olson 30, and now an Express 27.

Both the Catalina 22 and Olson 30 were wet sailed and therefore the repairs were handled a little different that my current Express.

On the Catalina 22 and Olson 30 I had lots of small blisters, most were along the waterlines, and I used a small sharp object to ream out each hole past the gelcoat. I then allowed the bottom to dry completely and displace any trapped water under the blisters. Then I filled each blister with Marinetex. Marinetex has been around forever but still works great and is water impermiable. After sanding smooth the Marinetex blister areas and airboard sanding the entire bottom for fairness I then faired the keel with microballons. I then sprayed the entire bottom with Interlux two part epoxy. I airboard sanded the two part epoxy to smooth the finish and then applied bottom paint. I kept the Olson 30 in the water year around and in 6 years never had one reoccurance of a blister. The two part epoxy does add some weight to the boat but at least it is below the water line.

The cost wasn't that bad, it just takes a lot on manual labor and time. I found an auto painter who would spray for me on weekends for some cash and beer. He would also redo the bottom paint each year and it certainly came out smooth. I used the abating Interlux and just wet sanded smooth before he sprayed the new.

When I bought my Express 27 it also had lots of blisters, again mostly along the water line. They claim that Experess's don't get blisters but obviously that isn't correct. This boat had been wet sailed in Kansas and I think it may be the warm water in the summer or agriclutural chemicals getting into the lakes, maybe both.

I dry sail the Express in Monterey CA so I did the same repairs with Marietex, it comes in white so it doesn't show,but did not apply two part epoxy or bottom paint since I dry sail. I kept the boat in the water for 60 days this summer and had no problem.

Garry

Jason Cosler on 12/10/101 6:52 AM said:

>>What I originally thought was simply the bottom paint (Baltoplate) blistering due to a rushed paint job last spring turns out to be the unthinkable: gelcoat blisters. Hundreds of very tiny ones (about the size of a pin head) in several locations from bow to stern. The thing is, they're not (at this point, I guess) traditional gelcoat blisters. Which means thay don't go all the way to the laminate. In fact, I took some sand paper to a few yesterday and it looks like a slightly different color second layer of gelcoat is underneath (looks teal). Is this the "fine rash" Terry Alsberg talks about in his lecture?

>>

>>

>>

>>The opinion of the boat yard is that the outer-most layer of gelcoat may have been allowed to set up for too long. Or an additive may be to blame (this is consistent with what I've been reading on the internet). My point was: Why would it start blistering now? Change of climate or the disgusting water in Baltimore's Inner Harbor? The yard said it looked like blistering that would result if a boat was not wet-sailed for most of its life and then kept in the water for long periods all of a sudden. But I'm pretty sure she was wet-sailed before I bought her last year (had balto-plate on it then).

>>

>>

>>

>>So...anyone else have this ploblem? I fear I'm looking at a second mortage to fix it...

>>

>>

>>