Slick470
Member III
We ended up peeling the bottom of ours and putting glass back to fix the blister issues on our boat. From doing lots and lots of research before tackling ours, I found that there is no real consensus on what the right way to fix the problem is but there was no evidence that osmosis has ever caused a structural failure on a solid layup fiberglass boat. However, it is ugly, slow, and can obviously affect resale.
Looking at your pictures and comparing them to mine, my guess is the red layer is years of hard bottom paint buildup. The red paints have a habit of fading to a pinkish color as the copper leaches out. The white layer is gelcoat, and I think I see a thin grey layer under the white which I also found on our boat which is another layer of gelcoat between the white gelcoat and first layers of fiberglass.
I initially just wanted the bottom peeled to remove the paint and gelcoat layers, but after seeing the results of that first pass, the peeler and I agreed to take it down another 1/16" or so into the fiberglass to remove the worst of the blisters. I then spent the remainder of the summer grinding out deeper spots that became visible as the boat dried. Most of which were in the first foot or so below the waterline.
I worked out a deal with the peeler where I did all the sanding/grinding, and he checked on the moisture content every few weeks and then when the boat was dry enough, he did a few rounds of fairing, with me sanding in between, and then he put on layers of fiberglass cloth with vinylester resin to build back up the laminate and seal in the repair. After a few more rounds of fairing and sanding, I put on epoxy barrier coat in alternating colors, and then my bottom paint of choice.
Next time, (if there is a next time) I think I'll just pay the guy to do all of it.
Looking at your pictures and comparing them to mine, my guess is the red layer is years of hard bottom paint buildup. The red paints have a habit of fading to a pinkish color as the copper leaches out. The white layer is gelcoat, and I think I see a thin grey layer under the white which I also found on our boat which is another layer of gelcoat between the white gelcoat and first layers of fiberglass.
I initially just wanted the bottom peeled to remove the paint and gelcoat layers, but after seeing the results of that first pass, the peeler and I agreed to take it down another 1/16" or so into the fiberglass to remove the worst of the blisters. I then spent the remainder of the summer grinding out deeper spots that became visible as the boat dried. Most of which were in the first foot or so below the waterline.
I worked out a deal with the peeler where I did all the sanding/grinding, and he checked on the moisture content every few weeks and then when the boat was dry enough, he did a few rounds of fairing, with me sanding in between, and then he put on layers of fiberglass cloth with vinylester resin to build back up the laminate and seal in the repair. After a few more rounds of fairing and sanding, I put on epoxy barrier coat in alternating colors, and then my bottom paint of choice.
Next time, (if there is a next time) I think I'll just pay the guy to do all of it.