Hull Blister Repair

[micmor64]

Away from home and project for a bit (sorry can't do Pic's at this time), but beginning to think about the best way to move forward when spring finally arrives. Hull is a 1957ish ( I think) Herters Hudson Bay (given to me by a friend). Before the snow started to fly, I wire brushed, then saturated the hull with citrus based stripper, then pressure washed the hull to remove several layers of paint and years of mold/moss and assorted other growth. In a few spots (on the outside bottom) the pressure wash "lifted" small outer layers of cloth (didn't go through maybe 20-30 percent at most) small areas perhaps 1 to 1-1/2 square inches or less each. There is "ragged/frayed" glass strands around each "blister spot".

Is the best approach for this type repair to use a long strand filler like "Kitty Hair" as my auto body repair guy friend recommends? I'm leaning towards maybe cutting 4 oz cloth patches to fit in the blister holes (again they do not go through the hull), saturating with epoxy resin, then sanding and finishing with a fairing coat (Total Boat or similar) before paint. Looking for "best option" (easy, quick, but has to be good permanent fix).

My aim is to repair the bottom. and paint with an Airboat type "Slick Paint" as this will be my all around use fishing and fall season mud and marsh Duck Boat.

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks, mike

 

[Scott Danforth]

you need to avoid any auto body filler as they use talc for part of the filler material. you can mix your own. filler using milled fibers, cabosil and resin (AKA peanutbutter)

depending on how bad the fiberglass is, you may have to go over with cloth.

post pics is the best way to get the best answers.

 

[flashback]

Being around sailboats I've seen a lot of blisters and quite honestly most of the blisters return. You must get the entire hull laminate dry before patching or they just pop up again. There is no quick, easy, permanent fix. If the blisters are wide spread your best option is to remove all gel coat below the water line, tent the boat and run a dehumidifier in the tent for 6 months before you epoxy and fair the hull.

 

[micmor64]

While I would love to post Pic's, I am away from home (and the boat) and likely will be for another month or two. While I have time some time, I am trying to study this, and acquire the needed materials so that when I get home, I'm ready to quickly proceed with the repairs.

The blisters are not Get Coat as this is a fairly thin walled fiberglass lay up boat. They appear to be more of a "pocket of delamination" under the outer layer, where a "small area" of the cloth layer has separated.