Nordic Star is hauled out for some fresh bottom paint. Many small blisters were discovered along the centerline of the hull. The gelcoat was peeled in 2003. How long should a peel last? I thought it was sort of permanent but here in FL the boat doesn't get hauled very often. More info is at http://sailnordicstar.blogspot.com/ . The transmission and the shaft are worn out too. I am being quoted $1675 for a new transmission with a rebuild costing more overall. What have others experienced? I am not keen on a snakey rebuild that will let go at some critical point.

Rob - can you be more specific on the location of the blisters? The centerline should be where the two halves are glassed together so there is no core under that area. Did you barrier coat after the peel? If not, after fixing this time, you really need a good epoxy barrier coat under the bottom paint like Interprotect 2000E. I used 4 layers on Rhapsody. I got blisters after that in the stbd aft section, not from the outside, but from wet core on the inside! It won't happen again now that the wet core is replaced.

I sent you a reply on your email about the transmission.

Bill - The majority of the small blisters are along the centerline of the hull where it is solid fiberglass as you point out. Barrier coat was applied to the epoxy after the peel but it may have been only two coats. I sealed around the exhaust pipe after being advised by the surveyor that there was moisture. The rest of the transom was OK.

Ok - make sure that you open up any blisters and wash the area thoroughly. Glycol is formed in the blisters and will ooze out. I used a spring loaded center punch to open the blisters and drain them, then used a Dremel tool to open them up. The area was pressure washed, scrubbed with a scrub brush with TSP, then fresh water rinsed. I left the area open over the winter, then filled and faired them in the spring.

To fill and fair, I used an orbital sander to remove the VC Offshore in the surrounding area and feather back the edge. You can see the different layers in the feathered edge. This was done because the Teflon in the VC offshore will cause anything you put over it to later blister off. I used West Systems mixed with the microfiber fairing filler at a peanut butter consistency. Once cured this was orbital sanded with 220 grit, followed by a skim coat of the same compound and longboard sanded. That provided a level surface to apply the 4 layers of barrier coat (I used a brush with the barrier coat thinned about 20%). The barrier coat overlapped the feathered areas to insure a seal. This was then lightly sanded and prepped for the VC offshore. The bottom layer of black VC Offshore was thinned 30% and applied by brush, overlapping the surrounding areas that were blue. The entire bottom was then sprayed with blue VC Offshore thinned 30%.

I'll look for blisters when the boat is hauled late October. There better not be any!

Look at these blog entries:
Rhapsody Hauled 15 Oct 2008 - start of off-season work
and
April Recore Work - Almost there!