Originally posted by alcal1750:
From my experience with Rauzer II #448, the only area that showed blisters was where the core was wet underneith. You may have a larger problem than you think. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but these boats tend to develop areas where the balsa core soaks up water from any number of sources. You can grind, sand and patch the blisters this year and find a whole new batch next year. I would suggest going over the area with a good moisture meter to determine the size of the effected area, identify the source of the water intrusion and go from there. There are several posts on repairing wet core on this forum if that is what it comes to. Good Luck, AC
I don't know if this is always the case. A friend recently purchased a J30 with a similar problem-blisters everywhere (mine is close but not as bad). He ground them out and after a week of drying the moisture meter readings have gone down considerably. We drilled test holes into the core in areas where the moisture meter pegged (also the areas of highest blister concentration) and the core is solid and dry. Excessive blistering can be the result of wet core issues, but It doesn't always mean you have a wet core. We are currently drying out the boat with a process called water out
http://www.waterout.com/ that is great for drying flood damaged houses. It should take a couple of days and I will post the results if people are interested. Knowing that the blisters are not the result of a wet core, we will dry the bottom, repair the blisters barrier coat and paint. Hopefully this will prevent future blistering. If it works I will try it on my boat!
Geoff
Krru #413
