Well, my advice to
“Cautious” was simply: Grit your teeth and buy her. Nobody’s perfect, and no
boat is either. Although fiberglass boats have been around for more than 50
years, there’s still a lot of misinformation doing the rounds, especially
regarding the dreaded boat pox.
It’s reassuring,
therefore, to hear the experience of David Pascoe, a marine surveyor based in
Destin, Fla., who says that in more than 30 years of surveying and examining
4,000 hulls, he has seen fewer than 10 cases where blisters have resulted in
serious structural degradation of a hull.[1]
We’re talking here of
dime-sized blisters. In 99 percent of the boats Pascoe has surveyed, blistering
involved only the gel coat and the surface mat — neither of which is a
structural part of the hull laminate.
Pascoe says that even
boats with numerous blisters up to about 1-inch in diameter usually show no
significant weakening of the plastic. As a result, “moderate blistering on an
older boat rarely impedes the sale.”
As a matter of fact,
Pascoe reckons that by the time a boat is 8 or 10 years old, “whatever is going
to happen to the hull has probably already happened.” That means if she hasn’t
developed blisters yet, she’s not ever likely to, so don’t be tempted to apply
a barrier coat.
It’s quite another matter
if a new boat develops blisters, of course. On a boat that’s been afloat for
only two or three years, it’s likely that blistering is just the beginning.
That’s not good news. But one that’s been afloat for eight years or more
without developing blisters is pretty
safe bet.
Interestingly, Pascoe
doesn’t even think it’s necessary to do anything about small blisters.
Admittedly, they make the hull more difficult to paint and they will slow the
boat down slightly, but: “If blisters cannot be shown to be causing significant
damage, then repair is certainly not mandatory, despite the many horror stories
you may hear from people trying to sell you a costly repair job ... Bear in
mind that blister repair jobs are now big business for boat yards, so that
taking advice from yard managers may not be a good idea.”
He makes another good
point, too: “Further, you should be aware that the number of failed blister
repair jobs that surveyors find is very high. No one’s ever going to know why
blister repairs fail because no one is going to spend the money to find out.”
So go ahead, I told
“Cautious.” Be brave. Put your money where your heart is. Who else is going to
see your new girl-friend’s bottom anyhow?
Today’s
Thought
The
desire of perfection is the worst disease that ever afflicted the human mind.
— Fontanes, Address to
Napoleon, on behalf of the French Senate, 1804
Tailpiece
”Why do you call it love
at second sight?”
“I didn’t know she was
rich when I first saw her.”
(Drop by every
Monday, Wednesday, Friday for another
Mainly about Boats column.)
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