Small blisters above the waterline Questions?

[Mattlikesbikes]

There is a used CP-19 Locally and my buddy is contemplating buying it after sailing all summer on mine.  One thing we noticed where a lot of little blisters on it above the water line on both the starboard and port side.   A few of them looked "popped" The current owner thinks they where there when he bought the boat.   The boat is a 89 and the asking price is around $9500 which I think is a little steep.

What do you guys think? does this need to be addressed/repaired?  Over all the boat is in pretty good shape.

[crazycarl]

has the hull been painted?

cc

[waterwks4me]

If the boat hasn't been painted could it be a bad gelcoat repair?

[Mattlikesbikes]

I do not think the boat has been painted but I will try to confirm. And the blisters are on both sides and go for good portion of the length of one side. So I doubt it was a gel coat repair. Maybe a bad application of gelcoat at the factory ?

[skip1930]

Key question was has the hull been painted?
If it has been painted, looks like the paint is coming off. De-bonding is the word I'd use.
Sand her down with 80 grit and paint it again.

If the hull was not painted, I'll leave it up to you experts. Me? I'd go sailing and not worry about it.
Maybe polish the hull up with Maguire's #49 compound and wax it.

Second commit; -->" The boat is a 89 and the asking price is around $9500 which I think is a little steep "

Agree. I'd go as high as $5,600 to $6,500. Or tell the seller to sell it to somebody else.

skip.

[skip1930]

The molding process.
Best guess for Com Pac Hulls.

A new smooth mold costing thousands of dollars.
As the mold goes through many hulls it picks up imperfections. These show up on the finished hull. [My hull is #588 and there are 'factory dents' in her.]
After so many imperfections occur.
It's cheaper to halt production and throw away the molds then to make new molds. Especially when the product becomes long in the tooth.

Multiple layers of wax in the mold for hull release.
Spray on the gel coat over the wax.
Spray on the resign, with or without microballons. [core]
Place by hand and roll in multiple layers of 20 ounce woven resign impregnated fiberglass cloth.
Add plywood hardpoints for fittings.
More layers 20 ounce woven resign impregnated fiberglass cloth.
Had roll out the air bubbles for an hour or so.
Let her sit in the mold for a few days, pop it out maybe with air or pull it.
Paint the inside of the hull in 'seen places' with grey paint to keep day light from showing through the hull.
Trim it and start to assemble and clamp the pieces together with rivets-glue-and screws.
Now all the work begins.

When I worked at Sand Ponders Inc. making dune buggy bodies in high school in 1967, we started out with a waxed mold. Shot the gel coat. Shot the body metal flake color, shot a black background, and then layered up the mold with a chop gun slurry and hand rolled it into the mold to get the air bubbles out. No woven cloth is ever used and that makes for a weaker body. The owner said, "Your first body is yours." I picked chartreus gold metal flake. Here is that body.

Anyway. As long as the hull holds back the water I wouldn't worry about the blisters. What are you to do about it anyway?

skip.

[cas206]

Gelcoat doesn't last forever...even if it was perfect from the factory and meticulously cared for.  You can go sailing and not worry about it.  Some damage to the underlying laminate will begin to occur if the coating is compromised.  I don't have the knowledge to say how slow that process is.  My guess is it would probably not be noticeable during your ownership.  Options are to try and polish out if they gelcoat if it is thick enough and the blisters are small enough (i.e. don't reach down to the laminate).  Most likely it is time to sand and paint.

[MacGyver]

It almost looks to me to be a paint job gone bad, not tipping out the bubbles could make it look like it does.

I would literally have to be right up on it to see. It is not a normal thing to see that kind of bubbling in gelcoat, although it could be possible. and in the making process there is several ways that could have happened. but not at all a typical thing. more of a rare thing.

The red stripe looks DIY painted, and bad at that so I am going to guess a bad topside repaint.

To me, how hard would it be to fix? Well, not a big deal either way, just time and some money.

Go look at the "A little Together time " post I made in the 19s. I think it has pics of mine and the finished product. I also have some pics in the classifieds, she is for sale because my wife wants to move up which would better suit our needs.
Mine is professionally done, as it is my job to work on boats. everything I used can be bought by anyone, and I am more than glad to talk someone through the project if they decide to take it on themselves.

I even have some vids showing me painting so the technique can be learned from those. Several people have said it looks like I sprayed the boat....... I actually rolled the entire project.

If the interior is good, and this is really the only issue, I would buy it for a certain price and fix it myself later because to me even if it was blistering, it isnt a big deal...... just some time and some money.

Mac

[Mattlikesbikes]

Hey Mac what is the best way to determine if it is paint or gel coat ?   

My friend is interested but not at the asking price. the boat is local actually 5 min from my house and was docked across from me at the lake this past summer.   Interior and sails are in great shape,deck is in good shape, trailer is in great shape but the boat needs bottom paint. There is a bad marine-tex patches/repair that need to be re done.  (trailer blew a tire when the current owner had the boat brought to PA and the boat moved on the trailer and put a dent/hole in the bow where the bow roller is).  The mast step is also soft same issue as mine but not nearly as bad.  another minus is the boat does not have roller furling. My buddy wants to make a offer but we are trying to determine what it is actually worth and what he needs to put into it

[capt_nemo]

Looks like a "bad" paint job to my tired old eyes.

If, AND ONLY IF, the rest of the boat is in really good shape (check it out thoroughly), consider making an offer with the "total" cost of a decent paint job (professionally done) deducted from what is considered "fair market value".

capt_nemo

[frank]

Looks like it was rolled but not well "tipped"    Gotta use the proper thinner as well.

[capt_nemo]

Improper surface preparation and/or contamination prior to paint application (roll & tip) can yield similar results. Sanding BEFORE thoroughly dewaxing/cleaning of the surface instead of AFTER, can result in adhesion problems.

Like most "proper" paint jobs, 90+% of the REQUIRED effort is in PREPARATION. Paint application is like icing the cake. (Although you CAN screw up application of the paint as well.)

capt_nemo

[MacGyver]

I just realized how much they are asking for that boat.
WHOA
I am only asking 11,800 now on mine, so they in comparison are way over priced, and my year is also 1989

I would compare my list in the classifieds to that boats list.
Hell, take it for comparison.....
I need pics of the rest of the boat before I say what its worth as far as what was done to the deck, etc.

To be honest the best way to determine paint from gelcoat is to scrape a little paint off in a inconspicuous part or pull the rubrail back and somewhere you will be able to tell for sure.

A trained eye like mine can tell...... but I dont think I am close to you to stop in and take a look see.

On that job, Somewhere you will be able to tell............

Mac