suggestions on my bottom!

[rwappleton]

We are blasted, more blisters than I care to count (300+++), ready to repair and paint. PO had made a bad attempt at barrier coat.

Our original plan was to barrier coat with 2000E and 2 coats of MicronCSC.

Our new calibrated moisture meter says 9 on sides and anywhere between 10 and 23 below water line and on bottom. It appears that original barrier coat is holding moisture in as the ground blisters are drier than the barrier coated bottom.

Yard says proceed. The actual percentage of moisture is about 2% at the high end as the above numbers are the wood scale on the meter. We are mapping now and sanding out any very high number spots.

What say you?

Russ and The Admiral

 

[saltshaker]

Hard to say from here but if you have confidence in the yard, I'd follow their recommendations. Are they saying to remove the old barrier coat or just continue to do spot repairs? I don't know what the readings on your moisture meter indicate but if you suspect you have trapped moisture due to a previous poor repair, then I would address that. You don't want to put another barrier coat and paint over a poorly applied barrier coat. You could trap in moisture and end up with adhession problems with the work you are doing now. Blisters on a Hatt are usually best left alone. Problems rarely occur until you start to open them up. Once the blisters are opened, you need to deal with them.

 

[Josh005]

I am currently in the middle of doing the bottom of my 1975 32'. I decided this was the year i was going to overhaul the boat and that is what I'm doing, new engines, generator, wiring, fuel system, 200gal aluminum tank, A/C, shafts, props, Sandy damage repair, electronics, plumbing, the list goes on. I had the bottom taken down to the gel coat with some spots of the old barrier remaining. Then after filling the blisters i did 2 coats of West epoxy then latter this week I'm doing 2 coats of 2000e, then i will bottom paint the week before i launch. I typed up a very complete guide to blister repair/ barrier coating using all products from West Systems and Interlux, if you want i can email it to you. So far my process is working very well for me and you might want to skim through it!

 

[rwappleton]

Hi Josh,

I would like to see it. You can e-mail it to RWAppleton@aol.com. Did or have you checked your bottom with a moisture meter? if so what were your readings?

 

[Josh005]

I sent you an email with the document attached- I hope it helps you. I have done several boats this way and it works very well, it not the easy way but its the right way if you want it to last many years! I did not have my bottom check for moisture readings, I did this for two reasons. The first being that the original bottom laminate/ barrier coat were in extremely good shape. The second being that I had to have the bottom blasted after Hurricane Sandy to check for any damage to the bottom from when the boat floated off the blocks- thus the boat sat for a couple of months allowing the hull to dry out.

 

[bobk]

Our new calibrated moisture meter says 9 on sides and anywhere between 10 and 23 below water line and on bottom. It appears that original barrier coat is holding moisture in as the ground blisters are drier than the barrier coated bottom.

What say you?

Russ and The Admiral

Russ, I'm not at all sure what you mean that the barrier coat is 'holding' moisture. Epoxies (if that is what the barrier coat was) absorb a lot of moisture themselves so might be expected to read higher than polyester based gell coat. On the other hand, if your seeing high moisture in the keel area, it may be because of a wet bilge??

Bobk

 

[34Hatt]

When I did mine I had plastic from the water line to the ground to contain any mess Etc. So I put a torpedo heat in there and ran it for a few days while I was there and just heated it up real good. A few days of that may knock those #s right down and as Bob said make sure your bilge is dry then go in and seal the inside before she goes back in the water.

 

[tomrealest]

I don't like those high moisture #'s. I would address it. I hauled mine last June, ground out all the blisters and let it dry out until the middle of September. Then we fixed the blisters. I used the Sea Hawk barrier coat product, might be called Tuff Kote. Put one coat of bottom paint because I wanted to see what would happen with the blisters over time.

I hauled her about a month ago for unrelated work. No signs of any of the blisters. Put another coat of Sea Hawk bottom paint around the waterline because of the high growth we get in Florida on the sunny side of the boat. I think I have succeeded in maybe permanently having the bottom free of blisters.

I would get the bottom dry before I put a barrier coat on. If you want to use the boat this summer, I would put bottom paint on now and let it dry out over the winter before I put a barrier coat on.

But then, what do I know? Maybe it will be Ok the way your plan calls for.

 

[captddis]

As stated, The bottom needs to be dry before applying the barrier coat or you will seal the moisture in and have more blisters than ever. My 46 was out for 8 months before they barrier coated it.

 

[rwappleton]

Many thanks to all who responded. We have been on the hard for four months as of a few days ago. Most of the blisters are opened up (we are still finding them)!

All of what has been posted is great info.

Our plan as of this morning is keep drying until July and if the numbers are satisfactory we will begin the process and plan to splash early August.

We will keep you posted!

Russ and The Admiral

 

[saltshaker]

The drying starts now that you're opened up the bottom. Having it sit for months with layers of bottom paint and what may be a poor barrier coat won't do much drying out. Get as much off the hull as you can and open up any wet blisters. Let her dry as long as you can then start the bottom job. Don't fill and fair until your certain it's dry. In the end you'll have a nice smooth bottom that will aid in performance and economy.