General Info: Gel Coat Blisters Above the Water Line

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by DtM

I often wonder why you keep this thread alive David. You have had all the answers you will get from FP. Do any of us like their responses or lack of them? No, but we get on with life. Your whinge was justified but you have had it so move on for the sake of all FP owners.

My purpose in starting this thread is to find information on the blistering of FP boats after they were repaired for under water blistering.
FP have promised to help me with info but then ignore me.
All I want is information on what is the most efficient way to fix my boat.
We all know they have a lot of knowledge and experience with this issue.
But if you look on the internet is is not hard to find information on court cases and the way they behave when challenged by unhappy owners.
This issue is not going away and it comforting to know that you are not the only one with this problem.
Sorry if you have a problem with that but this forum is for sharing information no matter how inconvenient it is for people like you.

[Dragon Lady]

Originally Posted by minaret

How about also considering those who are shopping and looking at an FP, aren't they just as important as those who have bought one? Shouldn't they be informed about the truth, even if the dissemination of that truth hurts your bottom line?

Thanks Minaret,

It's nice to know some people have some morals here.

[Le Doume]

Originally Posted by DtM

I often wonder why you keep this thread alive David. You have had all the answers you will get from FP. Do any of us like their responses or lack of them? No, but we get on with life. Your whinge was justified but you have had it so move on for the sake of all FP owners.

Dear DtM,
First & foremost it is called " freedom of speech" and quite obviuosly some " prospective buyers " may be interested in knowing what is going on , this is what this forum is all about. If you do not concur with what DL has to say , here is a very simple solution for you " just DO NOT OPEN AND READ THE THREAD"
Happy sailing , live and let live mate , this is what life is all about .
Cheers

[muskoka]

Originally Posted by DtM

I often wonder why you keep this thread alive David. You have had all the answers you will get from FP. Do any of us like their responses or lack of them? No, but we get on with life. Your whinge was justified but you have had it so move on for the sake of all FP owners.

I believe threads like this puts pressure on manufacturers to build better boats and to stand behind their product. I also think that prospective purchasers should be able to read the "warts and all" opinions of owners. I like my Lavezzi a lot, but it does have its flaws.

[Dragon Lady]

Thanks muskoka,

I like my Lavezzi too, I've built my bridge and got over the fact that I will have to pay for the repairs on my boat.
I am still trying to work out the best long term fix.
The blisters don't see to be growing so I'm hopeful that the reaction has stopped.

Just for the record I told FP that I would put this out in the public arena.
This elicited an apology and an assurance that they would respond within a few days.
That was several months ago.
I don't know what the French translation for lip service is but I think I've experienced it.
There is a rumor that if they paid out on all the pending warranty claims for this issue it would send them under.
I have no idea of their current financial situation and frankly don't care.

All I want now is some good technical advise on how to fix the problem, I can't see how that would send them broke.

[Wannabe-007]

I've spent a wee bit of time recently looking for information on the whole 'Lavezzi Osmosis blistering' issue, and I have found this thread very helpful.
Thanks to you all for your input on this thread, and I hope you will update it as you discover more about the issue and the ways to (or not to) manage it.
Thx!

[sushirama]

I have hundreds of dry blisters on one side of my hull from the w/l up to the rub rails. But only like 4 below the w/l. The boats previous owner had shoaled it and it stay layed over overnight and water got in the inside of the boat. There was also a very small 2 inch nick to the core in the glass below the waterline that wasnt detected for a long time. I ended up having to cut open the outer layer in a 2 foot by 3 foot section and let it dry out and drain for a few months. There was also a grid of 3/16 in holes drilled to the core about 2 feet around that to find any more wetness. Ended up recoring, actually not even coring it just laying it up with heavy biased mat in the original section and building it back up. That took 2 weeks alone. That spot will probably out last the original rest of the hull. The test sections of about two linear feet of 45 on the blisters above the water line were hit with a small grinding wheel, sanded and filled and after 6 months, no recurrence. Wasnt really concerned with gel coat since there wasnt much left after 38 years of minimal maintenance. Now to do the rest of the hull and fill, sand, seal, sand and paint. Its not hard, its just overly time consuming.

[Dragon Lady]

Thanks for the info Sushirama, there is a lot of people saying a full peel is the only way to go.
But I like your idea, please let us know how it progresses?
My blisters have not grown and I think they even be shrinking.
I'll grind a few soon to see if there's still fluid present.

[Southern Star]

My 18 year old Solaris Sunstream 40, made with polyester resin, had an epoxy barrier coat below the waterline and has zero blisters above (where it was untreated) or below the waterline. So as has been pointed out, not all polyester boats have blistering problems.

Regardless of whether you choose to peel above the waterline to the height of blistering (I think you said 500 mm?), or just to repair as they arise, as has been pointed out, the problem will be in matching the gelcoat. A cheaper solution would be to make repairs then tape off an area just above them and parallel to the waterline, then spray with a 2-part polyurethane. The colour need not match - in fact, you could make it a stripe of a completely different colour. It would be way cheaper than prepping and painting the entire boat.

Brad

[Dragon Lady]

First of all thanks to everyone who has sent kind words of support. Also those whom have contacted me with similar problems I wish you all well too especially the ones taking legal action against FP.

As for my boat, the blisters seem to be stable now and when I pop one there doesn't seem to be any pressure inside.
The fluid seems to be getting darker which I don't think is good though it might not mater.
I ground out a bigger blister today and the glass layer below looks very solid with no sign of degradation.
This gives me confidence that there is no structural problems and I can probably just grind and fill the blisters.
It also seems that there is no more water coming into the hulls which is also nice to know, though I won't know for sure until I slip her.

[minaret]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

First of all thanks to everyone who has sent kind words of support. Also those whom have contacted me with similar problems I wish you all well too especially the ones taking legal action against FP.

As for my boat, the blisters seem to be stable now and when I pop one there doesn't seem to be any pressure inside.
The fluid seems to be getting darker which I don't think is good though it might not mater.
I ground out a bigger blister today and the glass layer below looks very solid with no sign of degradation.
This gives me confidence that there is no structural problems and I can probably just grind and fill the blisters.
It also seems that there is no more water coming into the hulls which is also nice to know, though I won't know for sure until I slip her.

Ever put a moisture meter on it?

[alexxx]

DRAGONLADY and MINARET, this is a very good thread, and thank you for raising criticisms of FP 's lack of support for their customers. I am one of those prospective buyers you're fairly referring to, and it is only on forums like these that i'll get to some kind of objective opinion on wheather i should buy an FP cat or not.
AS of right now, reading about those problems, and most of all, about ongoing complaints, over and over , about FP's total lack of after-purchase customer service and support, i will NOT be buying an FP cat..
Will i pay a manufacturer all that money, to be treated like a pariah afterwards if something had to go wrong with the boat? on what planet are we? why should I have to chase FP just to have them REPLY to one of my emails?? it's ridiculous...
would Porshe customers continue buying Porshes if the carbuilder were to treat their customers like FP seem to be treating theirs? don't think so.......
IMPORTANT QUESTION then, to those of you who had to go through hydrolisis, blistering, osmosis AND OTHER problems with FP: even if a little more expensive, WHAT MANUFACTURER out there will make me a good cat (44 to 52 footer) , with almost none of those problems, and who - if i turn to them with problems after i buy their boat - will give me support, guarantee, and follow-up worthy of the money i paid them for the boat?
"privilege"? "leoppard"? "swiss-catamarans"? "nautitech? any other one? which cat manufacturer out there has true respect for their customers, and for the money they get from them???

[Cheechako]

I'm thinking that much support from the boat builder would be a rare thing, you need to be as sure as possible to start with that the boat you buy will not have major problems.

[alexxx]

Thanks Cheechako, but to acertain that is not an easy task.
I'm french, many of those cat makers are in france, I can easily go to any of the factories. I wonder if during the construction process of my boat, i could bring in a good surveyor to double check that everything is done to high standard? Is that something that has been done before? i wonder if a manufacturer would allow it...

[sailr69]

a cause, not THE cause of blisters builders are not aware of is; the molds need to be tipped before spraying gelcoat. reasons being; vapors are left in the molds after waxing, using mold release or other methods of insuring the parts separate. these vapors will and do cause problems in the finished parts. sometimes you will see the effects in the part that was lowest in the mold e.g.: at the waterline area in a two half part mold. in the center at the worst and then tapering off towards the ends.