[C320-list] Question abouts Blisters on Early Models

[Mike Mellon]

Astute advice and knowledge as usual, Allan.

What are the pros and cons of your new 387?  I've thought a lot about a 
42 (for cruising West Coast of Mexico) but the limited fuel capacity is 
a significant drawback.  I've also looked at Catalina/Morgan 440's, do 
you have any knowledge about them?

Best regards,

Mike Mellon
LaVida, 1996 #324


On 6/14/2020 3:10 PM, Allan Field wrote:
> Hi Tony - I owned a 1981 Ericson many years ago that severely blistered.
> The hull layup was with polyester resin. My limited understanding is that
> water always is going to migrate through a hull (unless there is a barrier
> coat under the paint) through osmosis. With the polyester resins, the water
> and the resin mix to create an acid that then eats its way back out.
> Catalina has been using vinylester resin for many years and I have not
> heard of blisters with vinylester. However, there was a run of C320's where
> vinylester was not used and some of those did eventually blister. And I
> don't know when Catalina started using vinylester. With hull #30, it is
> possible that vinylester came later. My memory, and maybe the Association
> archives could speak to this better, is that about 150 or so C320's in the
> 300-500 series had problems.
>
> All that said, a couple things to think about. First, make sure what you
> are seeing isn't just paint blisters. Many dealers did poor (or no!) jobs
> of dewaxing hulls before applying bottom paint for the first time which
> leads to paint blisters, something that never is going to go away until a
> thorough paint peel and dewaxing is done. Second is that if you opt for the
> peel down of the hull, the boat needs to dry out first. This is a lengthy
> process for the drying out and as you note, the peel down is not cheap. On
> my Ericson, it was so badly blistered that I opted for the peel down, the
> boat was out of commission for almost a year, and the cost in 1990 was
> $8500 with one quote coming in at $12,500! Third, no boat has ever sunk due
> to blistering, at least to my knowledge. So I am not too entirely sure how
> big of a problem blistering is other than cosmetically... Fourth, you may
> want to start with some research on grinding down blisters first and then
> refilling where you ground down. There are many articles out there on how
> to do this. If you only have a few blisters, this may be the way to go.
>
> Finally, I am on my second Catalina. I had the 320 #808 for 16 years, it
> stayed in the water all year round on the Chesapeake Bay, and came out
> every 2 years for about a week to lightly sand the hull, apply new ablative
> paint, and take care of the underwater metals. On the off-year, I had a
> diver change the zinc. Same routine with the Catalina 387 that we now own
> except that the previous owner did put a barrier coat on at transfer of
> ownership.
>
> Hope all this helps!
>
> Allan S. Field
> Sea Shadow - C387, #103
> Columbia, MD
>
> On Sun, Jun 14, 2020 at 12:07 PM <amshd2 at aol.com> wrote:
>
>> All
>> I have a earley model 320 a 94 Hull # 30.  She stay in the water and comes
>> out every 2 years for new bottom paint.
>> Last uear she came out and we found a couple of blisters.  This winter she
>> came out for some unscheduled maintenance and we found 3 more blisters.  A
>> moisture mter should a evelated level of mositure throughout the hull and
>> the yard recommened a full peeling.
>> Up until now I never heard of a peeling. From what I have learned so far
>> it sounds like it takes the hull down to the fiberglass.  Thus allows the
>> glass to dry and then put down a new barrier coat.
>> It is not a cheap process.
>> Has anyone had this done?    Thanks ahead of time
>> Tony
>>
>>
-- 
Michael Mellon
45 Ortalon Ave
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
mmellon at cruzio.com
831-425-5583 Home