The Dreaded "Blisters"

I have owned my Californian since 1976, 36 years old now. It has always been moored in 40 degree saltwater year round. It has never had a blister and I've never heard any other owner talk about them?

Just curious, but have any of you other Californian owners ever had blisters on your hull??

Larry B

Mine is a 1977 and no blisters. Since my friend has had problems with them on his TT, I asked around about the issue when I started looking at Californians. I was told by several knowledgeable folks from the maintenance yards and my surveyor that they are not normally an issue with Californians.

As Henry V put it. "we few ,we lucky few, we band of brothers"

This from a blistered IG owner.

I have a 1981 34 LRC and the PO repaired serious blisters in 1994 but no problem since. The boat was in the south Fl area for it early life but after the repairs it was in the Chesapeake area in VA and MD

Good article

Keep applying the cream the Dr. prescribed and they should go away. BruceK

BruceK said:

Keep applying the cream the Dr. prescribed and they should go away. BruceK

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Personal experiences are always welcome. But some things should be kept private Bruce.

Ours came from Calif. six years ago, been in La conner since and has about ten that will be addressed next time its out. Not sure if some are p/o repairs failing.

Got some pix of that 34, hypersloth? Maybe we need a Californian Pics thread.

just ready to close on a Californian 36. Im very happy about the coments as to blisters on this boat. haul out is in a week. can stop worring

4 years ago I sandblasted our 1984 LRC's bottom to remove all the layers of old paint. We found quite a few very small blisters; none deep or large. Bottom was sanded, filled & faired as needed & barrier coated w/Interlux. So afar, no other problems..

Blisters

Bought our 1978, 38' Californian last year. I had it hauled out two months ago.

Boat has been in Columbia River, fresh water for 10 years without any bottom maintenance. 35 Blisters on bottom the size of quarters. Had blisters repaired and bottom painted. Cost was $3,500, including new boot stripe, zincs and shaft seals.

That's a bargain!! Not much more than my haulout and bottom paint without blisters.

I had it done in Portland. Place has been in business since 1945. I believe they charged $35 to $50 per blister? up to silver dollar size. Most of mine were quarter size. Very easy to do now that I've seen it done.

What did they say about the cause? Lack of a proper boat paint and maintenance or something else.


ps: Have you crossed the bar in her yet??

Larry B

Crossed the bar twice now, surprised my wife Cheri who said she'd never go out on ocean. First time over was with two pals. One of them helped me put new radar on the night before and almost polished a fifth of jim beam on his own. While fishing on the ocean, I'm trolling and the two pals are fishing. It was rough! While bringing a fish in, the one that was hung over got violently ill by vomiting and crapping his pants at the same time. What a memory! When crossing the bar, "flood is fine, ebb is evil."

Yikes....I just paid $10 per blister on my boat. I had 75 done. I also paid $1200 for a bottom job with Ultra Bio. I was having other stuff done so the boat was already out. He said he would have charged me $1600 for the bottom job had it been the only thing being done. The difference is the contractor does not own the yard and he pays the yard to haul and block the boat...and a daily storage charge as well. This ends up being a good set up as the contractor is motivated to get the job done quickly since he is paying a per day charge while the boat is out of the water. And since we were already hauling and blocking the boat to replace some running gear, the haul and block charge was included in that estimate.

Anyway, $50 per blister sounds a bit steep.

Sam said:

Crossed the bar twice now...

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For those of us not really in the know, is the Columbia River Bar?

Shantyhag said:

For those of us not really in the know, is the Columbia River Bar?

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It's a barrier we Washingtonians put up to keep people out. Don't believe that??


OK. . . . the truth is:

The bar is where the Columbia river's current dissipates into the Pacific. The wind, waves and current combine to make this a very hazardous place for boats and even large ships. This area is prone to large standing waves which are in part caused by the out going river current and the deposit of sediment into shoals off the mouth of the Columbia. The outgoing river velocity has been recorded reaching 7 knots at times in this area.

Here is some additional info from an Internet source:

"Unlike other major rivers, the current is focused "like a fire hose" without the benefit of a river delta." "Conditions can change from calm to life-threatening in as little as five minutes due to changes of direction of wind and ocean swell. "Since 1792, approximately 2,000 large ships have sunk in and around the Columbia Bar, and because of the danger and the numerous shipwrecks the mouth of the Columbia River acquired a reputation world wide as the Graveyard of Ships."

The Columbia River Bar. Graveyard of the Pacific.

I think one BIG issue is water temps the boat lives in and whether all year long or not. My boat lived in a Florida canal for 22 years with virtually no on the hard time and had major issues...my first liveaboard sailboat (Cape Dory) in Ft Lauderdale had blisters and most were on the sunny side of the boat. My second liveaboard was a Silverton, kept up north, same vintage and no blisters...

Sure resin and mnufacture are really important...but IF a boat may blister....warm water and all year immersion play significant roles too.