Waiting for paint to dry

Our 1988 californian has been on blocks for over a month. Sanded the first week and several blisters discovered. The yard owner says that after 3 weeks they are too wet to fill in and paint. We've had temps in the 80s for weeks and now starting to get to the cold weather. The head of the yard told me some boats have to sit out the winter to dry out. The meter showed 24% last week. I offered to put heaters in the bilge. IS there anyway to speed up the process before the cold weather makes bottom painting impossible

Not sure how many several blisters equal. But I've used a shop vac to suck out moisture if it's not too many.

Greetings,
Mr. o. I think there is a vacuum system that attaches to the hull and is heated to dry out the hull. As usual, I can't remember the make or name of the device....
We had our bottom peeled and washed every two weeks. No vacuum system used and yes, it took about 4 months in GA... IIRC.

Ours was out 3 months this year , mid July to mid October and we are also in TN. We started in July so we could get ahead of the fall rush . I thought we would only be out a month at the most .The bottom was in pretty rough shape . We had several blisters and some trapped water. The waiting drove me nuts . Sounds like he is doing you a good job.
I run dry kilns at work drying out hardwood lumber . I've wondered if a dry kiln at a big yard that was set up for boat hulls would work and pay off .

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. o. I think there is a vacuum system that attaches to the hull and is heated to dry out the hull. As usual, I can't remember the make or name of the device...

Click to expand...

Hotvac Boat Hull Drying, Osmosis Treatment, Osmocure

I have seen this process done twice, one of which I can verify that 5 years later, not a blister. It's not cheap though.

The other option is to grind to dry laminate.


Problem with that, is sometimes because of severe laminate hydrolysis, it goes so deep and extensive that it will scare most people...so they just wait for the tiny blisters to dry and fill them.


If blisters don't dry after opening up and washing out in a few weeks...I suggest you get a different opinion than your "yard manager" if you want to know for sure.

I stayed out 4 months here in Louisiana. Are you going to epoxy the bottom? What % are you trying to get down to?

The process of air movement over the area will actually dry out your hull more than heating it. If you can, get some industrial fans and keep the air flowing over the hull to dry it out quicker,

Brett

Jetstream said:

The process of air movement over the area will actually dry out your hull more than heating it. If you can, get some industrial fans and keep the air flowing over the hull to dry it out quicker,

Brett

Click to expand...

Actually I believe this is not consistent with almost all experts I have read and my own personal complete bottom job.

Gel coat traps moisture very well and all the heat and air without a vacuum is a waste of time unless you have years and climate to air dry.

If all you are talking is quarter sized blisters say 1/4 inch deep...you shouldn't need anything but a few days, washing and maybe a ffew acetone wipes.

Places that have peeled hundreds of boats will tell you how hulls that have not have the gel removed, are almost impossible to dry economically due to the time to dry.

Even many of these highly experienced people in the process admit that grinding to dry laminate is the fastest and most complete way to dry a hull...unfortunately what is left of the hull is a bitch to fair...and I can personally account for this. Another costly item to an already huge project.

Sure there are lots of opinions...but after extensive research on my part...I found that many of the most experienced in finding and fixing these problems all agree...and completely disagree with about 99% of what you read from the average "boat expert".

They do also agree that once confident the blisters are not linked to severe hydrolysis, sure, air and wipe dry and fill'em up and go boating.

But for all those contemplating bigger issues than a few blisters....ignore most of what you read, search out those that almost specialize in this work or at least have numerous peel jobs under their belt and read even further.

Read up on hydrolysis in the underground composite pipe and storage tank industry. Scour the net for top tier experts that all tend to agree rather than the "don't worry about it crowd"....again this is not to scare anyone, just point them in the direction I believe will give them the knowledge to make the best decision for them.

I had to go off in one direction...hopefully most won't.

From Jarrett Bay...one of many....

Thank you for contacting us regarding your 53\’ Fleming. The 1st step in the process is the removal of the gelcoat along with the with the 1st layer of matt fiberglass.

In many cases no more fiberglass needs to be removed. The next and most important step is to not only allow the laminate to dry but to remove all of the contaminants (osmotic fluid composed of acetic, hydrochloric acid and glycol). Ideally, the boat is pressure washed with hot water or steam on a daily basis initially and then less frequently after a couple of weeks. During this stage, the moisture content and acidity of the laminate needs to be monitored. Moisture content needs to be at or below 5 on the Sovereign scale before starting the next stage.

A couple of things to keep in mind. To do the job properly, the running gear (props, shafts, struts, rudders…) will need to be removed. Also winter is the best season for the boat to dry due to lower humidity in most of the country in the winter months. Depending on the extent of the issue, I have seen boats take as long as six months to dry. The only way that the drying process can be sped up is a relatively new boat yard tool known as HotVac. Though using the HotVac will shorten the time needed for the hull to dry, it will not necessarily save on labor costs.

How to Repair a Hull with Osmosis Damage - Jarrett Bay Boatworks

Or, you could do what the POs (pleural), of my boat did, and what I have continued to do, and leave the buggers alone. Because the above, while maybe being a counsel of perfection is a lengthy and expensive way of tricking you boat up, and unless the blisters are multiple and huge, it is debatable whether doing them adds one iota of greater seaworthiness to the vessel, and you are not going to re-coup that cost come resale time, for sure...
Here's my boat, blisters and all, and they have not changed over the 14 years I've owned her. I think the blister issue is overblown, because of a certain degree of fear-mongering on the part of some owners on the one hand, and a vested interest on the part of those who 'fix' them, on the other. Just sayin'

No fear mongering, reality mongering.

Only a few boats seem to get severe, just don't be one of them.

Because there you may never get your money money back...but you will be able to sell it and not scap it to a dumpster.

All the experts and me agree that many blistered boats are no probkem...they are smaller individual blisters with no long term isdues.

Butv some boats have larger issues than what owners, surveyors and many less informed yards think they do.

Most boaters have never gone through what I did on my boat or have done the research on the "whys" and "how tos"......if you are doing blister filling, and it isn't going as well as you or the yard thinks...you may want to research some more. As the literature and my boat has shown, it can, though rare, become a structural issue.

I had quite a few blisters. Some deep- some shallow. I grinder off all gel coat and blisters. Put few layers of fiberglass. Painted with epoxy primer-sealer. It is not that hard and cost efficient, but it is messy and hard work. If you not up to "challenge", just pay someone to do the hard work and still will be cheaper that yard fees.

The way I knew I had a major issue was once all the bottom paint was sanded off, My gel cote looked like the Swiss Cheese that has the tiny, but numerous holes in it. I have seen other boats with similar looking gel, but usually in patches, not over the entire hull.

Seeing all those pin holes.....and when I started grinding the larger blisters, I found that if you followed the source of the liquid, it wasn't from just the blister. So I kept going and suprised myself, the yard, the local best fiberglass guy, and every experienced boater that wandered by.

So my 2 lessons learned were, if the gel looks less than perfect, you really don't know what is underneath, and grinding out blisters that don't dry up quickly are just a part of possibly a larger issue.

Try this link

Hull Blisters on Boats and Yachts - by David Pascoe, Marine Surveyor



This should help.