Rudder seepage on CD-33

[zeida]

My Bandolera II, a 1982 CD-33 has the same problem. I just hauled out two months ago and had to do extensive blister repair to her bottom. I should have stripped entire gelcoat down to the fiberglass let her dry for a month or two, recoat, then apply barrier paint, and then antifouling paint. however, the $$$ and time involved in such a procedure was too much for me at this time, so I took her down to the gelcoat, drilled out as many (over 3,000) tiny blister holes, filled them as best we could, then painted the antifouling and hope this will last at least another year. BUT my rudder which also had many tiny blisters, kept on seeping water even though I drilled several holes along the bottom and on the sides, which let some of the water to come out... I would have loved to remove the entire rudder, and fix it, but with the boat on jackstands, there was not enough space under it to work... I needed to have the boat up on the big lift, which required much more planning. We also drilled blisters out, drilled and filled and painted with the antifouling. I hope it will last for the year. In Miami, we are now starting the best time for the sailing season.
Zeida



zcecil@attglobal.net

[Bob Pence]

My Bandolera II, a 1982 CD-33 has the same problem. I just hauled out two months ago and had to do extensive blister repair to her bottom. I should have stripped entire gelcoat down to the fiberglass let her dry for a month or two, recoat, then apply barrier paint, and then antifouling paint. however, the $$$ and time involved in such a procedure was too much for me at this time, so I took her down to the gelcoat, drilled out as many (over 3,000) tiny blister holes, filled them as best we could, then painted the antifouling and hope this will last at least another year. BUT my rudder which also had many tiny blisters, kept on seeping water even though I drilled several holes along the bottom and on the sides, which let some of the water to come out... I would have loved to remove the entire rudder, and fix it, but with the boat on jackstands, there was not enough space under it to work... I needed to have the boat up on the big lift, which required much more planning. We also drilled blisters out, drilled and filled and painted with the antifouling. I hope it will last for the year. In Miami, we are now starting the best time for the sailing season.
Zeida

Been there, done that. I am afraid antifoulant on filled fiberglass won't do it. It may get you through the season but will not stop water penetration. Correct procedure: grind out blisters, clean, coat with Interlux 1001, clean, fill with VC Compound, fare, clean, 2 coats minimum Interlux 2002, very light sanding between coats, then antifoulant. Antifoulant paint in itself does not seal. It took me about 200 hours to do this and I had the use of all the power tools.



sixpence@dmv.com

[mik3]

Zeida,

I'm suprised to hear of your blistering problem. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the instances of blistering on Cape Dory's was almost nil?

LaVida hasn't shown any problems as yet, my water intrusion into my rudder is caused from a grounding and the squishing of the lower edge, we drilled a hole in in and the water comes out just fine, although I'm concerned about the delamination problems the water will cause.

Does anyone have the drawings of how the rudder was built and laid up. I'd love to get a look at them if they do.

Good luck, LaVida is on a trailer and the ability to dig a 3'hole through steel is slim

sea u,
mike



mpr@seascan.com

[Tom]

My Bandolera II, a 1982 CD-33 has the same problem. I just hauled out two months ago and had to do extensive blister repair to her bottom. I should have stripped entire gelcoat down to the fiberglass let her dry for a month or two, recoat, then apply barrier paint, and then antifouling paint. however, the $$$ and time involved in such a procedure was too much for me at this time, so I took her down to the gelcoat, drilled out as many (over 3,000) tiny blister holes, filled them as best we could, then painted the antifouling and hope this will last at least another year. BUT my rudder which also had many tiny blisters, kept on seeping water even though I drilled several holes along the bottom and on the sides, which let some of the water to come out... I would have loved to remove the entire rudder, and fix it, but with the boat on jackstands, there was not enough space under it to work... I needed to have the boat up on the big lift, which required much more planning. We also drilled blisters out, drilled and filled and painted with the antifouling. I hope it will last for the year. In Miami, we are now starting the best time for the sailing season.
Zeida

I've never heard of a CD of that vintage with so many blisters. Did all 3,000 of them have blue liquid in them and were oozing? In other words I wonder if these weren't just a bad paint job sometime earlier? These blisters were actually in the gelcoat and oozing? My CD was built in 1983 and has only had two blisters in the last 12 years. Do you know if your boat was left out of the water for a long period of time or had some other mistreatment in the past that might cause this? When you put the bottom paint on this time did you do any prep at all such as sand first and wipe down with acetome? Let us know how it goes we're all interested in this.



TomCambria@mindspring.com

[zeida]

Bob: Re your post on the blisters on my CD-33 Bandolera... Two years ago I had already seen about 60 or 70 tiny little pinholes all over the keel, oozing blue liquid... the famous "blue ooze" or so I thought... Then this past August, I hauled out. Close inspection revealed the truth... the blue ooze were indeed blisters... I could pop them and the drop of water would come out of the gelcoat. I had a very bad case of the pox. About 1,500 on each side. That is really what it looked like! It was VERY depressing. However, with the Dremmel tool, myself on one side and a friend on the other side of the keel, we drilled most of these blisters out to where no more water was seeping... then we washed and washed... then washed with acetone, then let the boat sit for 2 days to dry up... Then proceeded to fill with Interlux Interprotect 2000..each and every blister that we drilled out. We sanded. Then we filled again with same Interprotect 2000. So I do have two solid coats of the 2000. We sanded again and got a nice smooth finish. Then I applied the Trinidad 77 (SR) antifouling. I know that process is not completely stopping the water from getting into the hull and I know we did not get ALL the blisters... It took two of us about 10 days working 8 to 10 hours each do to the job. I just hope this repair can help stop the delamination process until next year, and then I will try to do the complete peel-off of the saturated gelcoat down to the fiberglass, and really deal with the blisters. The rudder, which also had many of the tiny blisters, was seeping water from the top of the rudder post and from other places. That is the only place where the water never really dried out completely. Even at the very end, there were still two little drain holes seeping water not much, but a little stream of water was still visible on both places. However, it will have to do for another sailing season, or so I hope. I took extensive digital pictures of the entire problem, and if you want to see them, I can e-mail them directly to you.

I also know that keeping the bilge absolutely dry is a must, and I do make sure of this at all times. I do get some water after a day of sailing, mostly because my muffler is leaking some, but I pump it out and dry the bilge thoroughly every time. Also, during very hard downpours, water somehow gets in through different places which I have not been able to find, and will accumulate in the bilge. But I am always checking this and manage to keep her real dry inside.
Regards,

Zeida



zcecil@attglobal.net