Leave Hull Blisters Alone?

[J. Kuehn]

After scanning this bulletin board, the subject of hull blisters, "blue ooze", and the remedy thereof appears to be a subject of great concern to many boat owners. I read many accounts of what sounds like maximum time, effort, and money expended to battle this problem. What I'm wondering is, what is the ultimate goal (besides having a smoother hull exterior) of all this work? Do hull blisters actually affect the structural integrity of a boat hull to a dangerous degree? Does anyone know of a boat literally breaking up due to hull blistering problems? My guess is that the loads placed on a sailboat hull are typically very light, and that a few hull blisters have little if any effect on the hull's ultimate strength or longevity. Any structural engineer/sailors out there have input on this?

Thanks, J. Kuehn, CD26 #20

[Dana]

For the most part no one wants to see them. For CDs it is usually just cosmetic.....that is it generally appears in the mat between the inside of the gel coat layer and laminate. But I wonder about excess hull water absorption combined with freezing temperatures during haul out and its effect on very localized hull stress areas due to ice expansion.

But for the most part folks only worry about two things...

1. The hull structure is being weakened.
2. The perception (whether true or not) that there is a real problem by others, which may affect resale value.

But out of all the boats I have seen....I and many others have never seen a loss of a boat due to blisters.



darenius@aol.com, CD26 #2