Keel Blister

[Bristol14]

My Ty came out earlier this week and besides a rub rail repair, I have a small keel blister to deal with. I discovered it in the spring while I was bottom painting but decided to ignore it, launch and enjoy our sailing season. It appears to be a previous repair gone bad. It seems pretty solid when I tap it. I'm thinking I'll drill a small hole and see if I get any weeping. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thx.

Paul

[tjr818]

Hmmmm. How big is that. I can't tell from that picture if it is an inch long, or is it worse?

[Bristol14]

About an inch to an inch and a half long. It didn't expand for the 5 months it was in the water either.

[Russell]

Its certainly full of water, grind it out, let it dry over winter, fill it, paint, launch.

[Jim Davis]

Let me suggest that before you grind it, take a hook scraper and remove the bottom paint in the affected area. Also take off any barrier coat in the area. You may find that it is barrier coat failure and not gel coat. In any case you want to open it up and let tha area dry.

[Jim Walsh]

I've filled two on my keel in seven years. First noticed them weeping after fall haul out. I cleaned up the area, maybe six inches around, with a disk sander then I whacked it with a ball peen hammer to ensure I opened up the blister. In the spring I ground out the spot with the edge of the disk sander and filled the spot, maybe one inch by one inch by one quarter inch deep, with West epoxy thickened with micro balloons. Next day I sanded it flush and slapped bottom paint on it. Clearly this is not a textbook repair but it's damn effective. If I had a blister issue I'd be more inclined to a textbook repair but thankfully I dont.

[joemerchant]

If there was a prior repair, there is a good chance they did not dry it fully before filling it. In either case, it is a pretty easy fix.

From the picture, it looks like someone popped it and put some epoxy on top. West Systems with 404 is the best to use for this and work with small amounts and coats like 1 pump and mixed to a consistency of peanut butter. You will need to make sure all of the old repair is removed sanded and ground out, but not very far in. Grind out the delamination, then score up the glass below it so the West Systems has something to adhear to. They may have used V-Ester and you don't want to epoxy over that. Vinyl ester dries a lot harder (like the gel coat) and more brittle. Invest in some West Systems or find a buddy who has a gallon and borrow a couple pumps from them. It does have a long shelf life and very handy to have around the house regardless.

I just wish they would come out with metered pumps (where you could do a 1/4 pump, etc.). Marketing and manufacturing idea....

[Bristol14]

Thx everyone for their thoughts and suggestions, very much appreciate the help.

Today I began to prep my Ty for the winter and took a moment to drill a couple of small holes in my keel blister. Surprisingly not a drop of water was to be found. I do plan to grind out the spot and will plan to repair with West System epoxy in the Spring as suggested.

Paul

[Neil Gordon]

I just wish they would come out with metered pumps (where you could do a 1/4 pump, etc.). Marketing and manufacturing idea....

Your idea would cause them to sell less, not more. Good luck!