blisters on topsides

[seabright]

Hi,

Any help would be very much appreciated - I feel a raising panic.

I have just crossed over to Antigua in my 35 ft long keeler. Alot of work to get her ready and she was great. Having got here and just started to relax I have noticed that my topsides have blisters up to about half way up. They were painted by a previous owner about 10 years ago. The good news, I think, is that the gel coat underneath shows no blisters (survey 18 month ago detectd no problems). I am wondering if its UV of that areas of the topsides were under the water all the time in our crossing (26 days) and this caused a paint failure.

Any ideas would be gratefully received.

Thanks.

 

[ccscott49]

Most likely paint failure, probably due to the paint being put on when the conditions were a wee bit damp. The heat in the carib, has probably aggravated the situation.

 

[sailorman]

international had probs with u/c. this happened to my Co 32 ( painted by Pettycrows in Burnham for the previous owner ) i had her stripped & Awlgripped with polyurethane by Foxs in Ipswich this is still as good as new after 10 yrs

 

[AndrewB]

Both one and two part polyurethane paints are prone to blister if they are underwater for any length of time. That is why they are only recommended for topside use. Admittedly though, a one month crossing should not be long enough to produce this reaction. Perhaps your topsides were immersed beforehand?

If an epoxy barrier coat was used under the polyurethane, your gel coat is safe. Otherwise it would be a good idea to get this paint coat off and repaint fairly soon. My guess is you'll want to do this anyway.

 

[FAITIRA]

I have a, possibly, similar prob, my Nic 32 (no indication what your boat is?), had had the topsides "2 potted" when I bought her in Denia, Spain, she had osmosis under the waterline, which I had sorted there, but also heaps of small blisters under the "2pot" on the topsides. Caused by, perhaps solvent/humidity but basicly a poor job. I had a Rival done with "2 pot", years ago and it was great.
I would guess it,s the temp that has blown the paint off, pain in the ar#se for you, but I would not worry about the Gel coat, my own thinking has been, I will do a paint job when it suits, 3yrs on, I am looking at getting out to do it in the Spring, in Galicia.

Don,t Panic About It. Bill.