Is this Osmosis?

benw

benw

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Well I can vouch for Gale 8 on the Menai Straits! Anyway today was we're going on a boat hunt day and 4 boats to see and only 24hrs available this weekend. The roads were awash but the positives are the brokers only had us to look after.
Anyway an interesting day having seen Sigma 36's, Dehler 34 and a Rival 36 whcih we took shelter in from the howling gale down in Porth Penryn on the Menai Straits.

What do the forum think of the pic from taken of the hull below water line? In particular the bottom right quadrant of the pic. OSMOSIS? The surface felt very bubbly with raised blister type rounds. The boat has been out of the water for 2 yrs so the blisters were quite hard.

What do we think?
 
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If that's the white gelcoat I would say yes (maybe:rolleyes:).

PS I'm not looking at the more obvious regular marks but what looks like rounded blister 'humps' judging by the shadows.
 
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It might be... But if the boats been dry for a long while, then it could equally be gelcoat problems... Or indeed could be wicking, rather than full blown osmosis.

Only way to be a bit more sure is to scrape a blister off and see if it smells like vinegar... And if it does, then it's osmosis.

One final point... If it is the dreaded 'O', then it doesn't look serious.
 
Is that the Rival? I don't think osmosis is a common problem on Rivals...in fact a solitary posting about it on the owners forum was 2003 and from America. It might not be as desperate as it looks. I have a Rival in the water 10 months in year and a no epoxy job. No hull moisture probs either.
 
Blisters like that are very common on Westerlys. I have had two and they have both had them. On my Konsort they were there when I brought her and were still the same 6 years later. Could be a good lever to get a good bit off the asking price, and once you have bought her just forget about them.
 
benw said:
What do the forum think of the pic from taken of the hull below water line? In particular the bottom right quadrant of the pic. OSMOSIS? The surface felt very bubbly with raised blister type rounds. The boat has been out of the water for 2 yrs so the blisters were quite hard.

What do we think?
Click to expand...

Maybe the onset of osmosis, but looks very fixable.

Guapa was diagnosed with osmosis in 2002 - treated and never looked back.
Survey two years ago indicated the hull was still sound and dry.

Osmosis is not a death sentence - it's treatable.
Osmosis never sank a boat.
 
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