how many people keep their boats in the water? I've read that it's not good to leave your boat in the water for long periods of time. gel coat blisters can happen. is this true or b.s.? what is a gel coat blister anyway???

We keep our boat in the water (fresh) from April through October. Yes, we found after a few years some minor blisters did form. I'll emphasize they were minor. We tend to go out after work for a few hours in the evening, so having our boat moored is absolutely essential in justifying the cost. I understand that it is nearly impossible to prevent blistering and it really is a hit and miss thing. Some brands of boats seem to be more susceptible than others. When we get our new Malibu in a few weeks, I intend to keep it in the river (unless we move to a place close to the dock). For us, the choice was really easy. Mooring our boat provides at least 20 extra days on the water. <BR> <BR>I believe a gel coat blister is a delamination of the gel coat (water passes through the gel coat via osmosis) that causes "bubbles" to appear on the surface. Gel coat is porous. <BR> <BR>If anyone has a magic prevention, I would love to hear it.

march-october and this year i did leave it in the water during winter.no blisters(yet)but i use a sikkens bottompaint.i don,t think they sell it in the u.s.a there are 2 kinds of paint.self-polishing and non-polishing.there is one guy who never has taken out his 23ft almar(sea-ray) out of the water for 19 years now.some rubber broke on his i/o so he had to take it out...we didn,t see any blisters. <BR> <BR>water passes through the gelcoat creates a bubble in time they will rot into the fiberglass and delamination of the fiberglass layers will occur. <BR> <BR>spelling?sorry i,m dutch <BR>

Hi Ben, how is the Mastercraft running this year?? <BR> <BR>We also left our boat in the water from april till october last year. We took it out one time in july for a holiday trip and cleaned/polished it. <BR>No strange things on the gelcoat happened yet. But like Ben we have our boat protected with Sikkens bottompaint. <BR> <BR>Cheers

I agree with Joel. It is a hit-or-miss deal if you leave the boat in the water for long periods (months) (with a fairly high probability of a problem regardless of brand). <BR> <BR>The fact that the SeaRay didn't show blisters when it first was hauled out doesn't necessarily mean anything. Blisters can show up after the boat has been out awhile, after the hull warms up a bit. It happened with a local boat I know of. Besides, unless it had bottom paint, how could you tell if it had blisters under all the marine growth? <BR> <BR>There also are stories of boats in colder water for long periods with no problem but blisters forming very soon after being moved to warm waters.

No offense guys but I keep my boat in the water and I purchased a boat hoist best $2000 dollars i've ever spend. Just my opinion but if your paying 40 grand for a boat $2000 dollars shouldn't be a problem

i used to have a boat lift at my old home and it was aweosme. but the place i live at now there are no docks and you cant build any. so i wanted to start leaving it in the water by shore right in my backyard.

Hey Jason, no offense taken. The only problem is that although I can afford a $40,000 boat, I can't afford the $800,000 waterfront property ... and there aren't any local marinas too keen on a personal lift. Great idea, though, and a must have when I win that big lottery!

If you keep your boat in the water make sure you have a great cover. It's pretty scary when you uncover your boat and the water is above the floor because it rained all week. Automatic bilge is also a must have.

My folks have a cabin where we keep their boat on a lift. The boat is hoisted completely out of the water when it is on the lift. As for a cover, we just have the canopy cover over it. I do have to wipe it down before use because of this since it does tend to attract spider webs in the boat. I'm not familiar with blisters though?

I WILL LAUNCH MY BOAT IN APRIL AND WILL KEEP IT THE WATER IN DENVEWR,CO UNTIL OCT. WHAT IS A GOOD ANTI FOULING PAINT FOR THE BOTTOM?

If you have a good boat, keep it in. You don't have to worry about emptying tanks or sacs every time you put it on a lift or hoist which can cause hull damage. I've had a '95 prostar for the past six years and its in the water from April to October and the hull literally looks like brand new. A friend of mine has a '99 malibu and after his first summer on the same lake, there was a permanent scum line imbedded into the gel coat-no lie because we clean and winterize our boats together with the same cleaning methods. Goes to show you the difference in gelcoat quality out there. Get something with a lifetime hull warranty and read the fine print