Water blisters on gel coat

I've got a 2004 Malibu Wakesetter VLX and two weeks ago when I took it out of the water to change the fuel filter (I keep it in a slip) everything was fine. I just took it out yesterday and at the back of the boat, right at the water line the gel coat is starting to blister. It's symmetrical on both sides right by the rear ballasts. It's about a foot long, and just looks like it's bubbling under the paint. Has anyone else had this problem, or know what to do about it. When I get a chance I'll post some pics. Thanks

Just a heads up, gel coat is porous. So when your planning to leave it in the water you should make sure you have a good coat of wax on the gel.

IIRC Malibu has a one year warranty on gel defects such as blisters.

Contact your dealer now!!!!!!

FYI - All fiberglass can blister. A good paint helps. If you are going to put a boat in a slip, strongly consider a good paint to prevent such problems. Alabative paints do not count, put a paint such as Imron or Awlgrip down first. It will save a lot of frustration later.

In such a short period of time there is something wrong with the fiberglass. It should not absorb that much water that fast unless the satuaration was incomplete or the resin mix was off.

Good Luck. Malibu is a good company and they should stand behind their product.

On an '04...........I'd be on the dealer and the factory like stink on sh*t.

There's a lot of information (and misinformation) regarding the causes of blisters, preventative measures, and solutions. The link below is to the best site I've found for information. I think some of it might be surprising if you haven't looked into blisters:

http://www.yachtsurvey.com/blisters.htm

"Blisters Again?" is an interesting article on this page

JR

Boat-building is at least much art as science. AFAIK, any fiberglass boat can blister, and some can blister in a short amount of time. Contributing causes include the gelcoat resin (or a specific batch of gelcoat resin) and the gelcoat application process (which is done by hand, so inevitably there is a variation between boats).

With a relatively new boat, the question I ask isn't "What did the manufacturer do wrong?" It's "What is the manufacturer doing to make it right?"
Oh yeah; and start saving up for a boat lift.

In most new boat manuals (for fiberglass boats) it is clearly stated that they cannot be left/stored in the water (for extended periods of time) without the application of bottom/barrier paint. As stated above gelcoat and fiberglass are porous. The condition you describe is called "osmotic blistering".

Get this taken care of ASAP. This condition will only get worse and begin to affect the surrounding fiberglass (if it hasn’t already).

What is considered a long period of time? I leave mine in maybe Friday afternoon thru Sunday afternoon and not like that every weekend. Typically just Saturday thru Sunday and it is washed down after every use.

dealer....NOW!

I asked the dealer to take a look at it yesterday when I took it in to get serviced. I haven't heard back from him yet. Thanks for everyones advice, John, that article helped a bunch. Thanks

I just found the same thing on my 2004 VLX. My dealer said it was ok to keep the boat in fresh water with no bottom paint. Let me know what your dealer says Evan. Btw mine are in the same spot.

(Message edited by bwood on August 22, 2004)

probably a bad mix of gel then

I don't think Evan said how long he had it in the water. He said he saw blisters when he took it out 2 weeks ago. A good general rule is to keep the boat out of the water as long as it's in the water. Early blistering will dry out as long as its taken out of the water and given the chance. The important thing is to always nip it in the bud by taking it out before blisters set in really bad and the water gets to the fiberglass. Then you're without a paddle. But that would take a while.

My fault, Evan did say it was in for 2 weeks. Seems a little short for taking on water but it will dry if given the full chance. Water is either creeping in or drying out. There was probably a thin layer already in there when it went back in and it just got worse.

My dealer said to use the boat and thay would fix the blisters in the offseason. He wants me to keep the boat in the water to see if more develop, then thay can fix them all.

A boat left in the water 24/7 will have hull problems. Wood boats rot. Steel rusts. Fiberglass boats get blisters.

This is a common problem with large cruisers. Some boats suffer terribly while others seem to be immune. It is just like teeth and the dentist: My wife and I eat the same food, we both brush our teeth, but I get cavities and she doesn't.

It is surprising to me, however, that you experienced them so quickly. I would have expected a new boat to go a few years before the first blister appears. This does not bode well for what to expect in the future.

I used to have a 36' cruiser. I would haul the boat every two years and expect to fix a number of blisters. I would generally have around 20 or so, and they would need to be ground out, filled and coated. I would apply barrier coat and bottom paint to keep the problem under control.

I would expect that your situation will be similar. It really sucks that the blisters are occuring at the water line where they (and the repair) will be visible.

Like Jeff said, you should consider a lift.

Rod

Do you think a SAN or a MC would have a better hull or do I just need to get bottom paint?

What causes a blister is well understood. What isn't well understood is how to make the fiberglass bottom resist them.

It is generally accepted that a poor job of fiberglassing will lead to more problems with blisters, but even the best job can still have problems. In general, though, a well made hull will have fewer problems than a cheap one.

"Bottom paint" isn't going to prevent blisters. It will prevent or at least reduce the amount of plant and animal growth on the bottom but it is not intended to be a water tight coating.

"Barrier coats" are often applied in an attempt to seal the bottom and prevent blisters. This is a thin coating of epoxy that is applied like paint (but costs a LOT more). The anti-fouling "bottom" paint is usually applied over the barrier coat.

Again, how the barrier coat is applied will be a factor in its effectiveness. Voids, pits, bubbles, etc. can allow water under the barrier coat. If your hull flexes (don't they all?) can crack the barrier coat. The trailer bunks/rollers could damage the barrier coat, hitting small objects in the water can ding it, and the rubbing of fenders at the water line can scuff off the barrier coat.

You are just so much better off to have the boat out of the water when you aren't using it.

Rod

Thanks Rod that's what I'm thinking.

Rod,

A friend of my family builds boats for a living and has for years. He uses a high quality epoxy barrier coat and has NEVER had blisters appear on any of his boats. He builds big luxery boats up to 150' and as you can imagine there is no expense spared. The reason epoxy barrier coats are not used on smaller boats ie. ski boats is because it is time consuming, messy and very costly. The result is it adds significantly to the selling price of a boat. When you take into consideration most ski boats do not sit in the water year after year as a yacht would it seems pointless to go through the proccess. Also as you pointed out constant trailering etc would take its toll on the barrier coat.
On the other hand there is me who lives 30 seconds from the ocean and i keep my boat moored, there is nothing better than boarding at 6:00 am and being at work by 8:00 am 5 days a week! If I was to trailer my boat I would not get half as much riding in.
I have a 2004 Mobius and pull it out of the water every week to wash and wax.....a total pain in the ass. This winter I am going to barrier coat, bottom paint and never look back. The other advantage to this is I will not be sacrificing my trailer every 5 years due to dunking it in the salt.

Cheers

I was just at the malibu plant and they actually do use a barrier coat between the gel and the glass, but even those that do have a chance to blister.

Much like Moomba uses a vinylester barrier coat this too has a chance to blister. This product is not the same as a high quality epoxy barrier coat such as "International" brand.

Just got the boat back from the shop today. The dealer said that he can take care of it for me, but would rather have the factory do it. He's going to get it touch with Malibu and work something out, and he just told me to use the boat in the mean time and to keep an eye on it. I took some pictures of them, but the dimensions of the picture are too large too post. I've never uploaded a picture on the internet, I guess I've never really had a reason to until now. So if anyone knows how to shrink the dimensions of an image to fit on this page, then I can put a pic of the blisters up. Thanks

That's what mine look like. After thay fix them are you still going to keep your boat in the water?

Well, they'll probably fix them in the winter if they have to ship it to the factory. If thats the case, the next spring we may get a boat lift, but we'll probably just be taking it out of the water about 1 day a week and cleaning it and letting it dry out. It's my dads boat so ultimately it's his decision whether or not get the lift. I know that he's not too fond of dishing out that much money after just buying an expensive boat. If it were up to me I'd get a lift, but we'll see how things play out.