gelcoat blistering & repair 10' inflatable, need advice

[ron7000]

have a 10' avon inflatable from west marine. Around 3 years old. It has a full fiberglass hull. I cleaned the bottom yesterday from last years barnacles and found a lot of blistering, all about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in size. The keel has some gouges from beaching and trailing which is expected, however the blistering is here and there along the whole bottom. It's not 5 or 10, probably about 50+ if I took the time to count them. I had scoured the hull down with a rotary scotch-brite type pad in anticipation of bottom paint but now I wonder if I should put the effort and money into it now. Has anyone been through this type of repair and can recommend materials and procedures? I think I need an epoxy, but which one, interlux or VC or petit? Should I take all the gelcoat off the bottom and epoxy the whole thing to be safe? I have a feeling that these boats may be cheaply made, meaning more blistering is probably on the way.<br />I also keep the boat in the water all summer on my dock, may to november.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: gelcoat blistering & repair 10' inflatable, need advice

At least the hull is small, so a repair will be much easier than on a 50 footer.<br /><br />You have a few options, live with it and just bottom paint it, sand it down and use multiple coats of epoxy barrier coat, or sand it down and put a layer of glass with VE resin or epoxy on it.<br />The only method that really works is to sand it down and put more glass on it with VE or epoxy and since it's so small, the cost won't be that bad so epoxy would be the best choice.<br /><br />The brand of epoxy won't make that big of a difference, just go with the one you can get the best help from (website or local outlet).

 

[ondarvr]

Re: gelcoat blistering & repair 10' inflatable, need advice

Check with the place you bought it from, they may at least help you out with the cost of supplies.

 

[Laddies]

Re: gelcoat blistering & repair 10' inflatable, need advice

West System epoxy has a very good manual on blister repair