Gelcoat blistering?

[B Leitch]

Would anyone reading this thread buy a 3 year old boat with spreading blisters? Probably not! I know I wouldn't!
So if I go to sell my 22Ve to upgrade to a newer one should I suffer a depreciated price due to a munufacturing problem? The more I think about it the more I believe the factory should at least show some interest in this.
I just joined this board yesterday and must thank you all for your advice, support and opinions....they are truly appreciated. Hopefully I can find someone at Tige to show the same passion, pride and concern for their boats as do the owners on this board.
Regards,
Bob

[dogbert]

Would anyone reading this thread buy a 3 year old boat with spreading blisters? Probably not! I know I wouldn't!
So if I go to sell my 22Ve to upgrade to a newer one should I suffer a depreciated price due to a munufacturing problem? The more I think about it the more I believe the factory should at least show some interest in this.
I just joined this board yesterday and must thank you all for your advice, support and opinions....they are truly appreciated. Hopefully I can find someone at Tige to show the same passion, pride and concern for their boats as do the owners on this board.
Regards,
Bob

Just some advice, you'll get a lot further if you include the company in a solution. I'd recommend contact them immediately (directly) and explain your situation. The only thing you'll accomplish on this board is a lot of pontification and venting.

[da.bell]

Just some advice, you'll get a lot further if you include the company in a solution. I'd recommend contact them immediately (directly) and explain your situation. The only thing you'll accomplish on this board is a lot of pontification and venting.

Don't forget about the deleted thread

PM Harvey on this board, he should be able to help you out also.

Harvey's Public Profile on TO

[dogbert]

Don't forget about the deleted thread

Always causing trouble, aren't you

[MRMoffat1]

Ok, I'd contact Tige directly to make sure the dealer reported the problem. You should not have these types of issues. Post some pics if you can as well.

2006 22Ve. No blister problems. 50 hours on boat per year, at about 200hr now. Concur - You should not have these types of issues. Post some pics if you can as well.

Additional info: trailered, garaged.

[MRMoffat1]

Would anyone reading this thread buy a 3 year old boat with spreading blisters?

Nope

[AdaminMN]

When I was doing hull work on our last boat, I was told by our local sailboat dealer, polyester based gelcoat absorbs water. If a gelcoated boat is to be sitting in the water for a season it should have a barrier coat applied to it. The barrier coat seals the pores in the gelcoat so water can't enter. I think it's pretty safe to assume sailboat gelcoat can't be much different, if any, than skiboat gelcoat. That's why when I do work below the waterline I use epoxy based resins instead of polyester based ones.

We sold our almost 30 year old 27' sailboat to purchase the Tige'. The sailboat sat in the water from Memorial day to Labor day every year in warm, fresh water, and didn't ever have one blister. It was barrier coated.

I think's safe to say that if you plan on keeping a fiberglass boat in the water for extended periods of time, the hull should be prepped, somehow.

However, you'd have to hold a gun to my head before I took a paint roller to my Tige'. Also, If my boat were as new as B's, and I bought it new, I too would have an axe to grind w/ someone...

[MoneyPity]

Gelcoat is not impervious to water. If a fiberglass boat sits in the water too long an is not given a chance for the water between the glass and the gelcoat in a way gets trapped between the two and over time causes the blister to form where the built up water and blisters from within.

At a Lake in Northern Indiana a friend bought the same model Fourwinns as I did. In Five years from being in the water for most of the summer his hull was absorbing water and it began to blister all over the boat mainly at the waterline and below.

I bought the same boat Model a 1994 Horizon SE and when I traded the boat in on my 20V and after 14 years it would spend summer weekends and typically 14 vacation days on Tablerock or Bullshoals lakes and never a gel coat issue. When my dealer did a through inspection the found out there was a transom leak where the lower unit is mounted had a small leak into the boat via the lower unit and a gasket that failed. After launches, water wood seap into this spot until the wood expanded an stopping further seepage. It may have occurred more than we thought to replaced the original pump with a float based automatic pump which would pump out the seepage. Since it never re-occurred in our eyes it was causing wood rot that we did not detect. The dealer only caught it because they do a detail inspection of any boat that they keep to sell.

[B Leitch]

Gelcoat pic's

Thank you all for your help. Last weekend I winterized my 22Ve and took some photo's of the blisters. I was shocked how much the blistering had progressed. Some of the blisters are almost a 1/2 inch in diameter. I have attached some of the photo's for your review and comment. Has anyone seen this kind of blistering on their Tige? I would appreciate any feedback.
Thanks for your help.
Bob

[yearroundboarder]

That's severe. How long was it sitting in water? I've had my 2006 22Ve' in fresh water for 3-4 days at a time and not one blister below the waterline.

[MRMoffat1]

Has anyone seen this kind of blistering on their Tige?

Wow. Never. If that is grey bottom, I have the same color.

[nm1800]

More Gelcoat Issues - Tige' Won't Help Resolve

I have a 2007 20i with a bottom that looks exactly the same as the pictures posted in this thread. It also has at least the the same level of gelcoat bubbling severity. I engaged in conversation with Tige' including Harvey Smith and Andrew Reyes. Ultimately Tige's executive management will point you to a small clause in your user manual which states any Tige' boat that may be left in the water for a period of more than 1 week at a time should be pulled out of the water to be dried out.

Personally I think the entire problem is a load of crap. I feel they are hiding from the real issue of advising prospective owners, BEFORE they buy Tige' boats, that these boats should really only be trailered, not left in the water. Thousands of boats all over the world are left in fresh water indefinitely but miraculously Tige' seem to have cornered the market on this problem by using poor quality polyester gelcoat.

If you want to purchase a boat where the manufacturer understands that people leave their boats in for extended periods of time I guess you need to buy a Mastercraft or Nautique or Malibu. It's sad to admit that Tige' will do NOTHING at all for a consumer who has this problem and nothing for the dealer who sells the boat. Great customer service!

Now I can be put in the group of buyers who will never say good things about a Tige' without pointing the individual to the issues they will face if they don't ONLY trailer the boat......

[da.bell]

nm1800, we understand but the issue is not just Tige. All gelcoats on boats are "not impervious to water" (MoneyPity, 8/23/2009). I am sure all other boat companies have that same issue. You just don't hear about them on this forum.

[da.bell]

Mastercraft blisters: http://www.mastercraft.com/teamtalk/...ad.php?t=21097

Nautique suggestions for extended periods of time in the water: http://www.whitelake.com/files/20081...ique%20211.pdf

Malibu's suggestions for extended periods: pg 50 http://www.malibuboats.com/manuals/99manual.pdf

As you can see, Tige isn't the only one and there are manuals that tell you that keeping your boat in the water for extended periods of time is not a good idea.

[dingleberry]

Also, FYI, keeping a boat "out of the water" doesn't mean it has to be trailered. There is a thing called a boat lift...