I would suggest washing down the area during prep with acetone or M.E.K. and not water. Acetone with evaporate the quickest.

Always relaxing to watch other people work. Great stuff to learn. Thx

Josh you have the best way to explain these things to an average Joe like me who is trying to fix the holes without any knowledge about boat maintenance. thanks man

Thanks for this. We are in the process of addressing the blisters on our Trintella. We have lots more than you! This was helpful.

Used this same process to repair blisters in my fiberglass pool. Thanks for sharing helped ALOT!

Great video and thanks for sharing. Just a little pointer, instead of a knife to apply the paste, best to use a plastic scraper. I use old credit cards and cut them into various sizes. I use a thinner section to first apply the past then force the past deep in to the affected area. I force the past all 4 ways , back, forth, up and down to ensure the hole/clevis is completely filled and air bubbles removed. I then apply a bit more past and use a full size card to achieve and almost perfect repair with almost no sanding required. Experience and sharing information is the key.

Josh, your (Learn How to Sail) and (I Bought a Beneteau/Meaning of Life) video gave me the courage to purchase my first sailboat. I can't thank you enough for showing exactly what to do and for being a mentor.

A little chemistry! Great job, great volg Josh.

Enjoyed the surprise and showing even a newbie can perform the task. The journey as important as destination. Learning growing. Well done

Thanks for sharing your learning curve. Makes me feel a little less small.

Hey Josh, well done. I luv your life philosophy and your spirit Keep up the great videos. You are the man !!

Excellent! Clear explanations and to the point. Loving your videos

Because I've spent 45 yr's in the Auto / Marine Car boat restoration field I can tell you first hand how important it is to get after this but for added security I use a hand held Wagner electric heat gun to actually pull any remaining moisture out of the Fiberglass sub-straight ..

Great videos, Josh. Very practical and easy to understand.

Thanks Josh, very instructive. My dream is also to own a boat.. and what a nice bought u just purchased! You made a pretty good deal. Au revoir from France!

Love me some Fawcett's! Great vid, thank you. I'm sailing out of Galesville on the West River.

Tremendous Josh- as usual.THANK YOU.

excellent job and clearly understandable, I appreciate it

Excellent teaching video.

I did a whole live seminar showing how to do this. Even so, this was faster, more helpful and much more useful information. Sub'd, thanks.

Thank you for teaching.

Thanks man and happy sailing.

Pretty good video! Even down here in germany with my bad english I did understand every step very well! Good job. Looking forward watering the ship.

Hi Josh, and thanks. I once set out to build a kayak, which required the use of the "West System". I read all their information carefully, and clearly recall that the new fibreglass should not be sanded for 14 days, as the uncured fibreglass dust can cause chronic lung problems . Here is the info from West Sytems Owners Manual: " Breathing dust from epoxy that is not fully cured increases your risk of sensitization. Although epoxy cures quickly to a sandable solid, it may take over two weeks at room temperature, or post-curing, to cure completely" . fyi

Thank you for sharing this part of your life with us, your videos are filled with information given in an understandalbe manner! Also, THANK YOU for your service to our nation, we would not be able to live like we do without people like you! I hope to one day get out on saltwater with a sailboat. I suspect it will be a bit different from my ski boat in kansas but after the double fusion in my lower back I can't waterski anymore.....

Excellent explanation.

New to your channel. Hope to learn heaps of info. Thanks for your time & info.

always enjoy your vids

your videos are extremely informational thank you

great video Josh! I had never seen using the cloth to repair the blister, but those were some large spots so better to err on the side of extra strength and a better repair than just patching it lightly. Time will tell.

Outstanding!👍👍👍👍👍

I bought a 41 First S, 1990 here in Fremantle WA so I am right in your vibe 😁

Well done , you're doing a good job . good to see .👍⛵👍

I am learning . Thank you so much .

the reasons blister appear in the first place is because of improper application of the gel coat to the fiberglass. This could happen for several reasons. A: Cold weather when the hull was first built. B: Very damp weather when the hull was built. C: Glass coat was not "tacky" when gel coat was applied. With boat hulls made in permanent molds the mold is first waxed, then the gel coat is applied. By the way gel coat is nothing more then fiberglass resin with color pigmentation added to it. While the gel coat is still tacky the fiberglass is shot into the gel coat to form the basic hull. If this is done in damp weather or cold weather the fiberglass may not fully adhere to the gel coat -- blisters will appear at a later date. when repairing blisters it is important to not just sand the gel coat but to sand until you reach the fiberglass. If this isn't done you are guaranteed to have problems in the same area in a short time.

Just discovered your channel. What a great instructional video in the use of fiberglass repair. You just got a new Sub. Many like myself feel intimidated because of a lack of "basic" knowledge in the use of fiberglass when it's not really that difficult. You make it easy to understand and take the mystery out of it. Vlogging entertainment is great....but instructional videos are of great interest and value to many. Keep up the good work. That's how we get through life....sharing knowledge with others. Thanks for sharing.

Great video

Excellent tutorial video, lmao when you said "wait it's Smoking"

I think In going to start calling you SMOKING JOSH! Great vid and very well done. I especially liked how you explained the layers Some newbies may not understand that aspect of a boats hull. I remember when I first heard the term gel-coat. I said...WHAT?! PEACE OUT! Ü

Nice work, cap'm.

Good video, thanks!

Great vid josh, thx

Very helpful.

If you mix whatever type of fast-curing resin, move it to a wider, shallow container and spread the material to a thin layer, the heat within a large thick batch grows exponentially hence the smoking or 'flash-cure'.

Many blisters will disappear shortly after haul out. Right after they pressure wash the hull, go around and pop and lift up the blisters with a small sharpened screw driver. This is so you can find them and to get them draining ASAP. The first chore after the boat is on the hard is to prep all the blisters since they take a while to dry. I like to give them at least a few days to dry if it’s not humid. I’ve used every thing from vacuum cleaners to heat guns to expedite the drying. Don’t use natured alcohol to dry/clean. Xylene or MEK is better but just two wet dabs, don’t soak it and do it about 15-20 minutes before you patch. I like to do wet brush of epoxy into the fiberglass to absorb right before the epoxy patch.

Todd Murphy's law says, if it ain't smokin, it ain't workin...👍👍⛵

This is a job I gotta do......probably September so good tips, I was looking to pay someone to do it but looks pretty straight forward and you explained it well (and entertaining enough). I brought a yacht in March to become a liveaboard but a big work project came up so I've been the boat maybe 8 times! :-/ It's all good though there's been some shitty weather here in the UK so no

Nice work and Video josh you did a excellent job on the narration and the video content a few minor things i do a little different instead of a Dual Action sander i use a grinder with a Sanding disc attachment on it because that grinds way faster i grew up in South Florida and i had a business that i worked on Boats and Yachts as a teenager i used to take on many Bottom jobs and that Grinder trick helped me to prep the hull free of Barnacles and Bottom paint bye i’m 56 years old now and in the 1970 and 80s they didnt have or use a Barrier coat over the Gelcoat i got paid by the job not hourly so the faster i got things done the more i made and down there we had a steady flow of vessels was that Fawcetts the one in Annapolis ?? i kept a Boat in Deale MD for over 20 years and used to run up to the Fawcetts there for some items the folks that worked there were very knowledgeable and they had a large plotter that could print full size paper charts for any where in the world you desired sure i use modern technology but ive navigated all over the World using paper Charts plus they are a little Nostalgic to me on places ive visited before with hand written notes and even contacts and names of locals that helped me out in those parts its always nice to reunite and maybe even share a few cocktails with people yu share common interests with ive kind of found putting those notes into a computer or electronics just doesn’t have the same feel to it ? i guess i am from a generation that would take the time out to hand write a card or letter and mail it to that person and thats not something your age does or cares about as you look to be about the age of my own children at this time

Thank you

Awesome. It was your video I got the sailing basics. Now I'm struggling to find and learn the integrity of 1973 fiberglass hull tech. So.eone.told me they are floating tanks.

Ouch, my teeth hurt while watching that. Great work!

dang good vid

Drill a few holes in the bottom of the rudder. Bag it and attach a vacuum pump. ... I would also lightly sand the epoxy between coats to insure proper bonding

You MUST! wear a mask and respirator when working with fiberglass dust from sanding, epoxy use, and especially when using colloidal silica, your safety is #1!

Thanks Josh for this useful Information Do I need to make a layer of, gellcoat or primer before the antifouling gets ?

Kowabunga, dude! Lieutenant, if you grew up in Southern California and surfed and had to do your own board repairs back in the day, you'd know all this! Wish I had a nickel for you every day "hot batch" that "cooked off" while I was patching the rails or skeg or deck shatters on my board because some of hodad or kook ran me over!!

decent instructional video. if I were to make a suggestion: include a safety warning about the colloidal silica ("wear a good fitting mask, don't open the container in high winds, etc..") and I don't know if it would be worth priming/barrier coating the patches before antifoul final coat or not, as they seem like small repairs. but really, good content, thanks!

on the smoking epoxy, one once mixed thin the epoxy mixture around the cup so its not in to "thick "of a mass clump, or two you can switch to tropical slow west hardener 209

No barrier coat over the repair before bottom paint?

I’m a bit surprised to see the resin go off like that, it might be the quantity or that you didn’t get the base epoxy mixed properly before adding the filler (even though it surely didn’t look like that). Epoxy sets a lot faster in a pot compared to spread out though. For reference, I laminated a half square meter part at 22C yesterday, using the fast hardener and almost a kilogram of resin, and it took its time setting up, maybe an hour. Acetone is preferable for cleaning, as it flashes off almost instantly (in warm conditions it is almost impossible to trap any acetone as you’d have to be in humanely fast with applying the resin). The glass matting is probably a good idea, since it adds strength, where the filler doesn’t. Great video though, you’re really good at making interesting videos!

Lol "just wanna dab it" that quick cartoon got you a subscriber 🤣🤣🤣❤✌

Use a mask those fumes are hazardous. BTW thank you for putting all this effort to share your knowledge with us.

Hallo Josh That smoki thing Kohls EXOTHERM and that happen when you mix composites in a small cop for long time than his lifetime

...or clean the surface prep area with dentured alcohol instead of water. (Been reading way too many Interlux guides ;))

Excellent videos. Any chance of you producing more sailing vlogs?

I find if I put the cup of thickened epoxy into another cup of ice, it will not kick as fast and you can complete the work in the hot sun.

Very good video on technique; thanks. One point: I have seen warnings about using colloidal silica filler due to the danger of inhalation. One shipwright I reviewed on video working with the product was particularly cautious, and would not even open the container without gloves and a respirator (not a fibre mask). Was this a concern?

Question for Josh (or anyone else who knows). I have multiple blisters that need to be repaired but I also have several areas where a cowboy marina (in Mexico) were overly aggressive with sanding and broke through gelcote (without telling me, they just painted over it (without even a barrier coat). Wouid i repair these in the same way? Separately, i have noticed that the boat has been sitting low in the water since the haulout. Can water absorption be so so severe that this can occur (or do we have something else going on)?

Replace the plastic spoon with a popsicle stick to stir.

Hello, I am thinking to have a small sauna in the after kabin of my glass fiber sailboat? May this project go well if I investering in a proper isolation? Or it that just an insane idea?

Did you ever think to using Adtech P77 polyester filler for blisters ?

👍👍

looks like epoxy is also going over the darkish antifouling ?

Great vids. Did u know defender marine does not charge sales tax (outside of CT) but they charge you shipping. If you have a few items to order and can wait you will prob save a few bucks.

I do my drill weekends where you are

"Blisters" are what they call 'Fisheyes' in automotive caused by dirt or contamination stuck under the paint...thanks for the great video👍

Interesting and make it seem less daunting. What type of Mat did you use? I have seen people cut various size disks of mat for larger areas, would you recommend that too? So no new barrier coat needed then...ie the epoxy layer is enough before bottom paint?

Can you tell us what cloth you used for this repair?

how did you get the 20% discount? that surely played a part in the difference in cost between fawcett and west marine

Hi Josh What boatyard you was able to do that job? Thank you for the video .

Hey People Stretch Shipping tape over the area way less volume and sanding AND Contamination of the area!

Great video. Why do you think you have the blisters in the rudder and not the rest of the hull?

UPDATE PLEASE its been a year, How are your repairs holding up?

I dont even own a boat, why am i watching this.

FYI... West Marine is now price matching any retailer, so the materials would have cost you the same.

It is not wanted to smoke or heat up. This is making a to fast harding and therefore weaker.

Poly resin or vinylester works as well, cost less and is easier to sand ...

Would using a heat gun help evaporate the water out ?

If you did not remove a fibreglass layer why add another one?....

Use plastic putty or mud knife on last part ...way quicker than plastic spoon or fork or whatever he used

Is it okay to use a heat gun or powerful hair dryer to speed up the drying process?

You're correct about how that hardens, it's an absolute pain to work with. Next time use Interlux Watertite. Easier and better in every respect.

I would've put another small fiberglass over the peanut butter to lock it in. Just me 🤙

Is it just me or did you micromanage this job a little too much.... I think I agree totally with all the material that you used...... Get it done!! If you had two dozen spots on the rudder how many spots could you have on the hull?? ......where the problem goes to the interior of the boat. 😱. I learn a lot here...

Epoxy will get hot enough to catch fire.

No boat has ever sank from blisters. Most likely the repair is more destructive than just leaving the blisters alone. Paint the bottom and move on. Blisters are like bumps on a golf ball that make the boat go faster.

Great Vidio,But I would Think If Anyone buy's the Repair Stuff,Make sure to Read all the direction's,and also Ask Question's to Other People Who have Don't that Type Of Repair..That Stuff is Expensive,For small Container Of It..

The rudder is not built like the hull. That is why the hull has few/no blisters. The rudder is gel coated foam with a metal frame the connects to the rudder post and then to the steering (wheel or tiller). This video will be very instructive as he completely rebuilds a rudder with similar blistering. Take a look: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/g7iIgdF33Z2ocoU.html I like Josh's videos but he is an amateur trying his best and making mistakes along the way. Don't act on Josh's example until you have read all of the posted comments. His previous hull transducer replacement video is a good example of what I mean. His methodology got the job done but was akin to "counting the cows by counting their feet and dividing by four" ie there is a better straightline method as pointed out by many posters. This isn't a criticism of Josh just a reminder that group knowledge often highlights a better way. And on his decision to keep the transducer astride the keel instead of forward of the keel as his manufacturer recommends. Modern depth sounders may not work well astride the keel. The new one may need a 360 degree, obstruction free signal cone.

Primer before bottom paint😅