We just completed the survey yesterday on a 1983 DeFever 41 on which we
have a contract to purchase, contingent on a satisfactory survey, etc.

At the haul out, the surveyor (actually two of them) pointed out little
bubbles in the gelcoat. They were definitely in the gelcoat, not in the
fiberglass. The largest were perhaps 3/8" across, most were less. A few
had broken open (not very many) and the surveyor broke one to see what,
if anything was behind it - nothing but air! They were numerous enough
that initially it looked like drops of water from a hose beading on the
hull. They are visible only on the hull, between the waterline and the
caprail. They don't seem to exist on the surface of the rest of the boat.

When I mentioned this to the owner later in the day, as we were getting
ready to leave, he said that the boat had always had them since he
bought it in 1998, and that he had a rough estimate of $18-20K to remove
the existing gelcoat, and apply new gelcoat, hopefully eliminating
whatever caused the bubbles in the first place.

The surveyor had never seen them before and was mystified. We all
speculated that they were caused by some defect in the surface
preparation prior to applying the original gelcoat.

While they are almost invisible with the boat in the water (because of
the way light doesn't reflect off the hull when looking downward), I'm
concerned that they might start to "pop" and the hull would look like a
bad case of the chicken pox.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of problem? Is is
something to be concerned about? Is there any way to "cure" this pox?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young                      Manatee Cove Marina
M/V Sanderling                                  Patrick Air Force Base
Hampton 35 Trawler                              Melbourne, Florida

My 1985 41' President has the same little bubbles in the gel coat.
We purchased the boat 2 years ago and none have popped and have not seen nor
could tell if any new ones have come up. When we were looking at the
President yachts a couple of the others had the same problem, some worse
than others, but never any structural problems, just cosmetic.
Maybe one day when we have nothing better to do we'll clean them up.
Peter Comer
Amazing Grace
President 41
Pensacola

-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces+pbcomer=cox.net@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces+pbcomer=cox.net@lists.samurai.com]
On Behalf Of Bob McLeran
Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 3:50 PM
To: Trawlers & Trawlering List
Subject: T&T: DeFever 41 purchase survey results - gelcoat bubbles

We just completed the survey yesterday on a 1983 DeFever 41 on which we
have a contract to purchase, contingent on a satisfactory survey, etc.

At the haul out, the surveyor (actually two of them) pointed out little
bubbles in the gelcoat. They were definitely in the gelcoat, not in the
fiberglass. The largest were perhaps 3/8" across, most were less. A few
had broken open (not very many) and the surveyor broke one to see what,
if anything was behind it - nothing but air! They were numerous enough
that initially it looked like drops of water from a hose beading on the
hull. They are visible only on the hull, between the waterline and the
caprail. They don't seem to exist on the surface of the rest of the boat.

When I mentioned this to the owner later in the day, as we were getting
ready to leave, he said that the boat had always had them since he
bought it in 1998, and that he had a rough estimate of $18-20K to remove
the existing gelcoat, and apply new gelcoat, hopefully eliminating
whatever caused the bubbles in the first place.

The surveyor had never seen them before and was mystified. We all
speculated that they were caused by some defect in the surface
preparation prior to applying the original gelcoat.

While they are almost invisible with the boat in the water (because of
the way light doesn't reflect off the hull when looking downward), I'm
concerned that they might start to "pop" and the hull would look like a
bad case of the chicken pox.

Does anyone have any experience with this sort of problem? Is is
something to be concerned about? Is there any way to "cure" this pox?

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young                      Manatee Cove Marina
M/V Sanderling                                  Patrick Air Force Base
Hampton 35 Trawler                              Melbourne, Florida

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