I sanded a small area to see how deep the broken blisters go. They go deep; deep enough that they are still there (but smaller) after I removed enough material in the test area (2x3 in) that it is noticeably lower if you run your finger across the boat, or look at it from certain angles. I then focused in on a single blister and sanded that half inch area around it until I Noticed a different colored material beginning to show.
If you zoom in on the last image you can see some separation of the gel-coat from the underlying material.
@Wayne_Smith
Sorry if my pun confused you, I understood what you said and am glad your advice let me get a better idea of what condition the boat is in.
After a test paddle to see if it is a good fit (I believe it will) and to see if it gives me any “surprises” I will document my restoration, much like I did for my Dagger Vesper. It may be a while before my free time aligns with a good window of weather for the project though
Blistering was common in the early days of fiberglass boat construction.
It probably poses no structural problems for a sea kayak, but it is hard to eliminate from an aesthetic perspective. Deal with it as best you can. Sometimes a boat just needs to look good from 20 feet, not close up.
I should have said West System rather than just West for the epoxy brand. If you have not checked out the West System and interlux websites they provide a wealth of info for your project. They call what I referred to as thickener fillers. They have a number of guides for picking and mixing them. Most of the primers from Interlux, if not all, are the Interprotect products. From my experience, they have excellent adhering to the new resin and original the fiberglass. They help in hiding/filling imperfections/damage.
Whether you got the name right or not, it’s still some of the worst advice I’ve seen on this forum. There is absolutely no good reason to slather epoxy over the entire boat, nor is there anything to be gained by doing so. You’re setting up the OP for an immense amount of unnecessary work sanding epoxy, which is not fun, particularly once you add a thickener and have to deal with the resulting uneven surface.
As it is, he’s going to have to sand the boat to even out the surface, but at least gelcoat sands easily. At that point, it makes more sense to hit it with high-build primer, smooth it and paint it. That will produce a nice finish that’s easy to repair when the inevitable damage happens in the future.
BTW, there are several manufacturers of marine-grade epoxy that are very popular with boat builders, such as System Three and Raka, just to name two. West Systems makes good products and they’re readily available at West Marine, but their prices are quite high compared to their competitors who make equally good products.
I am surprised that someone thought that I meant to cover the entire boat with epoxy resin from what I wrote. It was a light-hearted exaggeration. Do you interpret everything literally?
Well I guess some people you
just
don’t
know.
And just for good measure, Micro-Balloons are not chopped fiberglass, they’re tiny, hollow glass spheres that make pretty smooth mixture that’s relatively easy to sand. You can also get glass micro-fibers, but they make a for a lumpy mixture that’s hard to get smooth and hard to sand.
You’ll only make the mistake of confusing these once.
