I Guess the Party is Over
21 August 2009
I've been putting off writing because I'm afraid this may herald the end of the line...
So... as of August 5th we were out of the water and the hull was being stripped. It is now August 20th and guess what? We are still out of the water.
In the last blog post I wrote that the re-paint the bottom had turned into "power-wash, inspect, UH-OH, strip to gelcoat (sandblast), reseal & apply new barrier coat, repaint"
The "Uh-Oh" upon inspection was the appearance of a few "cosmetic" blisters. For the uninitiated, a blister on a boat is, well, what it sounds like. Water being absorbed through the gelcoat and fiberglass laminates in the hull causes blisters. Once thought impervious to water, it has been discovered that constant contact with water can cause it to be absorbed through the gelcoat. The water absorbed causes changes in the physical makeup of the hull and reacts with the resins, which build up residues and finally raise blisters by increased pressure on voids between the laminate and the gelcoat.
The process of stripping the bottom revealed more blisters than we originally thought, and, unfortunately, many of them were more than "cosmetic." When we first got the news tears welled up in my eyes. I felt as if I had just been told my boat has cancer. A couple deep breaths and some research, however, made me feel a little better. Andrew likened it to acne; one website I read called it chicken pox. Either way it doesn't have to be terminal. We could have chosen to ignore it, paint over the blisters, and keep going. It isn't a safety concern - it's not like the boat would sink. The problem would arise in the future when we (someday) decide to sell the boat.
Ignoring them, however, would also mean they would just get worse. Left long enough it could, eventually, become a major problem which would be terminal.
That left us with a decision - what to do. In large part it was a question of time and money. Originally we were told that to fully dry out the hull (some were oozing liquid) could take up to 6 months and the blister repairs could cost between $20,000 and $30,000. That's right - 20 THOUSAND dollars and six MONTHS of not living in our home.
GULP!
This is why I hadn't updated the blog - I couldn't face it.
The good news is this is one of those situations where things may not be as bleak as they first appear. After spending several days trying to sort how we'd live (where) and how we'd pay for it (hard to get a loan when you don't own anything!), we got the less bad news. It looks as if at least some of the water seeping out may have gotten in during the power washing/stripping. That means the saturation isn't as extensive as first appeared. The plan now is to let it continue to dry out for the next couple weeks after which they'll dig out the worst of the blisters (until they get to good fiberglass). It is then a matter of rebuilding up the fiberglass, paint and we're done.
So we're now talking perhaps about 4 weeks and a cost in the thousands, not the ten-thousands. Still an unanticipated expense, but certainly MUCH better news.
Fortunately my mother's plans keep her in NC until mid to late September so we can remain 'berthed' at her place for now. If we're lucky that'll be about the time the boat is ready for occupancy. Now if we could just teach the cats not to sleep in the windows (officially they aren't here) we'll be all set!
This does, however, mean that our sailing days are over for the time being. It has been an exciting adventure and while it had its downs, we remember the ups much more vividly.
Thanks for reading about our adventures...
Fair Winds,
Carolyn, Andrew, Spinnaker & Jigger