Todd Duff

The boat was a 1979 Morgan 461 sloop that had spent nearly her entire life immersed in tropical waters. While sanding the thick buildup of bottom paint, the crew discovered many hundreds of tiny blisters. They first tried opening each one with a Dremel tool and waiting for the laminate to dry (PHOTO 1). The original plan was to “spot fill” these blisters using epoxy filler. However, when moisture levels failed to come down significantly after several weeks, an exploratory removal of the gelcoat was in order. That revealed a bigger problem (PHOTO 2).

The blister question

To peel or not to peel? Issue 97 : Jul/Aug 2014 The photos on these pages illustrate a complete six-layer laminate peel and replacement using biaxial cloth and vinylester resins followed by an epoxy b...

May 13, 2026