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Regarding blisters and leakage:
I got some pimple sized blisters which eventually mostly
disappeared after the boat was out of the water for 5 or 6
months.
Upon investigation I found two things.
(1) There was some, not much, water under the interior liner
which had come in and not evaporated or leaked out the hole by
the mastpost to be mopped up.
(2) I found a small piece of the gelcoat missing, half a penny
sized, under the boat near the rear of the keel; which I
patched.
To dry, I left the hatch open and covered her with a trap last
winter (in the barn). I ran a fair sized fan all winter. Once
I was using her I left the hatch open and a tarp to keep rain
out. (Not that we had any rain).
I posted my dimple blister problem on the Potter list and
received several replies privately and one or two on the list.
The replies basically were blisters can only be solved by taking
her to a boat yard and plunking up $200 per foot. FAT CHANCE!
I am sure I could find another for $5000, junk mine and have
plenty of spares <BG>.
What amazed me is that I can't recall ANYONE else with a POTTER
who admitted to having ANY BLISTERS! I don't place any blame on
the Potter manufacturer of 1990, stuff happens, and I think for
the money the Potter has always been a good buy based on what I
see written here.
There do seem to be some leaking problems, and some can be
solved by resealing. Some apparently can't. I have resealed
the side chainplates twice and they are leaking again. I get a
lot of water in the side shelves when it rains. I am going to
install a small rubber "umbrella" (or something) to deflect the
water away and see if that works. I'll report at end of 2000
season. Any ideas appreciated!
I now use a solar powered fan in the cowl hole on the forepeak
in the summer and will install inside fan when I put her in the
barn or under a tarp. The MOISTURE level is GREATLY reduced to
negligible now. I think condensation can be as big a problem as
leakage.
Regarding preventing blisters by using bottom paint:
MY UNDERSTANDING (and I don't know much), is that bottom paint
(if you mean anti-fouling) won't keep it from blistering. There
are epoxy paints that might help. However, I haven't done that
because at this point I think my problem was either that hole,
or the inside leaks (or condensation) or all of the above. I
had less pimples this spring then last fall. Boat was in the
water for a month in spring and 2 months this fall, and
yesterday when I pulled her and washed her off there are LESS
then there were this spring. My son who was with me the day we
discovered the pimples was with me yesterday and he was amazed
at the lack of pimples. This reinforces my feeling that the
problem was internal.
Still love my Potter,
Ted Duke
WWPs19 #626 (1990) The Duchess