www.iFourWinns.com

I hauled out my 99 Vista 258 this past Saturday for layup. After cleaning off the bottom of the boat (virgin hull - no bottom paint), it revealed at least a couple hundred of "small" blisters among the transom, trim tab area, and all over the rear transom area of the boat.

Funny thing is the boat has always been racked stored up until last boating season (2006) where its been in a well for the past 2 seasons. Last year, we didnt have any problems. But this year we've had a lot of outdrive corrosion and now, blistering

So Ive heard a lot of conflicting info - fix the blisters NOW, dont fix them, epoxy coat over them, blah blah blah. I wanted to see what others have done, or what others think about this. Im very surprised that this happened, we haul out about 1x a month to top off the gas and acid wash the bottom of the boat. The boat is kept in freshwater, Lake St. Clair up here in Michigan.

Any suggestions on how to deal with this?

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

It happens... Being it's an older Vista it probably wasn't made with Vinylester resin and factory barrier coated like the current Vista's are. But that doesn't mean the new one's won't blister either. A few weeks in the water, a month, you are usually ok.. A season without barrier coat and bottom paint is just asking for..... Blisters.

To fix them? You don't want to hear the answer to that question... So instead I will point you in the direction of a really good read.

http://www.thehulltruth.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=173723&start=1

_________________
Brett DiMichele

I dont have any advice on repair, but I thought that I would say that my jet skis are starting to blister and they only see water a few days (5-7) per year, then they are stored in the garage.

I am going with, as gel coat ages, it blisters.

Good luck with your fix.

_________________
2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos