Hull Questions...

[carterskemp]

hi all. again.

this time with a couple of questions that are bothering me about the hull of my boat.

it is a 1962 pearson triton #345. it has been on the hard for about 5 years. i purchased it last fall and am working on getting it seaworthy for this summer. the next few winters will be about getting it pretty.

one thing i think i did pretty well was prep the bottom. i gave the bottom a super good scrape and sand, got down to pretty good looking grey gelcoat, without sanding much of the gelcoat itself at all. i then filled a few spots with some thickened epoxy, sanded again. and then rolled and tipped two coats of Pettit Unepoxy. the bottom then looked so good that it made me happy for a week.
now as i get close to launching day next week, i have noticed a couple of weird little spots, about three quarters of the way down the keel and three quarters of the way back. kind of like looks like verdagris is poking through the bottom paint in little tiny crusted bits. this is after the keel was super duper smooth. there is no standing water in the bilge, and there is a garboard plug installed. pic one is of these spots.
does anybody know what this is? and is it a worry?


picture two is of a spot on the topsides that is doing something similar, but a little different. more of a brown sticky goo. this spot is exactly where the starboard chainplate wooden support is located. the wood itself is still super hard, but i did recaulk a leaky chainplate cover in this spot. it is the side facing west and the setting sun. the hull gets pretty hot with it being painted dark green. (part of future work is to redo the topsides back to original white) my gut says that this might be blisters. am i right? and again, should i worry this first season?


i am all about just getting on the thing to sail this summer. i will have time next winter to get into a few bigger projects, like soft deck spots, and topside redo.

thanks for your inputs. always really helpful.

-carter

[Rachel]

I can't really tell what is going on for sure, but a couple of thoughts:

1) On the picture of the bottom, is that paint over ballast pig(i.e. lead)? Or is that paint over fiberglass, elsewhere on the bottom?

2) On the photo of the topsides near the chainplates: I see some cracking and the brown pustule-looking things. Do you think someone might have faired over where the chainplates/knees sometimes make unfair "wobbles" in the topsides, and that whatever fairing compound was used might be cracking and/or doing something else?

Rachel

[carterskemp]

1) On the picture of the bottom, is that paint over ballast pig(i.e. lead)? Or is that paint over fiberglass, elsewhere on the bottom?


2) On the photo of the topsides near the chainplates: I see some cracking and the brown pustule-looking things. Do you think someone might have faired over where the chainplates/knees sometimes make unfair "wobbles" in the topsides, and that whatever fairing compound was used might be cracking and/or doing something else?

Rachel

thanks for the reply Rachel,

sorry for the lame pics. I could get some better ones with my better camera...


1) I think that where it is doing it is actually over fiberglass, but it might be where there is fiberglass over lead.

2) yep, fine cracks. the topsides are green paint, let me clarify; really bad green paint. I think it is actually brightsides green paint, which is over other green paint that was just slapped straight onto the original white. I taped off the topsides to paint the bottom, used 3M blue tape, decided not to paint the bottom quite yet at the time, decided to take it off so I wouldn't have issues, it wasn't on there for more than about 6 hours, and it peeled a bunch of paint off. straight to the white. so, yes, it could be a poor fair job.

which makes some sense, since blisters wouldn't necessarily be align with cracks. although they could be using the cracks as their point of release?


c

[Rachel]

On #1) There is certainly plenty of Triton variation, and then previous owners have had 40+ years to make modifications; however, if yours is an East Coast-built boat, I would expect #345 to have an external (exposed) ballast keel held on with keel bolts (as opposed to an internal ballast pig that sits inside the fiberglass hull.

On #2) It would be fairly unusual to have blisters on the topsides, since they are usually associated with water absorption (that typically takes place below the waterline; or, sometimes where water sits and pools). Given the less-than-stellar paint job you are describing, I wouldn't be too surprised if there was some lack of prep or maybe some unusual type of filler.

More photos would be helpful - can you get some macro and maybe some at an angle to show more detail? Also, perhaps an overall shot of the bottom to show where the first issue is in relation to the rest of the bottom.

Rachel

[Figment]

Pic number one, I'm guessing by your description, is aft of the lead ballast, in the foam "false keel" or "deadwood" portion of the hull. The foam holds water, until the boat warms when the water finds teensy little pinholes to the surface. The water reacts with the copper in the bottom paint to create the little nubs of verdigris you see.
Not worth worrying about at all.

Pic number two, something (water) got behind the paint, which is not surprising since it's cracking over the hard spot in the hull. That water dissolved something in the heat and is bubbling through. Ugly is only skin deep here. Fret not, sail on, figure it out when you repaint.

[Rachel]

I bet you're right on #1, Figment. After all, where there is an external Triton ballast pig forward, there is a "false keel" aft -- and it would be most likely to have weird pinholes/glassing/movement given its construction.

Of course you're probably right on #2 also; I certainly don't mean to imply that you're not right on everything ;)

[carterskemp]

thanks Rachel and Figment,

the answers seem spot on, and I will go about my business. launch day is Wednesday!

have I told anyone how much I love plasticclassic? really amazing.

Carter