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Jamestown
Boat Yard has developed a reputation as an expert in the field
of osmotic blister repair. We pioneered many techniques and
products, and offer our services to customers and other repair
yards around the world.
Our service comes
with a 10-year or 5-year transferable warranty, this means
if you sell the boat the guarantee remains in affect as long
as the requirements have been followed. We can only offer
this guarantee after we have peeled the boat and completed
the drying process. This provides the opportunity to determine
if the blistering was caused by factors outside our repair
realm. In the last 10-plus years, we have only encountered
2 or 3 boats that fit into this category.
Our flat rates are as follows:
$350.00/ft x LOA for a 5 year warranty
$450.00/ft x LOA for a 10 year warranty
This covers labor & materials to peel, dry, fair, coat & apply
antifouling. Work not included involves removal & replacement
of the thru hulls, stripping appendages, the cost of the antifoulant
paint, repainting the boot stripe (if necessary), haul/block/launch,
& unstep/step the rig. The reason we do not include these
items is as follows:
Thru hulls - since the condition of thru hulls varies so much
from boat to boat we cannot accurately estimate the time involved
to remove.
Appendages – lead keels should not suffer from osmosis,
rudders are generally structurally thinner and have a greater
propensity to have water intrusion from the stock.
Antifoulant
– because of the variety of paints and price ranges
available, we do not include this.
Boot Stripe -this is also not included since we do not always
have to peel this area. Only if the blisters have extended
into the area do we need to peel the boot top. If so, then
repairs & repainting work will be necessary to blend the
repairs completed.
Our Procedure
To give you an idea of all the work involved following is
a step by step description:
Upon hauling, the thru hulls are removed and the scum line
marked for peeling, as you know, the waterline as painted
may not reflect the true submersion point, thus we peel down
from the scum line.
The boat is peeled, using our robotic gelcoat/laminate peeler,
to a depth required to remove all damaged laminate and gelcoat.
This is typically between 100-125 mils. The five-year warranteed
job will have one pass of our peeler around the hull. The
ten-year warranteed job takes away more material and thus
the peeler takes two “laps.” The boat is dried
to 5% on the A scale of our Sovereign Moisture Meter. The
drying takes place with infrared catalytic heaters and is
a critical step in the proper repair of osmotic blisters.
We have experimented with every conceivable way of drying
hulls, including vacuum bagging, and found infrared heat to
be superior.
Once dry, the bottom is ground in way of struts, keel, etc,
and prepped with solvent wipedowns. The next step within the
five-year warrantee job is that the bottom is coated with
a low viscosity vinylester primer (LVVE), and then a build-up
using the same vinylester primer and fairing compound that
is applied via our resin extension machine. The first coats
of LVVE resin are typically 20-30 mils and are used as a neat,
unfilled barrier. The subsequent coats are gradually thickened
(using the resin extender) to form a sand-able LVVE fairing
compound. 
The bottom is then faired using our hydraulic power-board
sanding unit. This unit replaced the use of manual long boards
and gives a faired bottom similar to how a boat would look
straight out of a mold
Once fair, the bottom is post cured; this is achieved by skirting
the boat and applying temperatures in excess of 100?F for
a period of 48 hours. We then spray International 2000 Interprotect
to a minimum of 20 mils. The Interprotect is an epoxy barrier
that has very high moisture barrier properties. An epoxy barrier
is required to assure a good bond of the antifoulant to the
LVVE fairing. The Interprotect, not only assures good bonding,
but also has the advantage of superior moisture barriers and
thus is the ideal product. The application of epoxies over
the vinylester products is the reason we are required to post
cure the LVVE. It is important to remember that the LVVE is
our true barrier coat, the Interprotect is a tie-coat with
additional barrier properties.
With the ten year warranteed job, after two passes with the
peeler, we apply vinylester resin and chopped strand mat with
our chopper gun to a minimum of 60 mils. This newly applied
chopped laminate is faired and then we start the above-mentioned
vinylester coatings. Again, over the years we have done extensive
independent testing of coating systems using epoxies as well
as vinylester resins. The vinylester resins outperformed the
epoxies in accelerated moisture testing and is the reason
we are able to achieve such a high success rate. In addition,
the use of properly calibrated chopper guns allows for superior
wet out and bubble quota than hand laid glass and resin.
The thru hulls are reinstalled and additional coats of a
contrasting colored antifoulant (for signal coats) can be
applied. Upon owner approval the boat is launched. After final
payment and with prior yard approval the boat, along with
any written warranties, is passed to the owner.
In a nutshell that is what’s involved. We are leaders
in the field of blistering repair and have been at the forefront
of blister repair, bringing many processes & material
systems into the field.
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