Gotta vent....I’m so sad

[VolsFan24]

So I bought my 1998 Bass Cat Jaguar over a year ago. I absolutely love the boat! Rides great. Pretty quick (70+). Full bench seat and dual console for the fam (wife and 2 daughters). More storage than I know what to do. HUGE front deck (custom deck extension). Built in cooler. Cosmetically it’s not perfect, but it looks pretty good for being 20 years old. On Sunday I spent about 6-7 hours in the bilge, cleaning it and cleaning some wiring up that I had been needing to do. I get done and am strapping the cover on (boat sits in driveway), when I notice little black spots on the hull. I look closer and realize that most of the hull is covered in blisters, and those black spots are blisters that have “popped”. My heart sank. I wanted to cry. I was starting my “upgrades” to get the boat ready to fish the high school season (i was going to captain a team). Step 1 was cleaning up the bilge and wiring so I can set up a bus bar and battery switch so i didn’t have wires everywhere. Well I didn’t even finish step 1 before I get hit with this news. Guess I’ll be calling fiberglass shops and seeing what my options are.

So I’ll be boatleas for a while....so sad
P.s.: I crawled under the boat before I bought it and I had it cleaned and waxed (hull too) by a VERY reputable shop, and no one noticed anything.

 

[BulletTJ]

Are you sure they are blisters? I have a friend that had this happen and he wanted me to look at it. Turns out it was dried shad eggs. Blisters are not usually real small and they are not uniform in size. I would see if they will wash off. We had to scrub them off his boat. He never wiped his boat down. I feel your pain and pray that I am right. Good Luck!

 

[Blue76]

If blisters they are usually where it sits on the carpet bunks. Most of the time you cannot see them when on the trailer. I found mine when I lifted it off the trailer to repair rock damage.

Where are they on your hull?

 

[Silverfish]

visit Smokey Mountain Marine Fiberglass Technologies on Facebook, they are the best fiberglass repair anywhere, don't make my mistake on using locals around Chester Frost Park on Hixson pike.... or even Dalton if you can get him to answer the phone. There's not any good fiberglass work in our area anymore, trust me on this one, if you need details call me 423-645-3306

 

[FishingwithRusty]

always sucks to find a problem, if youve got blisters onto the side of the boat i would say you have a VERY serious problem. blistering is almost always limited to where the boat sits on the bunks. first call i would make is to basscat, the folks are pretty good about taking care of owners......

 

[VolsFan24]

I talked to Bass Cat. My boat is too old for the transferable warranty. I think he said like 2000 is oldest. Said my only option was to take it to a repair shop. My thought was this usually only happens where the boat sits on the bunks. Maybe it was so bad that it spread. I have a couple bad pictures I took the evening I noticed it. They run up towards the keel and are up front where the boat doesn’t sit on anything.
While I’m at it, I might as well have the whole boat and trailer repainted and regelled. Since this isn’t going to be cheap at all I will not just take it to the first or cheapest person I talk to. Any thoughts or opinions on Nickajack Marine?

If you zoom in you can see the bumps that haven’t “popped”.

 

[FishingwithRusty]

well, its unfortunate that basscat wasnt able to help you on that. with it being that widespread in areas not related to the bunks i would be concerned about the integrity of the stringers and transom and if the foam is saturated with water

 

[Aries 181]

VolsFan24 - 11/7/2018 1:31 PM Any thoughts or opinions on Nickajack Marine?

Unless they have installed a fence, your boat will sit in an unsecured field out in the weather while on their property. Take Silverfish's warning to heart about the repair facility on Hixson Pike near CFP.

C&O marine is supposed to be good on glass work but I've never used them.

Bill

 

[porthos33]

Yeah man that really stinks! I have a few on my boat but none have popped and I'm planning on scrapping my hull and getting a different one soon. I know Strato G on here had his 22ft ranger fixed b/c he had some blistering going on last year. He also changed his bunks and got rid of the carpet. You could pm him on here and find out where he took his.

 

[fischnrod]

That's strange that you had it cleaned and nobody noticed it as much as the pictures show

 

[porthos33]

fischnrod - 11/7/2018 10:04 PM That's strange that you had it cleaned and nobody noticed it as much as the pictures show

I was thinking the same thing!! How could you miss that?!

 

[danrnsmyth]

just curious ..how was the boat hull cleaned??

 

[derek81]

I am suspect on what was used to clean the hull possibly causing this.

 

[VolsFan24]

I highly doubt it was something used to clean it, because then I would suspect A LOT more people would have the same problem. This isn’t to point fingers or anything. I’m chalking it up to owning a boat. It sucks and I hate it, but it is what it is. I gotta get over it and move forward. My next move is to let someone assess the damages. I’m assuming to check the stringers the boat would have to be split.
When I bought the boat, I was in the beginning of my search for the “perfect” boat that I love and want to restore and keep for a LONG time. Well this is actually the first boat I bought in that journey. I used it for a year pretty much “as is” (dash issues and pumps, plus i have add ons I haven’t put on) to put it to the test. It has passed every test I’ve thrown its way. I have fallen in love with this boat and I think it’s the “one”. But in my restoration plan, gel coat work was going to be done like 5 years from now. Oh well. Anyone else had any first hand experience with glass work?

 

[derek81]

Look up Greg Martin in Dalton GA, North GA Boat repair, he does great work!

 

[FishingwithRusty]

VolsFan24 - 11/8/2018 9:24 PM

I highly doubt it was something used to clean it, because then I would suspect A LOT more people would have the same problem. This isn’t to point fingers or anything. I’m chalking it up to owning a boat. It sucks and I hate it, but it is what it is. I gotta get over it and move forward. My next move is to let someone assess the damages. I’m assuming to check the stringers the boat would have to be split.
When I bought the boat, I was in the beginning of my search for the “perfect” boat that I love and want to restore and keep for a LONG time. Well this is actually the first boat I bought in that journey. I used it for a year pretty much “as is” (dash issues and pumps, plus i have add ons I haven’t put on) to put it to the test. It has passed every test I’ve thrown its way. I have fallen in love with this boat and I think it’s the “one”. But in my restoration plan, gel coat work was going to be done like 5 years from now. Oh well. Anyone else had any first hand experience with glass work?

i did a cap off total restoration on a 94 Stratos 201............learning experience!!!! i'll never do it again! it had blisters on the bottom of the hull and the sanding just took forever. personally at this point in life, knowing what i know, if i get into position like you, i'll find another hull. id rather spend my time on the water than sanding fiberglass and gelcoat