Fiberglass Boat Osmosis
Osmosis : the tendency of fluid substances, if separated by a porous membrane to filter through that membrane and become equally diffused. strictly speaking for osmosis to occur you need fluid on both sides of a membrane. if you have this situation on a boat, you better start bailing.. Fiberglass boat inspection . is your hull waterlogged by osmosis? what is osmosis? water seeps into your boat's hull (often through tiny stress fractures associated with the various fittings and fastenings attached to the hull and deck) and travels via capillary-like action along layers of the fiberglass and resin laminated structure (or fiberglass and balsa wood sandwich) to accumulate in. To buy or not to buy . . . . a blistered boat, that is. since i have already stated that all fiberglass boats absorb water to some degree, and often without causing blistering, it follows that the use of a moisture meter is useless. you may have noticed that i have not used the word "osmosis" that we hear so much these days. technically.
In the formation of fiberglass blisters. i n the 16 years that i’ve worked in and managed boat-yards, i’ve encountered few repair subjects that strike as much fear into the hearts of boatowners as that of hull blisters.to an extent,their fear is well placed;hull blis-ters, sometimes referred to as osmosis, are a serious prob-. Fiberglass boat osmosis repair commonly called blisters on the boats hull bottom, is also known as hydrolysis. this condition is caused by the fiberglass being in constant contact with water with out a proper epoxy primer barrier-coat to protect the fiberglass boat hull.. Often boats that have had full osmosis jobs done previously, and are blistering again, come into this category. all coatings and contaminated glass are removed to find a sound, solid and dry base. remedial rebuilding is done with vinylester resin and p-mat csm, before fill fairing, priming and reantifouling..