MY HORROR STORY!! AND BLISTER ???

[Brandonh36898]

Ok well first I want to say I'm a big idiot!! I had zero Buisness buying a boat for the amount a did without having someone with me that had more knowledge.

I recently bought a 2003 ranger 195vs intercoastal because it looked just like a bass boat but didn't have the carpet it became my favorite model when I started my boat search.

I didn't discover the blisters until yesterday while it was at my boat mechanics shop, I was helping him do a dew things.
The guy it got it from lived on chain of lakes in Kissimmee, fl.He said he kept the boat dry docked but the water rise.well there are a bunch about a 8 to 10 inches below the rubber trim on side of the boat and are mostly on the back near the corner or on back of boat. I borrowed 14k to buy this boat and a long story short he straight played me obviously seeing I was a newbie. He offered me $1000 off if I had batteries and I had my old boat still with brand new yellow tops so I agreed, well the bilge pump and all sits under a tray with the bank charger and all on it he guaranteed me it was all set just put batteries in, I was atleast smart enough to make sure big motor ran well.When I couldn't get power to the back for any of the pumps I called upon a friend and he said bring it over.
He tore the trey out to find only 1 wrong bilge pump not hooked up, and we traced power 7 fried breakers, then both aerators burnt up,so replaced both bilge and aerator motors and 7 breakers.Then the in dash graph was shot ,(he told me it worked),and when we got that done to troller side the 60a brakes was also shot,as well as the jack plate motor and yesterday we discovered the actual plug plate that screw in haul the screw head were rusted off!! So he is working on that today.🤦*♂️🤬

Now guys I know I know this is totally my fault this guy lives in a 750k house right on the chain of lakes, is great friends with some pro bass fisherman (forgot his name he was actually there the first time) so I took him at face value.I try and do right and live right so it's my fault for thinking everyone is like myself.

I am just curious and worried about the blisters.As I now have dumped another $1500 in the boat just over the weekend and that's without buying graphs.
These blisters are not big smaller maybe smaller than a dime but I'm worried!!
Would a wrap protect them or make them worse?
I know obviously I need to get them taken care of but at this current moment I don't have the money,I had to put 20% down on boat loan and fixing it so far and we haven't hit the water yet.

Any help on the blisters would be appreciated guys
I'm at such a low point right now with this boat I feel like a total moron.

Thanks fellas

[Stickler]

You have to grind out the blisters and re-do the gel. If you have them on the sides you certainly have them on the bottom from sitting on wet bunk boards. Big repair. I did mine

[crank68]

Post pic of where the blisters are...need to see where and size. You will prolly need to carry it to a reputable shop to fix.

[mastergun]

Any chance the guy wasn't aware of the issues? Maybe go back to him, worst that could happen is he agrees to help pay for some of the repairs?

[Brandonh36898]

Lol
I told the guy he said quote:expensive hobby that's about what a service would cost:

Lol

[Radeleur]

Man sorry to hear that Brandon. I too make a mistake like that. I took someone with me and from what we saw it was "doable and withing budget" until we got it to a quiet place and got to hear the cracking while walking around in it. I was told it was lake ready just needed seats and batteries. Not even close. Lesson learned is that there aren't many honest people when it comes to selling. They want it gone and will say anything. So now I go into it expecting the worse. If its not its a pleasant surprise but doesn't feel like a kick in the nuts if it is as bad as it can get.

[mikesxpress]

Once osmotic blistering starts it doesn't stop. It only gets worse due to the permeable nature of gelcoat. It will need to be stripped, force dried, epoxy barrier coat applied, then gelcoated. Average cost hovers around $5K for a reputable shop to do it.