Those were the very things that went through my mind when I was deciding in 1995 whether or not to rehab the vessel. Yes all those things are right, and, for the timid, he would flee at the sight of an older boat.

The original hull did not have the barrier coat (the conventional wisdom was that the gel coat was waterproof - a barrier), and I did not have the problem in those days of bubbles on the surface. Apparently the mositure inside could get out without popping the gel coat (and the bubble is not any deeper than the gel coat, but it is filled with fluid).

But the boat had 17 years on the trailer to dry out - except for water that accumulated in the bilge from rain - before the barrier coat was applied. And yes, it was exposed to23 years of freezing and thawing with water in the foam in the keel and in the bilge. As for stress cracks, when I took all the paint off, they were there - on one side - and had been of some concern. But there is no leakage through them, and a random examination did not show that the cracks went further than the gel coat (cracked just like it was topside, but not as bad.

But through all that, and with no TLC, these gel coat pops (which I understand are very common) never happened before the barrier coat - and even then it took three years. And their location is very localized, but different locations each year. Now they are just a PIA - fortunately they don't form a line - like they would if the hull were cracked.

I guess no one else has had the problem.