Blisters

My 1979 382 has developed, after ten months in the tropics, small gelcoat blisters just at and slightly above the blue boot stripe on the starboard side of the boat. I also have a long gel coat stress crack where the foam core ends. Yikes. Has anyone else encounted similar issues? I think The only way to deal with the blisters will be to peel the gel coat, Put an epoxy barrier coat, and then repaint a wider boot stripe. At the same time, I wilI rEmove and paint over the stress crack. I do not want to spend $20 K to paint the whole top sides, since the 39 year old gelcoat otherwise still shines with a good wax job. Please post any other suggestions. Thanks. (I had minor blistering on the below water part of the hull and in 2014 stripped off the gelcoat and previous barrier coat, let the boat dry for three months and then applied a new epoxy barrier. The bottom is still smooth and free of blisters.)

Terry, others may disagree but my belief is that gel coat blisters aren't serious. When water gets into the laminate, that's when the issue requires attention. Before that the cure is worse than the disease IMHO. Now the crack may be another story. My boat has pimples above & below the boot stripe. I put my vinyl winter cover on tight, it held moisture on the hill and created more. Yeah, spending $20k on a $40k boat doesn't make sense unless you have lots I bucks I guess.