Achilles Heal Found ( transom ice box/ hatch )

[abl1111]

I had recently posted about my 1975 23' Tsunami having water in an area that I could not fathom how it got there " stringer weep hole leaking water ".

A lot of discussion w/ some good ideas. Thx. But today I found the reason and it is definitely a design issue ( and a sure reason for a lot of failed transoms over time )

It's the garboard tube drains that drain the (2) transom mounted ice boxes. A hull, no matter what, flexes - new, old it does not matter it just does. And the top cap of a boat, if not glassed in place, a rarity - will flex a bit on the actual hull.

So, where these ice boxes drain out, through a garboard tube, out through the transom - there is a hell of a lot of flex going on - even if it is a small amount. Those tubes are under a lot of force. They are not built to withstand it so they move a little.

Just $ years ago I did a transom - plus a lot more, and I replaced those garboard tubes, sealed the new, exposed transom in that area w/ epoxy ( around the hole) and used Life Caulk to seal the garboard tube in place.

Note: The transom rot from those tubes failing the first time was quite severe.

Anyway - this is where my mystery water is coming from. The sealant failed around the garboard tube and without me knowing, rainwater or washdown water was filling the ice box, and leaked around the garboard tube - down the inside of the transom ( as opposed to through the garboard tube and out, where it's supposed to drain ) and was pooling on the outside side of the stringer.

This has answered a few questions for me and created an area that I want to repair:

1) repair the garboard w/ sealant ( for now ).

2) figure out a better mousetrap to avoid the effects of hull flex ( without having to run the drain through the side )

3) repair the weep hole through the stringer, so if water does pool in this area again - it will go through the actual hole for that purpose and not around it, through the foam and out that way - thus wetting the foam.

Just one of the many issues we have to deal with when keeping classic boats alive for another 30 years !

Hope this helps someone out.