Wet Transom Too

[Rich]

Need some advice on what to do.

Turns out my transom is in rough shape(not as solid as I previously thought). The boat had a 1/4" peice of aluminum wrapped over the transom. When I took it off I found that the fiberglass was cracked all along the top. Also found that all five transom drains(3 splashwell, 2 transom wells) were cracked and in bad shape. I cleaned out the drains and felt a lot of moisture. I decided to cut away a 10" x 12" piece of the fiberglass "skin" on the back of the transom. It was really wet. The wood seems to be somewhat stable, it's not like mulch. Or I may be just kidding myself. What to do?

check out the pics at http://seacraft.snetsol.com

click on the Transom Problems link.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Snookerd]

Rich-
I am drying out my splashwell drain plug opening too. I have a 3" ring of darker colored bottom paint around the opening, no cracks though. I think moisture is seeping through the glass in that area. Trayder and many others have tackled the transom rebuild while others have just repaired spots. There are some good photos of Trayder's transom work in the pictures of his 20'Seacraft. This problem has got to be the #1 deterioration problem. I am resealing all of my openings on the transom with 3M 4200/5200. Anyone have input on this problem?

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA RICH
IF I WERE YOU I WOULD RE DO THE TRANSOM I WASN’T SURE EITHER UNTIL I STARTED DRILLING SOME EXTRA HOLES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TRANSOM THEN THOUGHT IF I WAS GOING TO DO IT RIGHT I NEEDED TO REPLACE THE TRANSOM. IT IS LIKE JUMPING INTO THE WATER WHEN YOU KNOW IT IS COLD, BUT THEN, YOU START GETTING USE TO IT. YOU COULD DRILL LARGER HOLES WHERE THE TRIM TAB CONNECT TO THE BOAT REMOVE THE DRAIN PLUG AND DIG AROUND. NOW THAT MINE IS DONE, I AM VERY GLAD I TACKLED THE PROBLEM INSTEAD OF HOPING IT WOULD GO AWAY BY ITSELF. YOU COULD REMOVE THAT JUNKY SPLASH WELL AND RE DO THAT WHILE YOU ARE THERE I DID AND GAINED 11” OF SPACE TO BOOT. I ALSO REMOVED THE LIVE WELL AND MADE ANOTHER AND MOVED IT FORWARD BY 2’ LIKE THE NEW 23’. NOW THE BOAT IS TRULY SEAWORTHY AND THE EXTRA TIME SPENT WAS WELL WORTH IT.
YOU CAN SEE MY PICTURES UNDER MR. MCGOVERN’S 23’. IF I WAS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN I WOULD DO THE SAME THING EXCEPT I WOULD USE ½ “ MARINE GRADE PLY INSTEAD OF ¾” MARINE GRADE PLY. IT IS EASIER TO WORK WITH AND BEND A LITTLE TO CONFORM TO THE CURVES IN THE TRANSOM AND USING THE WEST EPOXY SYSTEM YOU WOULD HAVE 6 LAYERS OF PLYWOOD SOAKED WITH RESIN INSTEAD OF JUST 4 LAYERS.
I NOW THIS IS NOT WHAT YOU WANT TO HERE BUT IF YOU DO IT YOU WILL HAVE TACKLED SOMETHING YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU COULD.
GOOD LUCK
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA RICH
ME AGAIN, MY WOOD LOOKED WORSE THEN YOUR SECOND PICTURE THERE ABOUT THE TRANSOM I CANT TELL FROM THAT PICTURE IF THAT WOOD LOOKS SOUND OR NOT. I LOOKS LIKE IT HAS DRY ROT TO IT. SOMETIMES WOOD THAT GETS WET AND DRIES OUT OVER AND OVER AGAIN COULD LOOK OK BUT IF YOU PUT ANY PRESSURE TO IT THE WOOD JUST FALLS APART. IF YOU DO THE TRANSOM I DID MINE FROM THE INSIDE AND LEFT THE OUTER SKIN INTACT I ADDED 2 ADDITIONAL LAYERS OF SKIN TO THE INSIDE WALL AS WELL TO STIFFEN IT UP SOME.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img]

[Trayder]

Rich-

Where are you on the cape? I would like to stop in and see your project. I can also explain how I replaced my transom. Fellow-Ship stated it best. Once you get started its easy, its gaining the nerve to rip apart your boats that is the tough part. I can assure you that with the knowledge base you have from this site you will make it through OK. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Briguy]

Check out-- www.rotdoctor.com. Read every thread on transom rot. You will learn quite a bit. The transom on my '78 23' CC was cracked in the corners and let water in. About 8 inches of wood was rotted. I cut off the top layers of fiberglass in the corners, used drills and a crowbar to dig out the rotted wood, dryed it with a hair dryer, replaced the wood with west system epoxy and layers of a woven/mat combo. It came out stronger than new! Good luck.

[Briguy]

Rich,

I noticed in your pictures you have a spray rail installed on your. (20?,23?) Did you install it and if so, what improvement did you see?

[Rich]

Briguy,

The spray rail came with the boat when I bought it. It hasn't seen the water since I have owned it. I don't know why it was put on or what improvement it might have. I think I'll leave it on though, at least until I get it in the water and see how it works.

[deepsushi]

Rich,

For some extensive discussions of transom repairs go to www.wmi.org. Go to the boating board and do a search for "transom repairs".

The guy who goes by the name dunk is a marine surveyor in NJ and you might want to send him an email. He is a big fan of Seacrafts and I if I remember he has replaced a couple of transoms on 23's before.

[timd]

Rich,
I rebuilt my transom using dunks method. I used 6 layers of 1/4" luan plywood witha layer of 1708 cloth in between each layer. Finished it off with 3 layers of cloth, faired it, and painted with Awlgrip. Used the extra slow Raka epoxy. It was very time consuming, but worth it because now it is bullet-proof. I raised mine to 25" at the same time.