flex in transom

[abl1111]

Yes - it's rot.

The drain tubes leading from the coolers leak and drip water into the transom. Over time, it rots the wood and things delam. The amount of damage is unknown till you pull it apart. However, the damage could be minimal too ?! That is a weak spot for sure - too much flex between the transom and the stern cap - the brass tube either cracks over time, or the sealant fails - either way, water gets where it shouldn't and you have problems.

When I re-did my transom, that is the area, both sides where the majority of water came from, and rotted the transom pretty good. I re-did the drainage tubes the same way - a dumb mistake on my behalf as they leaked within two years - but not into the transom ( besides I epoxied the transom thru-hole edges ).

I might remove those drainage tubes ( they're garboard tubes ) and replace with some sort of flexible tubing that can be epoxied in place - anyone have an idea what would work here ? Flexible is the operative word here. No matter what, the transom cap will have a little felx with the transom and that flex puts undo pressure on that drainage tube !

I bet a hell of a lot of transoms fail from this area !