New Transom

[McGillicuddy]

Welcome Aboard, congratulations on your new obsession, and cheers to you for rolling all the way to FL and back to fetch her. Clearly the sickness has got you and you're not alone.

I'm not sure if your intent is to use Smiths and vinyl-ester concurrently, of if your experience is with the Smiths product? I think the Smith's will stick to anything, but is way too expensive for what you'll be doing - assuming you're replacing the transom... Epoxy, glass mat and marine plywood are pretty standard fair for your project and you'll be using epoxy in varying viscosity for different purposes by thickening the epoxy mix with milled fiberglass, glass micropheres, cabosil or some other filler, thickener)

Bondo for example is a polyester with talc serving as the filler (thickener) Obviously not transom material...

Viny-lesters and polyesters are much cheaper than epoxies but not as strong. Hatches and general structures like consoles floors or baitwells would probably be fine apps for those. But I think I'd stick with epoxy for the transom. I'm sure Strick or one of the other Deans will chime in soon. Here's my meager contribution...a link to Gouegen Bros product if only for reference.

http://www.westsystem.com/ss/

The pdfs you'll find here offer some of the pre-reqs for Strick Univ.

Obviously in restoring wood boats you are probably already familiar with those short courses but thought I'd throw them out there for reference. Merton's, Composites One, and US Composites and a number of online shops can get you much better prices on materials than what you might find in your towns West Marine or whatever, depending of course on where you are. Good luck with your new baby, and keep the Princess Bride happy

[WillyC]

Welcome to the site. You will find lots of great advice here. If you decide to use epoxy, you should definitely check out Raka products. I have used this extensively for my project. Its easy to work with and is just a great product for a good price. The six gallon kit is $288 which works out to $48 per gallon. If you are doing your transom, you will need the six gallon kit. I've used about 9 or 10 gallons so far but did my transom and recored every hatch, rehabed the console and have made countless smaller repairs in my 20' sf. Good luck and great boats!

[htillman]

I second Raka products. Plus you can get everything for your project from them and they are easy to work with.

[bigeasy1]

Welcome to a great site.I know exactly how rare these boats are in that part of NY.
I bought my 1974 Tsunami from a guy in western NY where it was used on Lake Ontario.It took me three years to restore it,and I still keep it on lake Ontario in Olcott NY.(Niagara county).
On the day I first launched it, there happened to be a salmon fishing derby going on where the participants were all under a tent.
In a matter of five minutes they were all swarming around my boat asking "what kind of boat is that? "it's beautiful"
I kid you not,it was like I was a celebrity of some sort.It was actually a little embarrasing,they were asking all kinds of questions and constantly saying how nice it was.It did give me a great feeling of pride however.It's also nice having a rare boat in a marina full of common boats,someone is always asking about it.

My restoration was a complete one.Everything was shot,so I had to recore everything on it,from the transom to the bow.
I bought all my cloth,resin,puttys,fasteners,paint etc from www.mertons.com
His prices are very good and he ships out of Massachusetts,so it's most likely a one day delivery to your location.
He is a great guy to deal with and has a ton of knowledge on boat building and is always willing to give you the very best advice and help over the phone.
He carries all kinds of resins from polyester,vinylester,dion,and epoxies.all kinds fabric from mat to roving.

Good luck with the project,keep us informed on the progress.

Good luck with

[Grisk]

Thanks for the support gentlemen. I am late replying. I apologize. I'll look into these sources. I appreciate it. I know Olcott well. I'm north of Rochester, about 1/4 mi. from Lake Ontario. I can't wait. Likely won't float this year. I'll take pictures as I progress. I'll use the archives as much as possible but will have questions, none the less, as I move along. Again, thanks!