16' Dem Craft Ski/Fish Boat

R

robfurman

Seaman
Joined
May 7, 2011
Messages
60
Guys,

My Transom on my 1972 DemCraft that is showing wear and I'm assuming buried in between the fiberglass is some type of wood that seen better days.

Story:

I was taking my boat out the other day and noticed water slowly dripping from one of the bolts that secures my motor to the transom. Looking closer I noticed a slight gap between the motor mount and the outside of the transom. This was more apparent on the right hand side (Standing from behind). The bolt did seem a bit loose, but as I tightened it you see where it's starting to push the fiberglass on the inside in a bit. Besides ripping it all apart does anyone have an good ideas? I was thinking of placing a wider metal plate under the bolt or maybe across both bolts to give better support?? Btw, my bolts are secured from the inside.

Any thoughts?


Robert
 
JB

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: 16' Dem Craft Ski/Fish Boat

You have water, and almost surely rot, in your transom. Band-aids will not work long and place you in danger.

You need a new transom, and maybe some stringers, too.
 
metriccrescentwrench

metriccrescentwrench

Commander
Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
2,598
Re: 16' Dem Craft Ski/Fish Boat

What JB said times 10. And I'll take his words a bit further, you don't "almost surely" have rot in your transom, you've definitely got rot in your transom. I've replaced the transom in two boats now, what you're describing is much worse than either of mine were (and mine were pretty bad).

Spend some time looking at the restoration forum to get an idea of what's going to be involved in repairing your boat, then decide if you want to tackle the job yourself. If not then maybe you might want to sell the engine, trailer, and any good hardware from your boat and put the funds toward another boat.
 
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