Hey folks.
I figured that after all the help I got from lurking in this forum in figuring out how to fix my boat, I wanted to contribute my experience in the hope that others would find it useful.
So, first some backstory... I had been shopping for a boat and had a lakeside camping trip with friends on my calendar. It turned out to be logistically convenient to check out this boat on the way to the camping trip, but in hindsight, it was obviously a terrible idea strategically. I really wanted to buy the boat and so I was inclined to overlook all kinds of deficiencies. I bought the boat and we had a great time at the lake that weekend, but by the time we were headed home I knew the boat had a soft transom, a rotted deck and a significant leak. I didn't pay much for it, but it wasn't worth what I paid.
The outboard motor was strong, so I explored different approaches to fixing it and for a variety of reasons, settled on pulling out the rotted plywood and replacing it with new plywood. I looked into Seacast and other resin-based approaches, but decided that the inside skin of my transom wasn't strong enough to make that approach practical.
Anyway, I've attached a couple of pictures of the outside of the offending transom and, in my next post, I'll describe how I started the job. I hope this will help some folks.
Here's the overall transom
Here's where the engine bracket has cracked the outer skin
Here's the drain tube where the rotted wood doesn't hold it properly anymore and bathtub caulk that someone tried to fix it with.
I figured that after all the help I got from lurking in this forum in figuring out how to fix my boat, I wanted to contribute my experience in the hope that others would find it useful.
So, first some backstory... I had been shopping for a boat and had a lakeside camping trip with friends on my calendar. It turned out to be logistically convenient to check out this boat on the way to the camping trip, but in hindsight, it was obviously a terrible idea strategically. I really wanted to buy the boat and so I was inclined to overlook all kinds of deficiencies. I bought the boat and we had a great time at the lake that weekend, but by the time we were headed home I knew the boat had a soft transom, a rotted deck and a significant leak. I didn't pay much for it, but it wasn't worth what I paid.
The outboard motor was strong, so I explored different approaches to fixing it and for a variety of reasons, settled on pulling out the rotted plywood and replacing it with new plywood. I looked into Seacast and other resin-based approaches, but decided that the inside skin of my transom wasn't strong enough to make that approach practical.
Anyway, I've attached a couple of pictures of the outside of the offending transom and, in my next post, I'll describe how I started the job. I hope this will help some folks.
Here's the overall transom
Here's where the engine bracket has cracked the outer skin
Here's the drain tube where the rotted wood doesn't hold it properly anymore and bathtub caulk that someone tried to fix it with.
