Wet transom - what now

[G DANE]

I just bought a new noat which has been standing for 6 years at two different owners, neither of them ever got it ready to use. Looking at it i noticed that there has been drilled a drain hole through transom from motor weld to out. The plywood inside has never been protected. Though it is waterproof marinegrade oiled plywood, it is wet inside the hole, but not rotten. Tested with a knife. My question is: how far will the water be penetrated into the plywood. How can i get it dried out before i paint or glass the sides of the drain hole, to prevent rot.

 

[RipRider]

Re: Wet transom - what now

You may want to drill the hole out a bit bigger and see if that gets you into some dry wood. If so, I would fill the hole with an epoxy filler such as Marine Tex. Leave about a 1/8" gap at the sides of the hole, and then get some gelcoat patch paste and finish the hole off with this. Sand smooth with grits running up to a 1600 grit wet sand, and then wax the area. You'll never know that hole was there!

 

[Hawkeye1]

Re: Wet transom - what now

Is this hole for the drain that was never instaled? If it is then you need to install some kind of drain with a plug. With all do respect Riprider, I would not use marine tex for this. You can get a sample kit of epoxy from raka.com for 10$ that will have all the epoxy and thickners yu will need for ths job. I would drill it out a little larger as stated above, find a brass nipple slightly smaller then the hole, Coat the inside of the hole with unthickend epoxy with severial coats allowing it to soak in. Then thicken up some epoxy to about peanut butter consistancy with silica and coat the nipple with that and install that in the hole. Make sure all voids are filled. You can extend the nipple out the back it you want and use a cap over it or leave it flush and use a std rubber 1" bilge plug. Sounds like the MFG forgot to install the drain tube. You can ust those thin brass drain lines but I have seen them crack over time.