where is all this water comming from?

[fishhunter]

Hey fellas, i have an old 79 challenger fish/ski that takes on water.I put the plug in and ran the hose in the bilge and and saw that some water was leakin out around motor mount (outboard,merc 200hp) i noticed there was a hole filled with silicon that apparently was the result of a bad measurement when the tilt/trim was installed (didnt line up i assume) the bottom of the boat looks fine watt i can see of it on the trailer except for a couple small chips in the gelcoat, which ive learned here can let water wick in,iam not too concerned about the looks of a patch job , so could i just use a little epoxy on those littl places? or should i use gelcoat?Is that something a novice can do? all iam looking for is to stop the leaks,and keep my transom from rotting off

 

[rickdb1boat]

Re: where is all this water comming from?

Hopefully the transom didn't take on too much water from the holes. You can seal them with 3M 5200 Sealant/Adhesive available at Walmart or Marine stores.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: where is all this water comming from?

Pull the lower bolts and let dry, then seal with 5200, as well as any other holes. You can go and get a small can of gelcoat, scuff the bare area, and apply with a paintbrush. I had to do that on an old boat I had, and it worked fine. There is a proper way to do it, but this method works fine if you do not care what the end result looks like. Good luck....

 

[Solittle]

Re: where is all this water comming from?

I would use Marine Tex for both the transom holes and the nicks on the bottom. Marine Tex is like steel after it hardens.