Transom Project 2
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Transom Project 2 |
Page 4
I began to day by cutting a water logged piece of 3/4" plywood out of the port and starboard aft corners of the boat. The airspace beneath the plywood was holding water. This airspace is a very bad idea, especially since it holds water and leads to transom and stringer rot.
This is the rotten plywood that was covered by a thin skin of fiberglass over the aft corner airspaces.
I then used my grinder to score a line around the transom to begin removing the inner fiberglass skin.
A flat bar, a larger wooden wedge, and a crow bar seemed to be the best tools for removing the fiberglass skin.
Its plain to see the transom has some rotten wood. This is GREAT news to me for three reasons: 1) I now know that I didn't chop up my pristine Mako hull for nothing. 2) I completely understand why the transom flexed so much under the load of the motor. 3) The wood will be easier to remove since it is rotten.
The areas of rotted wood seem to be concentrated where the teak swim platform and trim tab were fastened to the hull on the port side. The rot around the stringer knee on the starboard side is unexplainable right now. The wood around the through hull fittings is damp as well, but the wood around the motor bolt holes and on the starboard side is dry and solid.
Here I am just beginning to excavate the decayed wood.