I'm trying to dry the transom out a bit before I dig further into it.
Clearly several days won't be enough, and who knows if weeks will ever as
long as it is outdoors. So, I may have to get digging into it sooner,
regardless of the still wet wood.

To recap, I've got almost 1 foot square cut out around the drain hole (drain
hole and up), which was the really punky stuff. I've also got 1/4" holes
drilled in various places on both sides to checkout the wood. (note that
pouring something in won't likely help here with it exposed and open now).

The outer hull is thick, really thick (fiberglass), but the inner side is
almost done 3/4 the way up and pretty thin, I don't even think it adds
strength.

Currently the motor is still mounted (however many pounds of it).

To visualize the transom on this boat, consider the typical outboard
transom, but on a V type hull. Inside under where the motor mounts
(centre), there looks like there is a big timber there, such as a rough cut
2" x 4", or maybe 2x6 or 2x8. Its hard to tell as I suspect it may go all
the way through to the outer hull and be glued in. Below this timber about
2-3 inches down are the other motor engine bolts that tie it in lower. And
below this for the next 1.5 feet perhaps is the area of the drain plug. To
each side of this the floor is elevated clearly due to the V, as well the
solid wall (inner/outer fiberglass) goes up higher to the full length of the
transom. I can actually see plywood near the top as it wasn't covered in
glass.

I suspect so far that the wood beneath the timber is rotten, and likewise
straight across from there on both sides. Above that things appear strong
and solid, and a few drill holes have proved that there's nothing punky
there.

So, I either take the outboard off now, or leave it on. My guess is to
clear the wood from under the timber level all the way to both sides, and
then put new wood in right across. Glass it in, and to finalize it, glass a
2x4 or 4x4 to the outside of this new area (to the inner transom, and
floor).

Now it'll be strong. What do you think?


"Steve Weingart" wrote in message
.. .
If the transom is suspect, check out http://www.transomrepair.com, they
have a whole system for removing all of the wood in the transom and then
filling the space with a pourable resin/chopped filler system. I was
going
to use this in my 21' Mako (the Mako factory approved), but sold the boat
before it needed the work (just had a few rotten spots, but the majority
of
the transom has still been strong).

Cheers,

--
Steve (remove anti spam XYX in return address for correct email)
http://www.gulf-stream.net/patandsteve