Hello again... And a problem

[pelagic2530]

Hello everybody!

It's been quite awhile since I posted on here, but having finished four years of school, graduated, and been blessed with gainful employment in my chosen field... It's time to start playing with the boat again! (Now TIME OFF in which to do it becomes the issue).

However... There's a problem. And it could be a biggie.

My father, who is as anxious as I am to start getting back on the water, was doing some routine hull maintenance (paint, zincs, etc) when he noticed some minor damage to the trim tabs that, long story short, necessitated removing the screws from the transom. No big deal, but when he did so, several drops of water came out of the hole.

Hmm.

Following up on this, he continued removing the screws, and each one emitted some amount of water. Curious, he pulled out a disused transducer screw from further down towards the bottom of the vee. This one emitted a stream of water lasting for 10-15 seconds.

Rut-roh.

Long story short, after going through most of the fasteners on the transom, these results were repeated numerous times to lesser degrees. It's worth noting that not a SINGLE DAMN ONE was sealed correctly. :evil:

So, I'm at a bit of an impasse. Obviously, I've got water in the transom. How much, I have no idea. There is no indication of any rot that I can find, no cracking, sagging, discoloration, strange sounds upon knocking, etc. The transom appears sound except for, you know, the whole "stream of water" thing.

My question to the Parker Guru Community is, where do I go from here? What steps can I take to a) assess the extent of the intrusion, b) determine if I have a rot issue or not, and c) dry out the core so that, best case scenario, I can seal/rebed all the holes without trapping the water inside? Obviously, I'd like to avoid ripping the transom apart it possible, because at this point that hardly seems necessary given the lack of apparent structural compromise, but I'm not above drilling a few holes if that's what it takes.

Anybody with experience in this area that would care to share would be greatly appreciated, as it'll give me something to ponder while I'm out here on watch.

Thanks y'all, and it's great to be back!

 

[DaleH]

Rut-roh!

Uh oh ... you mean ROT-roh!

I'm sort of surprised, as in my '92 SC model the wood core doesn't start until about 1.5" above the hull bottom. In this way the tab screws go directly and only into full frp layup hull. For the record, the rest of my transom above this point is almost 3" thick - pictures posted on here in my post of re-doing my scuppers to 2" ID ones.

YOU should replace your old brass tubes scuppers too, as these only last 20-years or so if that and only IF sealed and installed well from the get go.

Check the height of where the tab plane screws were, though 'wet', that might only be in frp/glass. If they are say 2" up the hull, see where that 2" would be on the inside, but SUBTRACT about 3/4" as that is likely the thickness of the hull bottom. So tab screw holes may be OK. Re-seal w/ 3M 5300 if OK.

I HATE people who drill holes directly into transoms! It is TOUGH to dry out a hull through those small holes and would be days/weeks on a trailer. On my old boat, I once took an old 5-gal bucket and put a series of 3/4" holes around the sides towards the bottom, just as vent holes. In the bottom I put a 1-1/4" or bigger hole just large enough to stick the nozzle of a hair dryer in. This was on a horizontal deck hatch 8" hole, where edges weren't sealed and were wet. So I blocked the bucket in place, turned on the hair dryer on LOW heat and air flow and left it running for 2-3 days. The air flow provided positive pressure and the vent holes provided an escape route for any moist air. But I was able to CHECK this setup every few hours to ensure I did not 'melt' anything due to too much heat! I also did not run it through the night.

Once done, it appeared 'dry' enough to where I put CPES epoxy into and saturated the core. Do this after the highest temp part of the day & lightly warm the area, but not the epoxy mix. Wait a few minutes for the wood to start cooling then wet out. Note, when wood cools it absorbs air molecules, as they shrink. When wood warms, they expand and release ... this is why no good wood surface should ever be painted, varnished or finished if temps are still rising, as air bubbles can form that can RUIN the finish.

But TRY THIS! See my post about "2" scuppers". Drill out the existing xducer holes to 1/4", but do NOT penetrate the inside glass piece. If still wet, go bigger in drill, and bigger. I would probably not go over 5/8" or so. Then take a pick or or Dremel tool and try to dig out any soft/wet wood. I have also used sharpened allen wrenches (file short end to cutting edge like lawnmower blade), chuck long end into drill and carefully spin it to cut out any wood. Then dry out and wet out w/ CPES, then fill with thickened epoxy. I myself would then glass a 3"x5" piece of mahogany over this spot and that sacrificial piece will give you a new home for your xducer mount screws.

Read thru and ask questions as needed, check out my posts for more details.

 

[pelagic2530]

Thank you, Dale! Exactly the advice I was looking for.

If I'm reading you correctly, you're saying that as long as the tab screw holes are in solid glass, rather than wood, the water intrusion might be less of an issue? What about it leaching up into the core, is that likely/possible, or would the core have to be physically compromised?

I'm mostly concerned with the volume of water that came out the transducer hole. Granted, it's fairly low in the hull, but I can't help but think that if there was enough of a void for it to collect, it's probably seeped into something rot-able. I haven't yet seen it, as I've been anchored somewhere down in the Bahamas for the last month or so. This was all described to me by my father. The boat has been on the trailer with all the transom hardware removed (save the bracket) for about three weeks now, could that have had any substantial drying effect? The holes have been protected from rain.

As far as the scupper tubes go, they were replaced about the same time as this issue was discovered. And apparently they needed it. Again, I was not there, but they should be sound now. Is it likely water from the scupper tubes could've migrated to the bottom of the transom?

Thank you for your very prompt reply, I'm starting to figure out how many days of leave I'll need for this!

 

[Fishaddict]

I recently got reed of about 1.5'' hole in the transom left by prior owner from transducer installation. Fortunately the core was not wet because of 3m 4200 had been put in the hole in attempt to seal it. I removed it to the clean core with small rotational wood file and hand drill. Than I took circular saw and made 2 plywood 3/4'' thick plugs, put a dowel through the center hole and adjusted the thickness to the point of original ply thickness was equal to my new plug thickness. I wetted all wooden parts with resin(not epoxy) and placed plug in. Than I builded up fiberglass part with precut mound pieces of glass fabric (fiberglass defect was made wider than the hole to make repair stronger). I left enough space for gel coat and than after sanding it and gel application I bet you money, you will not find the transom defect.
On separate note, I broke in and purchased two Stern Savers and used them to affix my new transducers (they require NO holes to be drilled below water line). They use very original idea of using very good quality epoxy and essentially making 6 large bolts out of it when it dries(I have no affiliation with the company). I am pleased with install so far.
Mike