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TACKLING THE TRANSOM, Part 1

Obviously, a sound transom is a good feature in an outboard motorboat!
Image result for rotten transoms

Even well cared-for boats can have transom issues. Considering that Skagit boats are about 60 years old, I'm guessing that most of them either need or have had a transom replacement. During manufacture, the 1-1/8" fir plywood that made up the structure of the transom was bonded to the fiberglass shell before the deck was installed, using chopped strand mat saturated with polyester resin. I don't know how the top was sealed; I assume with fiberglass cloth, but there is no remnant of that on my boat.

Removing the Rot

The previous owner had begun removing the plywood from the fiberglass shell before I bought it, so I removed the rest by cutting through it with a circular saw where I could, then chiseling the rest off. The previously mentioned mat between the plywood and molded transom was not well-bonded in some areas, so I tediously removed that with a chisel.
Outermost wood ply, with my chisel mark eating through it.
Then I turned my attention to other areas in the splashwell, and found additional rot. Specifically, the bottom of the forward bulkhead and the plywood supporting the deck.

Port splashwell bulkhead (forward of the transom)
Rot in starboard splashwell bulkhead
I cut these areas out then made replacements, which I will epoxy in when I start the rebuild.

The starboard insert

In doing this I found that the cockpit sole (floor) is a sandwich of two sheets of 1/2" plywood bonded with fiberglass mat. That's pretty impressive, and tells me that the company built these boats to a high standard.
Port aft portion of floor, showing plywood/fiberglass sandwich.
I'm now cutting the plywood for the transom, which is pretty tedious. The tumblehome transom means odd curvatures which require scarfing the outboard ends of the plywood in order to achieve a strong bond to the transom. Since I'm doing this project in the fall/winter in western Washington, I will create a "hot box" in order for the epoxy to properly cure.

Did I mention how many holes had been drilled through the transom? 112. Here's a picture I took this evening, backlit with a quartz lamp. A number of the holes are below the waterline, so don't show up in this picture. Is it any wonder the transom was rotted?


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