Radical Transom Surgery

[glennk]

Before progressing (or not) I wanted to get the advice
of anyone who has tried this, or knows of good reasons
not to...

I have a 17’ daysailer, very much in the form style of
an O'day Daysailer.

both the transom and back decking areas are soft, and
all of the wood on the transom is rotted/rotting and
delamnating. My big winter project is to repair this
damage.

My initial plan was to remove all damaged wood and try
and fit some 5/8" marine ply in and glue it in place,
but I think this won't have the flexibility to conform
to the hull shape. My secondary plan was to epoxy
successive layers of luan to the inside of the
remaining fiberglass skin when all rot is removed.
This seems to be the style of the original (now
rotting) construction.

I'm most of the way through removing the hardware from
these areas, and realized that I could simply cut out
the transom and work from that perspective.

As I see it this would:

1. Give me better access to the back deck area to glue
in supports and wood.

2. Allow me to trace the transom on a sheet of 5/8"
plywood, preinstall all of the hardware without having
to mess about in the cramped enclosed back of the
boat, and then reinstall the transom with glass/tape,
epoxy, and more than a few Hail Marys.

The downside being that reattachment promises to be a
serious pain in the butt, and may not exactly match
the current sheer (which now that I think of it is
remarkably flat actually).

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

-Glenn

[calden]

Glenn:

Here's a great site:

http://www.odayjavelin.com/Transom.html

This guy did a GREAT job renovating an O'Day Javelin, including replacing the rotting transom. Sounds just like what you are thinking of. Lots of pictures and descriptions.

Good luck. You'll need a few Hail Marys for sure along with appeals to a number of other deities, but it sounds to be a rewarding project.

Carlos

[Gary Hewitt]

Glenn,

I too have some major repair work and have been surfing the web for ideas. I cannot remember where I saw this transom fix, but a router is used to separate the transom frp from the hull. This provides access to the transom core which can be removed and replaced with wood/epoxy lamination. The transom frp piece is saved for later epoxy attachment to the new wood core.
Glass taping and epoxy are use to re-join the transom frp to the hull. The hull and transom are beveled to allow space for the glass/epoxy tape. This is later sanded and gel coat applied.
You are in my prayers!

[Gary Hewitt]

Glenn,

I found the transom repair information. West System publishes Fiberglass Boat Repair and Maintenance and includes a chapter for repairing transom delamination. Cost is about $4 with free express mail shipping.

http://www.westsystem.com/

[Phill]

there have been many of us who have replaced or repaird the rotted wood reinforcement for the gudgeon area. I have never heard of anyone taking the transom out of the boat to accomplish this. One very active racer in Calif. made a replacement of many layers of fiberglass, until he had the thickness he wanted. Then glassed it in place. I just drilled holes in mine and soaked very thin resin into the holes, and then capillary action soaked the resin further into the wood. So far, 16 yrs, no problems.

If you plan on racing your Day Sailer, class rules are pretty strict about anything that can potentially alter the lines of the hull. the rear deck can not even be altered. Some have removed the motor well that is in some of our hulls. There is a class rule that if this has been done, extra weight, 8 lbs I think) must be fastened in its place. There is also a rule that if you need to remove the seat/bouyancy tanks for repair, prior approval from the board of directors is required. This may be interpreted with the same logic.

If you have no plans to race or sell to a racer, no problem.