DaySailer.org Forum

I found some rot in my transom earlier, and attempted to repair it today. I'm not completely happy with the outcome and would appreciate some advice.

In the center of the transom there is a piece of plywood, whose main purpose is to reinforce the area where the rudder attaches. There was an area of rot in the plywood about 2" square. When the boat was built, fiberglass was laid up overlapping the perimeter of the plywood by about an inch. As far as I can tell there is no way to remove the wood without cutting away this glass.

Lacking an angle grinder, I attacked the glass with a Dremel with cutoff disk and spiral cutting bit. That didn't do much good, so I tried a sabre saw and a random orbital sander with 40 grit paper. No luck.

Finally in desperation I made a sister repair with a piece of Redneck Teak (pressure treated pine). The sister is attached to the remaining solid transom wood with wood screws, and will also be held by the machine screws that attach the gudgeons. It's plenty strong, but I feel like it's a second-rate repair in terms of quality. What are your thoughts?

I don't know how much similarity there is with the DaySailer and Javelin but I'd expect a lot in common. So check out this link. He did some pretty extensive transom work and you should get some ideas on the construction.

http://www.odayjavelin.com/

Baysailer, thanks for your help. This guy's problems were far worse than mine! The answer came to me in the shower this morning. Rather than try to remove all the plywood, which is about 80% sound, I will just dig out the rot and fill the void with epoxy. Then I will reinstall the sister on top of that -- it will be stronger than new.

For filling wood check out SystemThree's SculpWood, which is epoxy based wood putty. Designed for just that kind of application, and any leftovers will find use around the house.

I have just aquired hull number 8373. I have a bit of rot in the transom centerline low, close to the keel. I plan to replace the plywood and glass over.

My boat has two pad eyes mounted on the transom. The pad eyes do not look to be original equipment. Is this standard factory or a modification? If a mod I am thinking of removal and filling in the holes. All input is welcome.

They are not standard. Where are they located? Could they have been intended as anchors for tie-downs while trailering?

You ask <<Where are they located? Could they have been intended as anchors for tie-downs while trailering>> I was thinking that too. They were out board usual location for pad eye on power boats. Backed with some plain (rotted) lumber.Maybe useful for a sea anchor but not nessasary as there are deck cleats aft for that. I have removed them and now decided to fill the holes to have a nice smooth tramsom.

Thank you for your input.

Sorry I didn't see the request for help with this sooner, but I'd bet those that needed it found it over the summer. Here's a link to my transom replacement I did in the spring.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4357&p=21225#p21225