DaySailer.org Forum

Hi,
I've been pouring over the forum ever since I bought my O'Day Day Sailer II a couple weeks ago. Next thing I did was buy Roger Conrad's manual on the DSII. A tremendous help, I recommend his manual to any new DSII owner! Roger has been very gracious in giving me tips and advice as well. Currently working on water logged transom behind an old standoff motor mount I removed. I removed most of the rot with wet wood left behind. Has anyone used penetrating epoxy with success? I have read conflicting reports on the internet regarding it's usefulness. First things first though is getting the water out. Can the transom be thoroughly dried, or will just getting the immediate area dried be good enough? I just registered my boat in History, New (old) Day Sailer II, 1977; Hull No. 8483; Tom Mittner; Grand Rapids, MI; No name yet!
Tom

Came to me last night, My hull is white and designed by Uffa Fox. I am naming her "White Fox"

For treating damaged wood check out the literature on System Three's Rot Fix product. I think it can be part of solution, but the more thorough you are in removing water logged wood, the better of you are. Where I see a place for products like this is more for some dry rot situations where significant strength is still present, damage may be localized and removing the part isn't really feasible. Your mileage may vary.

Thank you Greenlake,
The transom seems sound, I drilled 4- 1 1/4" holes around the former motor mount holes. Dug out all the rot and punk wood I could. I am setting up a heat lamp and fan to continue drying the wood. When it is dry, apply git-rot or something similar. Next I plan to fill the voids around the holes with something like bondo-glass. I will then drill holes for HDPE board to protect the transom outside and use aluminum plate to protect it inside. I have a Honda 2hp outboard I will mount directly to the protected transom. Perhaps this winter I will drill a series of 1/4 inch holes 5" apart just under the transom cap dry the transom all winter and in the spring use penetating epoxy again, fill with polyester resin and gelcoat them to match. There is no paint on my boat I am aware of. As I plan to dry-sail I would like to keep it that way. Short of tearing out the transom, yuck, I think thats the best I can do.
Tom

Tom, welcome to the forum. You have a nice repair plan, but if I may make a suggestion there are other materials for filling the holes that would be more satisfactory than Bondo Glass. Bondo will absorb water and in the long run will not be durable. (I used Bondo several years ago for an unsatisfactory canoe repair.) Epoxy with an inorganic filler will hold up much longer. An affordable and easy to find substitute is plumber's epoxy putty from your local home improvement store.

Thank you UCanoe_2, Point well taken, and thank you for the tip on inexpensive epoxy filler. I really appreciate the experience of those on this forum.
Tom

Yesterday I found PC-11 marine epoxy, 1 lb. package for $18 at a local hardware store. "No sag, no run, cures underwater." Looks like a better buy than even the plumber's putty.

PC-11 is OK. I have used it on hull repair. It is very viscous, good for upside down situations where sag could be a problem. Marine-Tex is the go-to epoxy putty product for most repairs. It is somewhat less viscous than PC-11. For instance, if you have to add some fiberglass fabric to a vertical/inverted repair, Marine-tex will actually wet out the fabic; I'm not sure PC-11 would. On the other hand, the one store that sold Marine-Tex in my town went out of business, so I have to order it online. PC-11 is available in hardware stores.

Viscous is a good description. It was hard work mixing the PC-11! No, I don't think it would wet out glass cloth. I applied it to an old Royalex canoe with chunks of skin missing and the foam core exposed. Today I'll put it on the river and see how well the PC-11 stays attached to the flexible Royalex.