Testing Transom for Wet Wood with Test Hole

[Imustbecrazy1969]

BACKSTORY: Hello. I've decided to undertake a full restoration of my father's 1969 Montauk 17 that I grew up fishing in. It's been sitting under his home covered and unused for 20-years. I know the full history as he is the only owner. He has the original seat, all the rails, and the hardware for the canvas.

I've done some research and compiled a small list of red flags to watch for and I'd really appreciate any addition to that list.

I know this hull very well, and it's never had standing water in it, no freezing temps as we are on Texas coast, but it does have a black mold and mildew on the outer gelcoat. It's spider cracked in many areas, and the mold mildew does not completely scrub off when cleaned--obviously from being in a high humidity environment.

FUTURE ACTIVITY: I'm headed down to prepare the trailer for transport and plan to take lots of pictures and do some sounding of the hull transom just to be sure it's stable.

I do remember seeing some light fungus growing around the edges of the transom and quickly scrubbed it off as it feeds on the sugars in the plywood.

I do plan to re-gel coat the hull so whatever invasive testing I do would be filled and covered with gelcoat.

I'm going to check for dead spots with a small mallet, look for de-lamination waves and large fissures or cracks. I'd like to verify the transom is dense and free of rot.

I hope to upload some pictures after the weekend’s testing and will have a running log of the project with lots of questions as well,[ but at this moment I have just this one:] Is drilling an 1/8-inch hole into the plywood and looking at the shavings an insane idea?

I'm a woodworker and can easily identify integrity this way, but hate to potentially harm the transom. Thanks in advance for any early advice and optimism—Jeff

[jimh]

...Is drilling an 1/8-inch hole into the plywood and looking at the shavings an insane idea?

Since you are confident in your ability to assess the condition of wood embedded in the transom by your own analysis of the drill shavings of a 1/8-inch test hole, I do not see any particular harm that could come to the transom from drilling one (or more) test hole(s). My other comment is a question: will one test hole be sufficient to prove the entire transom is free of moisture and rot?

And, of course, you have to seal each test hole before putting the boat back in the water. It sounds as if this hull may be on land for a while, so perhaps an immediately sealing of the test hole won't be done.

If I may, I would suggest another method for testing for transom strength:

1. with the boat out of the water and on its trailer and with the engine on the transom, tilt the engine up so the gear case is at convenient height to be grabbed by your hand
2. assuming the tilt mechanism is hydraulic and the engine is locked in that position, grab the gear case and use it as a lever, moving up and down and exerting pressure onto the transom
3. carefully observe the transom, looking for any sign of motion or deformation from the pressure exerted on it by the engine and your leverage
4. if the transom is in original condition, there should be no movement of the transom with pressure from your leverage on the gear case

ASIDE, not on a repair but on your story: it is certainly nice to keep a boat in the family as you are doing. If my father had bought a Boston Whaler in the 1960's--he didn't--I would have loved to have kept the boat in the family and maybe be passing it on to the next generation. This works best with the smaller 13 and 16-footers. Have you read the article Grandfather's Whaler in the CETACEA collection? See

http://continuouswave.com/whaler/cetace ... age51.html

ON FUTURE TOPICS AND THINGS YOU WILL DO IN THE FUTURE: is it best to limit each thread to one topic area or question. If a thread has 20-questions, it becomes very disorganized. Just start a new thread for a new question.

[rcrcr]

I think drilling holes is effective but only if necessary. When I restored my 1968 hull, I noticed water was in the transom wood from listening via tapping around.

I ended up drilling four 3/8-inch holes around the drain tube where the sound was noticeably different and then used various drying methods: time in the sun, shop vac, and hair dryer. I'm not sure what the best method was but it seemed to get the wood dry enough.

I injected penetrating epoxy into the holes. The hull was subsequently prepped and painted, and I have had no problems with the holes in the past five years. They are not even noticeable.

Transom drains

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