Transom Removal

Even though most of the transom was removed during the Damage Assessment phase, I wanted to show the final steps in removing the rotten wood from the transom. To prepare for the new wood, the remaining pieces of the old rotten transom portions had to be removed. A major preparatory step included grinding down the entire surface to provide a good surface for the new resin to adhere to. This step was very messy and required some safety gear.

Here is a couple photos of what I decided to go with. I made a hood with an old shirt. It's not pretty but I borrowed my mom's sewing machine, and after my wife laughed at what I created I felt pretty good about the protection it would provide. The setup turned out really well, very little fiberglass particles got to me. My eyes, lungs, and skin feel just fine.

Here's the entire setup. It looks like I gained about 60 lbs.

Just remember Safety First, and then get busy grinding away. The photos below show why we want to wear this funny lookin' stuff. Take a look at the condition of the transom and check out the mess made by the sander.

To give you a better idea of how messy this is, all of these 4 photos were taken after about an hour of grinding while I was taking a break.

I spent about another two hours grinding away. As you can imagine we had piles of this powdery stuff all over the place. The shop vacuum came in handy tonight. I'll take some more photos of the transom when we have some time in daylight.

After tonight's work, the transom is pretty well prepared for the new wood and resin. Time to fit the template and cut boards.

For details on this next step check out Transom Replacement.

Back to the home page:

Boat Repair Journey -- Rotten Wood Removal and Repair