I noticed last year when installing a new transducer that my transom was wet. A couple weeks ago I started into demo. This is a "Kevlar 49" hull. The hull itself appears to be very solid. The deck is also very solid other than some stress cracks at the corners of hatch covers and access panels like the one covering the fuel tank. There are, however, no soft spots in the deck.
After cutting out the splash well and a portion of the inner glass I confirmed that the plywood transom was wet. It was still solid, but wet. The brass deck scuppers had rotted out and were allowing water into the transom. This is a "coffin box" transom and only approximately 50" of it contains wood. Once it turns back at the "wings", there is no more wood so I am assuming that portion of the transom is not as necessary from a structural standpoint.
After removing the splashwell I found two flotation foam boxes that had been framed in very think plywood with a very thin layer of glass. Maybe 1/16". The foam was tight to the wood stringer and the whole thing was encapsulated except for the top of the foam which was left open. The glass covering the stringer had failed where it tied into the transom and had allowed water to get in and completely rot out the wood. This glass was also only about 1/16" thick. As such I would assume it was not structural. Where the stinger tabs into the transom it is only maybe 3" in vertical section and the glasswork is also very thin (again I can't see it being structural).
The transom is straightforward enough to repair. The stringers get a little more tricky as I do not know at what point they hit a bulkhead. From what I can see under the deck, it seems to have been given rigidity through its shape with several down turned sections similar to a sheet of metal decking you might find under a concrete slab. I am wondering how much the stringers are really doing other than providing strength to the transom.
All this said, I don't want to replace the deck if I don't have to. If the stringers can be cut out from the top and poured with seacast, great. If I could just install a new full width structural bulkhead forward of the splashwell and tab it into the deck and sides and bottom of the hull and then run new stringers back to the transom I am ok with that as well.
Thoughts?
After cutting out the splash well and a portion of the inner glass I confirmed that the plywood transom was wet. It was still solid, but wet. The brass deck scuppers had rotted out and were allowing water into the transom. This is a "coffin box" transom and only approximately 50" of it contains wood. Once it turns back at the "wings", there is no more wood so I am assuming that portion of the transom is not as necessary from a structural standpoint.
After removing the splashwell I found two flotation foam boxes that had been framed in very think plywood with a very thin layer of glass. Maybe 1/16". The foam was tight to the wood stringer and the whole thing was encapsulated except for the top of the foam which was left open. The glass covering the stringer had failed where it tied into the transom and had allowed water to get in and completely rot out the wood. This glass was also only about 1/16" thick. As such I would assume it was not structural. Where the stinger tabs into the transom it is only maybe 3" in vertical section and the glasswork is also very thin (again I can't see it being structural).
The transom is straightforward enough to repair. The stringers get a little more tricky as I do not know at what point they hit a bulkhead. From what I can see under the deck, it seems to have been given rigidity through its shape with several down turned sections similar to a sheet of metal decking you might find under a concrete slab. I am wondering how much the stringers are really doing other than providing strength to the transom.
All this said, I don't want to replace the deck if I don't have to. If the stringers can be cut out from the top and poured with seacast, great. If I could just install a new full width structural bulkhead forward of the splashwell and tab it into the deck and sides and bottom of the hull and then run new stringers back to the transom I am ok with that as well.
Thoughts?
