22' 1974 Dolphin repair

I am in need of some assistance. I acquired a sail boat that i found needing some "minor" repair. I soon found that it could be a money pit.

The last owners cut a hole in the hull approx. 3-4 inches forward of the transom, mid-ship. They were going to put an inboard through this hole but changed their mind and patched it. while sanding the bottom paint to replace it, i found their patch was cracked. with little to no effort, the patch flaked off and i found rotting wood in between the two sides of the patch. the top side of this patch only covers half of this wood and is inside the transom, out of reach. The hole is approx. 12''x6''.

my questions are:
what would be the best way to attack this? cut out the transom from the cockpit like they did and completely remove and replace the patch and wood?
what kind of wood, if any, would i replace this hole with?

this is my first real restoration project, and I thank you for your help!

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

Welcome to iBoats!

We LOVE pics!! It helps us to help you if we can see what you see!!!! My signature has a link on how to post em. See if you can take a few and then we can guide you to the best solution. Does not sound like it will be to much of a problem.

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

this shows where the previous owner cut the transom
this is the hole on the bottom showing the rotting wood

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

Can you back off a bit. Having a problem conceptualizing what I am looking at.

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

had to get slightly different angles to get far enough back... having a high power camera isn't always the best

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

First Question: Can you access the hole on the bottom from the inside of the boat?
Second Question: Do you have any previous fiberglassing experience?

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

no and no. the previous ower cut out the inside of the transom to get to that hole.

Re: 22' 1974 Dolphin repair

The repair can be done from the outside, the problem is the rotten wood, you don't really want that left in there.

The repair looks like it was done with putty, which is a bad method, it can be re-done with resin and glass, all from the outside and hold up fine.