About 6 years ago, I undertook the rebuild of my Stratos center console. Cut the cap off and took it down to a bare hull. I put it back together with 1708 and epoxy while keenly ensuring that all stringers, bulkheads and exposed wood was sealed.
Yesterday I was mounting a transducer. It is an expensive enough one that I didn't want to trust it to a glued on Starboard mount so I drilled into the transom. When I pulled the drill bit out, water started trickling out of the hole. I was sure that I had sealed everything to the nth degree when I put everything back together. It was a heart breaking WTF moment.
The transom is still solid but doesn't pass the tap test like it should. It will be fine for many years I am sure but it is nagging me and is going to get addressed down the road. In the mean time, I am just sick to my stomach thinking about it.
In looking at my rebuild pictures, I can clearly see that the wood was completely encapsulated in fiberglass. I can also see where I left drywall screws in it from where I epoxied the 2 pieces of plywood together. That rules out using a chainsaw to remove most of the material. BTDT. It will be many hours of long drill bits, long chisels and endless cursing. I might look into using lye or similar to disintegrate the wood.
Until that time though... I am sick.
Yesterday I was mounting a transducer. It is an expensive enough one that I didn't want to trust it to a glued on Starboard mount so I drilled into the transom. When I pulled the drill bit out, water started trickling out of the hole. I was sure that I had sealed everything to the nth degree when I put everything back together. It was a heart breaking WTF moment.
The transom is still solid but doesn't pass the tap test like it should. It will be fine for many years I am sure but it is nagging me and is going to get addressed down the road. In the mean time, I am just sick to my stomach thinking about it.
In looking at my rebuild pictures, I can clearly see that the wood was completely encapsulated in fiberglass. I can also see where I left drywall screws in it from where I epoxied the 2 pieces of plywood together. That rules out using a chainsaw to remove most of the material. BTDT. It will be many hours of long drill bits, long chisels and endless cursing. I might look into using lye or similar to disintegrate the wood.
Until that time though... I am sick.