bobberstop
Seaman
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2016
- Messages
- 59
After much thought, I decided to refurb our Browning tri-hull. Didn't have the heart to get rid of it. It will be a great project to spend time with Dad on. My grandfather & father purchased the boat in the late 70's when it was about 5 years old. It's been stored indoors when not on the water, and its not been on the water longer then a 48 hour stretch at any one time.So its in good shape for its age. That being said thanks to the swim ladder and a kicker motor mount, water has made its way into the transom. The worst was on the starboard side of the transom where the kicker bracket was, the transom looked more like pulled pork then plywood. The port side was better but not much. So out with the old transom and sand and sand and sand and sand and so on. Which brings me to my first round of questions, How do I know when I've sanded enough? I've read 100's of threads on iboat (which is an amazing source) and people talk about going until you see the pink hue of the fresh layer of fiberglass. The boat is green so I haven't really seen a pink hue, I do see red veins in the fiberglass, is that the same? I'm using a 4" angle grinder and a 5" orbital sander. The pic showing the whole transom (lower LF) shows the more polished area around the key hole, that is where i went back over with the orbital sander w/ 60 grit. The white area to the left is where I've just hit it with the angle grinder w/ 36 grit. In the close up pic (top LF) you can see the hint of the red veins I was referring to. Is that where I want to get to? or do I need more sanding? The photo on the upper rt shows the build up around the perimeter, does that have to be completely removed or just smoothed out to facilitate good tabbing? Lastly, the stringers were rotten where the met the transom. I cut back about 8-10 inches(lower Rt) and got clean wood, can I sister in that 8-10" and layover that or is it best to replace the stringers? I haven't removed the the rest of the floor yet to investigate conditions forward, that was phase II of my plan. Obviously if the stringers are ugly forward I would remove and replace the whole stringer. Just wondering if it turns out to be just that 8-10 inches, do I have options?
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, Thanks
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, Thanks