SteveJarvis
Recruit
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2013
- Messages
- 3
Hi,
New to this forum.
I have a 50+ year old wooden boat (15ft trailor speedboat - kept out of the water, occasional use). The boat has a plywood hull (painted) and solid wood transom (poss mahogany - but more "orange" than "red" ). There is a thin black line where the plywood hull meets the transom, under the waterline. water seeps in through this "crack" - the transom and hull both seem sound, apart from the thin blackish line where the transom meets the hull. It looks as though the original glue has given up and is leaking through the transom/hull join in one small area.
I have run a small line of clear silicone sealant along the outside as a temporary fix, and this has stopped the leak - I'm now looking to make a more permanent repair:
Does anyone have any advice or tips on a) method and b) materials?
Also, it looks as though there have been several (failed?) internal epoxy repairs over the years, before I owned the boat - the epoxy is quite cracked in some places so I'm dubious about using epoxy - especially as I'd like to keep the transom on the boat! I get the impression that epoxy and wood don't really go together well.
I was thinking of cutting out the thin rot line from the outside (line will be about 6 inches long) and gluing a thin mahogany strip into the newly created gap. Or would it be better to scrape out the rot and treat with rot hardener and just seal the gap with some form of marine sealant.
The engine vibration is also a factor I'm guessing, so repair needs to be strong, flexible and water-tight! (hopefully not too much to ask!)
worse case, I suppose that I could cut out a section of the hull and replace with some new marine ply (although this does seem over the top).
Whatever I do, I will need to re-varnish the transom.
Ideas, advice, comments welcome! She's a lovely little wooden speed boat, not worth much money, and not designed to last 50 years! I'd just like to give her some extra life...
New to this forum.
I have a 50+ year old wooden boat (15ft trailor speedboat - kept out of the water, occasional use). The boat has a plywood hull (painted) and solid wood transom (poss mahogany - but more "orange" than "red" ). There is a thin black line where the plywood hull meets the transom, under the waterline. water seeps in through this "crack" - the transom and hull both seem sound, apart from the thin blackish line where the transom meets the hull. It looks as though the original glue has given up and is leaking through the transom/hull join in one small area.
I have run a small line of clear silicone sealant along the outside as a temporary fix, and this has stopped the leak - I'm now looking to make a more permanent repair:
Does anyone have any advice or tips on a) method and b) materials?
Also, it looks as though there have been several (failed?) internal epoxy repairs over the years, before I owned the boat - the epoxy is quite cracked in some places so I'm dubious about using epoxy - especially as I'd like to keep the transom on the boat! I get the impression that epoxy and wood don't really go together well.
I was thinking of cutting out the thin rot line from the outside (line will be about 6 inches long) and gluing a thin mahogany strip into the newly created gap. Or would it be better to scrape out the rot and treat with rot hardener and just seal the gap with some form of marine sealant.
The engine vibration is also a factor I'm guessing, so repair needs to be strong, flexible and water-tight! (hopefully not too much to ask!)
worse case, I suppose that I could cut out a section of the hull and replace with some new marine ply (although this does seem over the top).
Whatever I do, I will need to re-varnish the transom.
Ideas, advice, comments welcome! She's a lovely little wooden speed boat, not worth much money, and not designed to last 50 years! I'd just like to give her some extra life...
