Water under the glass layer?
Submitted by mr_meks on Mon, 2012-02-20 14:46
I was drilling into my transom installing a transducer when I noticed water seeping out from the holes. It looks like the plywood in some areas underneath the fibreglass is soaking wet. You cant see anything wrong with the outside of the boat. Just wondering if this is something I should be extremely worried about or not? I cant think of how to dry it out other than riddle the transom with little holes and let it dry out over several months (cant use boat ,bummer) I could try that and just have more water come in from somewhere and wet it again anyway... Just wondering if the ply will rot out or what?
It's a 89 haines hunter.
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Not sure
I think it's only fresh water that will rot ply
nackers
Posts: 341
Date Joined: 23/10/09
not an expert
Im no expert , mate of mine used to build pacemaker and northshore boats .
generally if the ply is wet (period of time) the strenght would be compromised one test to do is trim the motor up about half way and lift the leg by hand while listening for noises or looking for flex in the transom wall , if the ply is rotten then a new transom wall would be required to be glassed in .
hope this helps
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Its very bad news, water is
Its very bad news, water is going to lead to rot, drilling holes in FG is going to compromise the bond, so you're up for a rebuild.
mr_meks
Posts: 189
Date Joined: 11/02/11
Will try that motor flex
Will try that motor flex test. I fairly sure most of the transom ply is not wet, just maybe the bottom 150mm or so. Maybe I should drill some more exploratory holes, with a 1mm bit to find out the extent. The water that dribbled out was very tea coloured. When I bought the boat not long ago there was a large leak around the bung fitting, which they re-sealed but maybe they sealed in the moisture?
carnarvonite
Posts: 8669
Date Joined: 24/07/07
Source
Sounds like that the area round the drain plug was the leak source.
Suggest leaving the boat tipped up and the bung out for as long as possible in an attempt to drain some of the water out but it may already be sealed inside the transom when they fixed the leak.
Fingers crossed or the other way is to remover the drain plug plus the outer section of it and let the water drain out then replace it and reseal it again once water has finished coming out
Muppet
Posts: 408
Date Joined: 23/11/09
When i was first looking at boats
For my first boat, i was looking at a baron Sportsman. The word was, to tell if the transom is buggered, stand on the cav plate of the outboard and push down and up on it, so you get a little bounce happening. if the transom is truly buggered, you will probably see it flex. It worked in my first situation, we identified that the transom in the Baron was kaput.
I wouldnt go drilling holes in an attempt to dry it out. That wont do it any good. If it is well and truly stuffed, the only way to fix it properly is have the arse cut out of the boat and a new transom built in. Not cheap. I have heard of people putting alloy plates on the inside and outside of the transom to try and stiffen it up. this would probably do some good, but is only a short term fix.
cheers
.
mr_meks
Posts: 189
Date Joined: 11/02/11
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
To me
Carnarvonite seems to have best idea and would try that first
mr_meks
Posts: 189
Date Joined: 11/02/11
anyone know how to remove the
anyone know how to remove the bung outer/socket fitting?
Wes F
Posts: 1067
Date Joined: 07/01/12
No Expert
I'm no boatie expert but have seen this problem on a mates boat, he had water in floor all the way upto cabin. Tryed drying it out over summer tilted boat right up but no luck. The internal foam held the water in not allowing gravity to let water drain. Possible to use a hole saw cutter to drill out the whole drain plug. His timber was still reasonably sound but very muchly compromized. Good Luck
Old fishermen never die they just smell that way.
chris raff
Posts: 3257
Date Joined: 09/02/10
Trying to understand
what bungs you have... ...I presume just the deck bung...all bungs should always be taken out between trips ...in particular for underdeck bung if there is a bit of a leak it would be from deck , hull or transom unsealed screws/bung holes I would presume yours is from the latter there's a lot of screws/bolts on your transom...I wouldn't be drilling more holes to check ...check transom flex as previously described , look for fracture cracks in corners ...soft spots on deck etc ...the stringers are encased in fibreglass the tea coloured water could be deteriating wood or just dirty old water..IMO I'd be putting in a underdeck bung to check water ingression in future and take it out every trip and problem solve from there...
“Intelligence is like a four-wheel drive. It only allows you to get stuck in more remote places.”
Tomcat
Posts: 614
Date Joined: 24/02/11
Bung
Two screws on bung fitting then prize off let it drain reseal may not be all dume and gloom
Paul Jackson
Posts: 106
Date Joined: 19/04/09
My first boat was one of
My first boat was one of these - 17ft Haines around same age or a bit older. Had the same problem.
Remove the bungs nd surrounds lift the bow as high as you can get it and hopefully should drain and dry out. They isn't any foam in these.
Leave it as long as you can then refit/replace the bung surrounds use SS screws and plenty of silicone - then hopefully job done.
The other thing/not related that happened to mine was the under floor fuel tank, cracked and had to be replaced.
Other than that great solid boat
Good Luck
Paul J
Faulkner Family
Posts: 18029
Date Joined: 11/03/08
all boats that i know of get
all boats that i know of get a bit of water in them. the water that has got into the ply may have got in there from a small crack in the deck glass, give that a good going over. as well as the bung surround being removed. just make sure that the boat is covered over so no other moisture can run down into the bung hole. hope it turns out for you and nothing major to fix
RUSS and SANDY. A family that fishes together stays together
middyoils
Posts: 6
Date Joined: 20/09/11
Check for rot
Gday Mr meks, To check for the condition of the transom, as in rot just get a coin and tap on the outside of the transom. The sound of the good intact transom should be quite soild , and where there is rot the sound will be dull. As one post writes its fresh water that will rot the timber if it is exposed to water/moisture. Most of the time the water gets in from rain when stored at home thru leaking decks, fittings in the deck , worn sika and stainless screws.
When the transoms are built in they are usually fiberglassed spanning across the boat, which distributes the load from the outboard. If water has got into this timber then it can be serious if it has spread across the boat. The brown water tells me it is draining from the timber. Ply wood is normally the timber of choice and it is these ply's which rot out. The timber might look soaking wet but it might only be the first and second layer and only in the effected area.If this is all it is we take out the rot and put in new ply and refiberglass.
So to determine whether your up for a all up rebuild or just a repair you need to do some exploritory work. If you drill a few holes to see what is going on these can be easily repaired.
goodluck with it
mitch
Cobalt blue marine
mr_meks
Posts: 189
Date Joined: 11/02/11
Yeah I figured a few pin
Yeah I figured a few pin holes here and there wouldnt hurt, I will also try to pull out the whole bung assembly, and let it sit under cover for 2 weeks, or maybe 5 weeks if I can resist the urge to go out in it. Thanks for the advice.