1989 23' Seacraft.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA RSEGRETO
BOY IT SEEMS THAT WE SHOULD CHANGE THE NAME OF THIS SITE TO “THE WET TRANSOMS” EVERY TIME I LOOK THERE IS ANOTHER ONE THAT HAS TO BE DONE OR MIGHT NEED TO BE DONE ANY WHICH WAY WELCOME TO THE BOARD. WHAT YOU DESCRIBED DOESN’T SOUND GOOD. TRANSOMS CAN GO BAD AS SOON AS 5 YEARS FROM CONSTRUCTION SO YOU COULD BE LOOKING AT A MAJOR FIX. I DON’T KNOW OF ANY GOOD WAY TO GIVE YOU A DEFINITIVE ANSWER BUT I CAN TELL YOU WHAT I DID TO DETERMINE MY DECISION.
1. AGE OF BOAT- THAT PART IS IN YOUR FAVOR.
2. WATER COMING OUT OF THE SCREWS-THAT ONE IS A BIG NEGATIVE.
3. REMOVING ALL THE THROUGH HULL FITTINGS AND INSPECTING THE CONDITION OF THE WOOD. (BLACK AND WET, MUSHY, OR NICE FRESH WOOD)
4. DRILLING OUT HOLES AND INSPECTION THE CONDITION OF THE WOOD THAT COMES OUT OF THE DRILL BIT LIKE #3
5. USE ONE OF THOSE METERS BUT IN YOUR CASE IT PROBABLY WILL SOUND LIKE A 5 ALARM FIRE.
6. TAP ON THE TRANSOM WITH A MALLET (THIS ONE WAS NO HELP FOR ME)
7. TAKE A COIN OUT OF YOUR POCKET AND SAY HEADS = IT’S OK, TAILS = REPLACE IT.
8. GET A MARINE SURVEY $200-300 THAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THIS TYPE OF THING TO GIVE YOU HIS OPINION. IF YOU ASK A GUY THAT DOES TRANSOMS FOR A LIVING YOU KNOW WHAT HE IS GOING TO TELL YOU. HIS ANSWER IS $$$$ TO FIX.
9. OTHER THINGS TO CONSIDER IS I/O, OR 1OR 2 OUTBOARDS, BRACKETED? ALL THESE THINGS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. ON MY BOAT I HAD 123 INDIVIDUAL DRILL HOLES IN THE TRANSOM THAT THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD DRILLED IN THE TRANSOM. IT LOOKED MORE LIKE A SWISS CHEESE THAT ANYTHING ELSE. ALL THOSE HOLES ALLOWED WATER TO SEEP INTO MY TRANSOM.
WELL ALL THIS INFO AND I STILL DIDN’T ANSWER YOUR QUESTION JUST GAVE YOU MORE INFO TO CONSIDER TO MAKE YOU YOUR MIND. MAYBE SOME ONE ELSE CAN HELP YOU BETTER THAN ME WITH FEWER WORKS.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

[Scott]

Rsegreto....Welcome

Same thing Fellow said ..... and if its an outboard and you really feel the transom's shot(which it may not be since its not that old) ....lower the motor while on the trailer and stand on the cavitation plate and bounce!!! Have some one else watch the transom and see if your getting alot of flex (indicative of the soft transom syndrome [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).

I think West marine sells a moisture meter but they aint cheap....I think it would be much cheaper to get a surveyor to check it out.....but even at that you already know its wet....just how wet is it. You may need to punch some holes in the transom to truly diagnose your dilemma.

Good luck….Scott

“THE WET TRANSOMS” .... Fellow Ship you crack me up [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA SCOTT
HOW THINGS GOING?? I HAVE NOT TALKED TO YOU IN A WHILE, HOW’S THAT BOAT OF YOURS COMING?? DID YOU DECIDE TO DO THE TRANSOM YOUR SELF OR GET SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU?
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[rsegreto]

Dear Scott & Fellow-Ship-

Thank you both for the advice, I think that it may be a long winter for me here in N.E. if the transom is rotted. But I guess we'll have to wait and see, until then I'll enjoy the rest of my summer up here.

Rich Segreto

[rsegreto]

Hello Gentlemen-
I'm new to this forum and wanted to say hello as well as ask a question. I have a 23' Seacraft w/a model that's a 1989. Recently while installing trim tabs to her, I notice some water trickle out of the transom as I was screwing the tabs on. Now with that in mind, how much water damage should I be looking for before thinking of replacing the transom? Also, where can I buy one of those handheld gadgets to test how moist the transom actually is?
Thanks in advance!

[rsegreto]

By the way, can anyone tell me what the cost of a new transom would be? I'm not to handy when it comes to something like that and therefore I'd have to get it done by a professional.
Thanks in advance for your advice.

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA RSEGRETO
I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH SOME ONE WOULD CHARGE YOU I DID MINE MYSELF. I KNOW THERE ARE A FEW GUYS THAT HAVE GOT QUOTES OR HAVE HAD SOMEONE DO THEIRS MAYBE THEY WILL CHIME IN. REMEMBER BECAUSE OF THE AGE OF YOUR BOAT YOU MIGHT BE OK.
FELLOW-SHIP [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img]

[JohnB]

rsegreto,
I have a GRP meter to measure moisture. If you drilled holes and water came out, save your money on the meter. It will tell you that the whole thing is wet. When I was boat shopping, 80% of the boats more than 5 years old that had cutout style transoms, and outboards were signifigantly wet according to the meter, regardless of manufacture or visible inspection. I talked to Carl Mosely this week about my boat (great guy, thanks for the info Carl), and he said that water from the atmospheric preasure changes will naturally penetrate any transom. If you have water in the bilge, which has no sealing gelcoat, it will migrate into the wood. It is a fact of life. I don't know if this is the cause, but I agree by observation, as to what I saw. I went thru a boat yard in Tarpon Springs and put my moisture meter on about 60 boats, and the majority of them had wet transoms (these were high end boats under cover, and dry stored). If you have water running out, you need to determine whether or not it is structurally compromised, or just wet. If it is structurally compromised, it needs a new transom. If it is just wet, you might be able to dry it out, than us a West Epoxy treatment on it. Mine was wet but structurally sound (as best I could tell). I dried it out to 15% or less moisture detection, than treated it with West Epoxy, and sealed it back up 3 months ago. I check it every month with the meter, and it has stayed a consistant 10 - 15% on the meter. As far as flex on the motor goes, I have a 250 Merc which weighs about 470 pounds. If you stand on the back of it, there is very little flex in the transom, but if you start bouncing it back and forth, you can see some flex. I think that even a good transom with almost 500 pounds bouncing back and forth will get some flex to it. My long term strategy is to put a bracket on that will distribute the load evenly across the back of the boat.
Keep us up to date on what you find.

[rsegreto]

JohnB-
Your boat's a beauty....Great picture!! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Well, here's another little bit of info. for you. I've also noticed that my water line is starting to go below the water level, not much but it's noticeable to me anyway. I would expect this maybe when I have a full tank of fuel but at half? Does this seem possible? I have a Merc. 200 hp. outboard hanging off the back which adds some weight as well. I'll have to stand on the engine when I take it out for the season this year to try and determine what the heck's going on. But as someone stated earlier, I don't think that I need to go out and buy a moisture meter. Maybe the best thing to do would be either to drill some more wholes into the transom or have it surveyed.

[Scott]

Hey Rich

When the water that came out of the transom .... did it stop or just keep dripping till you put the hardware back???

and how long have you noticed the waterline disappearing???.....Any chance your foam filled stringers are wet???

I ask as a 23 SeaCraft that was restored down here had a similar problem (not sure about any water line changing however) but the transom was wet(this was an I/O) and when they started the work the guy told me that five to six …5 gallon buckets of water were recovered as it drained out of one of the stringers.....he said it just poured out. They did nothing but got the bulk of the water out, let it dry as best they could and then finished the transom.

I never found out how they thought the water got in there ... however it was over some time. The whole point is that this was about 200Lbs of water that could affected the trim of the boat.

You may want to drill some holes in the stringers (I think Fellow-Ship went through this exercise) down low to see if there is water in there..

Hope this helps!!!!! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Scott