Transom Sample
I've got a little project going for which I'll do a full build thread when I get deeper into it but I just wanted to share why some old boats are built to last. Below is a piece of the transom I had to cut out to fit the newer style leg and I just couldn't believe how good the condition is. This is below a couple of holes and below the water line. This late 70's hull seems to be holding up really well and the only deterioration is where stuff has been done after the factory - like drilling holes in the floor without sealing them!
Once the new floor is down I'll post some pics before it goes to the place to have the new motor fitted. The red colour is from the jigsaw blade but you can see how thick the fibreglass is and how good the wood has remained after all these years.
Ashen
Posts: 1042
Date Joined: 22/03/13
What hull
What old hull was that from, Michael?
A fish in the hand is worth 10 in the water!
ranmar850
Posts: 2702
Date Joined: 12/08/12
That is good.
If done properly, the timber in glass huls will last a very long time indeed. As you soaid, so much damage is down to what people do later--drilling holes wthout sealing properly is the main culprit. One should approach older glass hulls with trepidation--My Swiftcraft Dominator was sold new in 1983, nothing touched--I gave it every test I could think of before buying. The real test was when I fitted a single in place of the original twins--involved drilling new holes in the transom, and the wood came out white, clean and dry. So She's good for now. I had the installer dowell the old holes with 24hr Araldite--best way to keep underwater timber sealed.
Plenty of glass boats a lot younger than that are ratshit or have required major rebuilds. Some builders really started cutting corners with cost, big names among them . Haines were notorious for it late 90's /early noughties, apparently. Rot in five years. Google it. And there was a well known brand of small cat that actually used masonite under the deck, would you believe...
z00m
Posts: 1086
Date Joined: 10/05/14
Hull
It is a Caribbean Crusader 235.
Don't get me wrong, there are some soft spots on the floor but as I said they are directly related to work done by people drilling holes without thinking of where the water goes.
Paul H
Posts: 2104
Date Joined: 18/01/07
Thats what you like to see
Thats what you like to see come out of your transom - same as when it went in
Efforts to cut corners using cheaper non-marine suitable woods etc in boat building wasn't around in the eighties. Some very good solid boats built back then.
Then cored hulls (akin to putting the absorber mats you get on the bottom of a meat tray between two layers of glass) came into vouge - particularly in the USA- with huge issues in some boats.
Works when done correctly but when not boats can literaly peel apart.
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