Removing the rot



Before anything can get fixed, the old rotten wood has to be removed. The floor was easy- It was so rotten all I had to do was pull it out. The edges, where they were bonded to the hull, were more or less intact, so I set the depth on my cordless circular saw to just barely cut through it, then removed the rest with a chisel, so I had a nice clean edge.

The floor is out now, exposing what is left of the stringers. The plywood pieces in there are for me to walk on, so my weight is spread out a bit over the stringers. I hit the inside of the hull with my pressure washer, and most of the paint came off- Which will save me a LOT of work later. I also washed out the bilge area well with the pressure washer.


Next, it's time to attack the transom. There isn't much left to the plywood back there- Most of it came out with a Shop-Vac. I had to remove the inner fiberglass skin first. When I did that, I did so carefully- so I could use is as a template to cut the replacement plywood.

BEFORE you remove too much from anywhere, make sure you take plenty of photos and measurements! Keep note of how thick the original one is. Also, the transom on this particular model is curved outward- and before you remove all the plywood, You'll want to measure the curve so you can replicate it when you put the new plywood in.

Most of the transom just crumbled out it was so rotten. The only solid wood was down by the bottom of the transom, and that took a chisel and prybar to get out. It looks a LOT better now that all the rotten wood is out and it's been sanded. It's all ready to repair now.


You'll note that I left the stringers in for now. I'll wait until I have repaired the transom before I remove them. I don't want to take all of the stiffeners out of the hull at once, or I run the risk of it bending out of shape.

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