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TL;DR - patching screw holes on transom after removing abandoned pitot gear (plugged tube with golf-tee last summer). Found I have wet foam below the deck - need to understand how big an issue for immediate attention, or if we can get through the summer with a more through mitigation to follow in September. My impression is that as a 2000 boat, it's likely all composite down there so no wood stringers to rot out, and no soft-spots have been identified anywhere - can we get away`with it?
Background - Pulled the screws, cleaned the holes in prep for marine-tex, noted a little water coming out, stuffed some yarn overnight to try and wick it out, but it wasn't enough. Forced some air in one hole, and as suspected, moisture came out the other. This is where it gets a little WTF-ish... As I was forcing air into the holes on the stbd side, I heard gurgling and noticed water running out of the transom drain. Further inspection turns up what looks like a series of rotary-saw plunge-cuts into the fiberglass just outside of the engine recess (below the location of original ballast tanks) where the pressurized air was forcing water out. You can see what I think is some AL plate/reinforcing that looks like it may've been inserted into the sidewall here (see images below). I pulled the factory ballast out myself two summers ago, so unless a PO had removed them and reinstalled after making these modifications, was this factory work? It wasn't sealed up, just carpet laid over the top. My guess is that over-time, water in the rear (I think we get quite a bit of water coming in, washing over the stern from big surf while we're moored wet during the summer) has just easily found its way down and into the foam below, resulting in the situation I find myself in now. I managed to get the screw-holes filled with marine-tex - I had to fight moisture a little, but letting the MT set-up a bit and stuffing a little paper-towel in hole before application seems to have helped. I'll know more tonight on how successful that effort was.
Basically two questions out of this:
1. Can we survive the summer with the wet foam below, or do I need to address this pronto?
2. Any idea what's up with the "access" into the fiberglass??? If the answer to above is yes, I may run a couple tubes into this at either end to let it breathe and seal it up with some silicone for the summer to minimize any further water intrusion. Thoughts?
Background - Pulled the screws, cleaned the holes in prep for marine-tex, noted a little water coming out, stuffed some yarn overnight to try and wick it out, but it wasn't enough. Forced some air in one hole, and as suspected, moisture came out the other. This is where it gets a little WTF-ish... As I was forcing air into the holes on the stbd side, I heard gurgling and noticed water running out of the transom drain. Further inspection turns up what looks like a series of rotary-saw plunge-cuts into the fiberglass just outside of the engine recess (below the location of original ballast tanks) where the pressurized air was forcing water out. You can see what I think is some AL plate/reinforcing that looks like it may've been inserted into the sidewall here (see images below). I pulled the factory ballast out myself two summers ago, so unless a PO had removed them and reinstalled after making these modifications, was this factory work? It wasn't sealed up, just carpet laid over the top. My guess is that over-time, water in the rear (I think we get quite a bit of water coming in, washing over the stern from big surf while we're moored wet during the summer) has just easily found its way down and into the foam below, resulting in the situation I find myself in now. I managed to get the screw-holes filled with marine-tex - I had to fight moisture a little, but letting the MT set-up a bit and stuffing a little paper-towel in hole before application seems to have helped. I'll know more tonight on how successful that effort was.
Basically two questions out of this:
1. Can we survive the summer with the wet foam below, or do I need to address this pronto?
2. Any idea what's up with the "access" into the fiberglass??? If the answer to above is yes, I may run a couple tubes into this at either end to let it breathe and seal it up with some silicone for the summer to minimize any further water intrusion. Thoughts?
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