Small qty of Marine Ply anyone?

[manicmondays0]

Hi there. I'm looking for some off-cuts of 10mm marine ply and wondered if anyone had any here that they don't want. I'd be happy to pay for postage and the cost of the wood of course - but I don't want to buy a huge sheet.

I need 2 pieces, both about 800mm wide x 400mm deep. It's for reinforcing the transom.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Simon

[Howstar]

Most wood merchants should help or try some stainlees steel

[Rapier]

Unless you are panning on leaving the boat in water all year, or crossing the atlantic in a purpose-built yacht, I'd advise using standard WBP plywood coated with varnish, epoxy or paint (and household Dulux, for that matter). Most DIY stores stock this at a few quid a sheet, if you are fussy ensure the substrate isn't too powdery and find a sheet with nice looking grain if you are going to varnish. I've used it for transom protectors on both Brooms, the Cartopper and the seats on the Pearly Miss. With modern coatings, regularly maintained you will most likely be fertilizer before it rots.

Having said that if the transom is soft and tea-stained then it's best to fix it properly; covering with ali plate and steel will transfer the forces elsewhere and make you miserable when you see cracks where there should be none.

[manicmondays0]

Hi Rapier - your comments have concerned me somewhat. The reason for reinforcing the transom is that some tool who owned the boat before me, cut into it and lowered it by about 6 inches. I presume this was to allow them to use a short-shaft engine. By some stroke of genius, they left the exposed edges of the severed transom completely uncovered - so over the years, the wood inside the fibreglass seems to have turned to brown soft mush.

What I have done since is to put a couple of lengths of baton into the exposed gap to bring the height back up in line with the top of the original transom. However, because they're not actually fixed to anything (just a tight fit into the gap), I am proposing to apply a sheet of ply to both the inside and out of the transom, covering the full width of the repair and about 6 inches either side. This will then be glued in place using sikalfex and held firm by the clamps on the outboard and the bolts thereon.

Having explained in more detail - do you still think I am heading for trouble?

What's the alternative? I don't know how I would replace the whole transom given that it's within a fibreglass shell.

Look forward to hearing your advice.

Thanks

Simon

[Rapier]

Hi Simon, am afraid there are no shortcuts with a soft / mushy transom - I've seen a lot of checkerplate, stainless plate and temporary fixes, none last long before transferring the forces somewhere else...mostly to outside the repair area, esp as the wood is no longer holding the 2 skins apart. The top section of the transom is the one with the greatest force exerted on it by the motor, obviously with greater impact the higher the hp. http://www.fiberglassics.com and http://www.bigfinboats.com have extensive dissertations on the subject of transom repair, most mean you have to get messy, but approach it properly and it could only be a weekend or two of work. In your case you might be able to load resin impregnated ply sections in, from the previously hacked to section, but it's likely you'd have to cut the floor away near the transom to get access beneath the splashwell, replace the transom and floor and then re-glass both. I've done it before, as complete amateur, using B&Q ply and off-the-shelf polyester resins and glassfibre mat. It was fine to do and when finished there was no nagging doubt left as to its strength.

[floater]

Shakespeare transom replacement also mentioned previously here http://cmba-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1679

As it's such a pig of a job I used the best materials I could afford to ensure never needing to do it again, but as rapier says with the typical limited use cheap stuff will probably last a lifetime. the stuff I pulled out of the transom of mine looked remarkably like shuttering ply!

good luck