Boat transom rot...need advice?

I took my boat into the shop this week to have some annual servicing done. My mechanic noticed some dark colored liquid leaking from the back of the transom. He pulled the motor to investigate and it was rot pouring from the mounting bolt holes :Embarrassed:

The thought of rot in my boat never crossed my mind until now. It's a 1997 Champion 191 that my dad purchased brand new, I bought it off him 2 years ago. It's always been meticulously cared for and garage kept it's entire life, it almost looks and runs like the day it was bought. I guess these things just happen when something has been in and out of the water for almost 20 years :Rolls Eyes:

Im not sure how bad the rot is yet, but my mechanic installed a new mounting plate for the bolts to have extra support, its already starting to flex and crack a little around it on the inside of the hull. But other than that, you wouldnt know whats happening inside there.

Any insight from you guys that have had to deal with this before? Just knowing whats going on back there makes me feel uneasy about even operating my boat. Is it worth investing all the $$$ to have it torn down and fixed? or would it be smarter to just cut my losses and save up for a newer boat? Any thoughts / info would be appreciated, thanks :Sad:

I redid my transom last year. I had no idea on what to do. So I registered on iboats and read the posts from previous people that did the repair. The person who I contacted and helped me through the process goes woodonglass. He was really knowledgeable in the repair has been doing it for more than thirty years. My boat is a 15 foot whaler type that had a transom that was totally rotted away. Materials cost me around $400 through us composites and home depot. The repair is fairly easy but takes a decent amount of time to finish things in stages. Mine took a month. Do not be afraid in doing, just go to iboats.com and look in the forum under boat repair and you can do it. By the way took my boat to get an estimate at inland boat center and they quoted me $3500 and gel coating was extra. Pm if you need more info and pics of my repair if you want. Good luck.

99% percent chance your whole transom is shot and will need to be replaced.

I have replaced the transom on two boats. Sweetfish is right, do it yourself and just buy the materials. If you can take some shots of your transom with the engine off it will help. You can use composite materials that will not rot like the wood did. After it is all done you can have the glass work done to match your current gelcoat and chances are it will be done better than what the original transom was to begin with.

Just another reason I bought a BassCat boat, 100% fiberglass boat with a transferable lifetime warranty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyha768B7oo

Go to the "Seacast" web site and read alot.
you can rebuild your transom without destroying the outer glass and gel.
Seacast is a pourable composite epoxy that will make your transom harder than new.
very simple but time consuming project.
I did an old Whaler sport transom and it was very easy.

thank you all for the helpful responses! i'm still doing some homework to see if this is a job i can tackle myself.

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Originally Posted by DEVOREFLYER

Just another reason I bought a BassCat boat, 100% fiberglass boat with a transferable lifetime warranty. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qyha768B7oo

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Oh believe me....someday when i can afford a new boat, it'll be a cat :Envious:

I would seal off the transom with thick vinyl sheeting and hook up a vacuum pump to pull all the moisture out before attempting a repair. You should be able to get a pump at a tool rental and I would run if for a week. Any residual moisture in the transom will just continue the rot.