Transom-formation

October 13, 2022

The new transom is roughed in, tabbed and watertight enough to get it through the next couple weeks until the winter cover goes on.

The pictures look pretty rough, since the two-part undercoat and topside paint I used were just miserable to grind off, so I only took it down to glass where I would be gluing and tabbing. Tardis looks pretty rough, too, after two years in Maine without serious paint and varnish maintenance.

This took a lot more time than I thought, since with any fiberglass job, you put in a piece, glass, let it cure, put in another piece, glass, let it cure, etc., working around cold and rainy days. Also just thinking this through and figuring out all the new cable, hose and wire runs took forever. Luckily, I had pictures of Arnhem in North Carolina to give me the general idea. Hank from Brown’s Boatyard also took a look before I sealed up the new splashwell and he thinks we will be in good shape on the motor reinstall, since the way things run now pretty much duplicate the length of the existing setup, just in different places.

I am pretty happy with this so far. I used heavy biaxial cloth for all the tabbing and the transom itself and the two big stringers look very strong. There are 1/4-inch screws holding on the transom that you don’t see, and some big stainless brackets that will go on last. You can’t really see from the pictures, how much this opens up the cockpit, but all the boatyard denizens who remember the old engine box are really surprised when they see what’s happening.

The cost differential since I built Tardis is just incredible. The 3/4-inch ply that makes up most of the structure cost $272 for one sheet! I ran out of epoxy resin and had to go to West for a quart — $69. You can’t even get West 610 or Thixo — that’s why the bottom stringer fillets are 5200. I got one tube from a little shop on Long Island. Regular Jamestown price — $24. Emergency price — $39. And so it goes.

That’s it until spring.