1986 Offshore Transom Questions

[Andrew93]

I am sure this has been discussed a lot here but when I did a search it said the word transom was too common, wonder why hah! Well I have always wanted a Grady since I was a little kid and my father owned the boats, the the tide has shifted and I am the boat owner and he is the passenger on my 1986 Offshore with a open transom and Yamaha 225 OX66. I love the boat and the previous owners took real good care of her. Understanding thy problematic transoms if not taken care of I had a surveyor look overt eh transom when I bought it and he said its moistue content was well within range with a small area of delamination when listening with a hammer and said it was not enough to worry about. I had the motor off the boat at one point and reseated the aluminum trim in place and sealed it. The plywood under it looked good and dry.

I guess I want to know what to look for before problem start if they start at all. Do all transom rot, or just ones that we're not caught in time? When the motor was off I tried inspecting the bolt holes with a screwdriver and although a little moist it was solid. I resealed everything all when it went back into place. I have a bad case of boat ADHD and tend not to hang onto anything for any length of time, but I really like this boat. Whether I keep it for the long run or more likely only 2-3 years and try and upgrade to something newer I want to make sure I do not have any major issues sneak up on me. I was going to post this to another popular boating forum, but did not want to start a Grady bashing thread since I love the brand.

As always thanks for the help in advance

Andrew

 

[VeroWing]

Andrew, the key to keeping these transoms in good shape is keeping water out. The worst problem area of water intrusion is the aluminum angle molding on the outside perimeter of the transom notch. The way boat is constructed allows (actually directs) water to go up and under this molding, through seam of outer hull and cockpit, and down into wood core of transom. Keeping this molding sealed up is one of the most important ways to prevent a transom going bad. Also be sure to seal each and every screw and bolt that penetrates into transom. Below is pic of a 22' Grady Seafarer that a previous owner allowed water to get under the aluminum molding for years resulting in having to completely recore the transom. A very labor intensive job.

 

[onoahimahi]

I am sure this has been discussed a lot here but when I did a search it said the word transom was too common, wonder why hah!

Andrew - you can get around that "too common" search problem by searching from Google. For example, if you paste the following line to Google:

transom site:greatgrady.com

you will get close to 5000 hits...!