Replacing the transom on my 275 Freedom: a photo story

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mr_mbuna

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I bought my boat, a 2011 275 Freedom, about four years ago. At the time the original “bang cap” for the transom, an aluminum piece at the time, was heavily corroded which created a route for some water to get into the transom, but the boat surveyed well. After buying the boat, I had the top of the transom permanently glassed over instead of replacing the cap/trim piece like for like because I wanted a permanent watertight seal on the transom.

Everything worked out fine until last year when I moved from California to Maryland and went through a true freezing winter. After that, a crack appeared along the top of my transom which multiple shops diagnosed as symptomatic of a wet transom that needed to be replaced.

I hired Annapolis Gelcoat in Annapolis to do the work. They are replacing the transom core with Coosa Bluewater 26. I figured you all might want to see the process play out.

The fiberglass pro has cut out the flat parts of the transom but appears to be leaving the complex areas, such as the recessed trim tabs and corners. Is this sufficient or does the entire back need to come off?

IMG_6652.jpeg

If anyone else has gone through a similar process with a SeeV2 hull with recessed tabs and has a photo of their job in progress, I’d welcome seeing it!
 

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As someone who has replaced a transom in the past and probably didn't need to....

First, wood looks pretty damn good to me..

I'm guessing he's going to dig out the wood left in the 4" edge and tuck the new pieces in.

There is no reason to rebuild the tab pockets unless you want to spend an incredible amount of money for nothing.

I would have removed the tow eyes and went all the way to there but hey thats just me....
 
The hull is solid fiberglass with potentially wood or composite stringer. I'd say these are fine. Like stated, the wood looks good, so I'd say he's doing what needs to be done.
 
Do other "high end" manufacturers have as many boats needing new transoms after 20 or so years?

Seems fairly common here. Although I don't hang out on other brand's forums.
 
SkunkBoat said:
I'm guessing he's going to dig out the wood left in the 4" edge and tuck the new pieces in.

There is no reason to rebuild the tab pockets unless you want to spend an incredible amount of money for nothing.

I would have removed the tow eyes and went all the way to there but hey thats just me....
Click to expand...

Exactly right - digging out wood under the glass and tucking in new pieces. The new transom will be built with Coosa Bluewater 26.
The tow eyes are seized due to them being stainless steel bolted into the aluminum backing plate. They cut the port one off and will get the starboard one off on Monday.

IMG_5015.jpeg
 
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SkunkBoat said:
There is no reason to rebuild the tab pockets unless you want to spend an incredible amount of money for nothing.
Click to expand...
The only reason to do that would be to be able to install interceptors (with or without auto trim/roll control f.e. SK Ride, Humphree, Zipwake) instead of the original trim tabs
Chris
 
I am a bit surprised that a transom replacement would be needed on a 2011 hull.
I agree that a full replacement probably isn't necessary and would make the repair significantly more expensive. I do have a concern about the cause of the transom issue. Was the cause identified specifically? If so, the repair should also specifically address the cause. My concern is that the new transon may be subject to the same initial cause.
Waht did the transom look like before the opening and during the removal of rotten material?
 
When I bought the boat in 2020, the aluminum cap on top of the transom was corroded. That is common (Grady switched to vinyl caps in 2012) and could have been a path of water intrusion. The typical repair is to replace the cap with a new vinyl part but I elected to glass over the top of the transom in 2021 so it would be a permanent fix. That seemed fine for a few years in California, where it did not freeze, but when I moved to Maryland, a big crack appeared in the top of the transom after my first winter. The fiberglass shop in my area said that the resin in the 2021 job may not have cured properly or water was seeping in through some fitting. Once they got to work, their tech said it looked like water was seeping in through the drain plug and wicking its way up. This is what the core looked like the first day of the job before it was removed:

IMG_4985 copy.jpg

I am also unhappy that this is required on a 2011 hull, but I am choosing to just accept that "it is what it is." The job is costing me about $8,000 in Annapolis, MD.
 
It doesn't look like there was a lot of rot around the drain plug. Most of the rot seems to be the upper and middle-ish areas on the right of center.
If the water did enter through the garboard drain ( a common source) why did the crack appear near the top? It appeared because that is where the water was.
Although many folks on this forum disagree with my theory, I still think that glassing the cap area may give a false sense of security. The area where the motor is mounted experiences the greatest amount of stress and stress often leads to stress cracks. Although many hate the old aluminum cap, it did seal the top of the transom fairly well until it corroded or its caulking failed which is very common.

I hope your repair works out well. A moisture scan with a decent meter both after the repair ( as a baseline) and a scan every now and then might be a good idea to identify any future seepage
 
would a 316 ss cap be better than aluminum? why doesnt anyone do that?
 
More progress… the tow eyes are off (they had to be cut off because the original SS screws were seized in the aluminum backing plate). The only wood left to remove is on the lower port side.

The fiberglass tech confirmed that he thinks the water was seeping in from around the drain plug. There is only caulk around the drain plug acting as a barrier between the water and the plywood core, so it’s a vulnerable area. Thanks a lot, Grady.

The tech said it has been slow going removing the core because the boat is “very well built” and the original wood was generally in good shape. The removal process is almost complete. Next they will install a new Coosa core and rebuilt the fiberglass. The new tow eyes will be installed slightly off-center from the old ones and through-bolted for extra strength with ss inspection hatches installed on the side of the engine well where the blue arrows indicate.IMG_6791.jpegIMG_6792.jpeg
 
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