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I have the same problem. Last weekend, I started detaching the planking from the transom on the port side. At the tails of the planks, I found a column of screws going into the vertical members of the transom, and behind those, a column of nails shooting into the end grain of the horizontal planks of the transom. I don't mind digging a little in the painted planks, but I'd like to avoid messing up the stained & varnished sheerstrake. I've tried prying from inside the boat against the transom, and that helped some on the lower planks, but not up there. Tips, anyone?

It may be time to buy a Dremel... if I could carefully grind off the head of the nail, the plank would come off, and then I could use a nail puller or pliers to remove the shank of the nail.

-wte

These boats built by Thompson, Cruisers, T & T and I will assume Grady-White, were made fast. At Peshtigo they made 5,000 a year. To speed production, they would nail items together first and come back later and use screws. This would get the baic shape of things and hold stuff together so it could be removed from the jig. That's why there are lots of nails

Andreas

There is handy little set of tools out there that will drill out broken screws and nails in wood. They are a set of tubular drills that use the shank of the screw or nail as a guide and they will drill around the shank which can then be removed relitively easily I am told. You then glue in a wood plug of the same species wood and start with a new pilot hole for your new screws. I am very seriously look at purchasing a set of these myself. It will be handy for all my wood owrking project not just working on the boats. This handy little tool is called "UNSCREW-UMS" you can ppurchase them from T & L Tools wedsite at www.tltools.com.

I have started to take the screws out around the transom and they seem to be coming out without breaking. I am seriously considering drilling off the heads of the nails; and once I CPES & caulk either putting nails in again next to the old shanks or drilling and screwing. It seems like I would be doing more damage than good trying to get the nails out they have been counter sunk in. Any thoughts?

I have used aa awl and a pick tool to pry the nail heads up slightly the use needle nose pliers to pull them out..the nails I pulled out were smooth shank and came out easily..give me a call if you like..Buddy

Is it just me or are ther too many choices out there. Interested to hear what others have picked.

For what it's worth, I use:

-Old Salem Sealer
-Interlux Schnooer 96 spar varnnish
-paint from George Kirby, Jr. Paint Co. or Interlux Brightside Polyurethane
-3M 5200 for bedding stuff I never want to come apart again (NOT for the keel)
-Life Caulk by Boat Life for caulking
-Smith's CPES for sealer
-Smith's Fill-It for filling dings and scratches in paintable surfaces

Andreas

Andreas - is the Smith's Fill it suitable for large areas? If I ever get the time, still planning to flip my Sea Lancer and correct the hooks with a reinforcing cloth/filler (assuming they are minor enough to make that a viable approach)

I don't know. My guess is that Smith's Fill-It or any other type of filler is suitable for small areas only.

Andreas

Peter,

I'd highly suggest using thickened epoxy to fill that hook. Maybe first apply with a notched trowel like thinset under a tile floor, then screed that off with a straightedge. Most any hardware store sells aluminum angle that you could use for that. After this cures, check it for level and smoothness. Knock off any high spots, then fill the grooves with another coat. Silica filler will help prevent the epoxy from sagging, while microballoons will help with sandability. You sure don't want your filler to sag before it cures!

Have you seen my latest post under Bottom shape - Bill's '57 Sea Lancer? It deals with my assessment of how my boat's bottom got hooked and what I'm thinking of doing about it. With that big 100hp motor (mine's a similar Merc 900), you might consider doing the same, or you may be facing another hook downriver sometime.

Thanks Bill and AJR,

I did see your post Bill - I checked by keel and sisters and they are flat and straight. My transome bows out about an eigth of an inch at center, so I am pretty comfortable that it's Ok. I am considering some reinforcement though.

My hook comes from sitting on a trailer without the bunks extending past the transome. They dont look severe, appear to be localized to where the roller where, and less than a half inch as far as I can tell.

I plan to flip the boat for the work on that and removing the outter keel for clean up and reseal. I like the approach of using a notched trowl.

Peter, check out a picture of the Cortland factory in the Misc. section...

Andreas

The hull is getting ready for paint. Gloss or Semi Gloss for the hull, that is the question. What is everyone using?

Update the project continues. I got side tracted with some paint issues (I must have applied the paint when it was too cold or something). In any event I am back on this project hope to flip in a week or two.

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