46 years = a good run for a Transom

[Rockfish9]

I knew this day was coming, I've owned my 18' 1977 Jon Dory yellowtail for 43 of it's 46 years, I replaced the sole 20 odd years ago and installed a 25 gallon belly tank, I had to cut it once and repair a hole in the hull when it sat on an errant railroad tie( complete with spike) at low tide in it's slip around that time, when I replaced the original 90 with the 115, I raised the transom to 25".. but that is all that has ever been done to the boat itself besides paint and electronics..

This summer while dealing with an overheat problem ( caused by a 13 dollar tube and grommet that was backordered since June until September) I noticed a bit of flex in the transom... I pulled the boat the first week in October just before the hurricane and winterized and removed the engine console and wiring , I noticed a crack in the starboard side of the transom time was up, the boat went on blocks, I bought a portable car port and went "scorched earth on the interior of the boat, the sole and stringers were worse than I could imagine, I removed IMHO about 1000 -1200 lbs. of soaked plywood and foam, I haven't updated the pictures recently, but the inner transom has been removed, all but the center stringer removed and the interior got a krud cutter bath, I removed 15" of the cap to aid in the transom repair, all the old glass has been ground back, any hole in the outer skin repaired from the inside using a 12:1 scarf, I'll be laminating the transom from 3 sheets of 12mm Okoume marine plywood, I've insulated the outer transom with 2" thick foam and made a hot box for localized repairs from the same foam, an oil filled electric radiator is keeping the work surface at 68, on the outer shell, and 72 on the inside.. if it holds in the colder weather ill epoxy the transoms Sunday. trying to get all I can done before the weather forces me to quit. I'd like to get the transom tabbed, filleted and glassed as well as the stringers before winter gets serious, I have other heat sources as well, but would rather not use them, if push comes to shove I wait, i cant afford risking the epoxy not curing fully.