VeroWing

Boated out of Harts Cove (Moriches) for years, now in Sebastian, Fl.

I rebuilt transom on my late '80s Grady Seafarer some years back. It was a large amount of work, and I would never do another for $2100. If you choose to have someone do this rebuild for you, get some references from past customers to be sure they know what they are doing. It would be very easy to do a halfazzed repair that won't hold up. Only you can decide if your hull is worth repairing, but before committing to do transom, have stringers, bulkheads, deck, etc. checked for similar damage. If repair person checks out, and prior customers seem satisfied, I'd think $2100 was a good price. Be sure to get explanation of how rebuild will be done, and guarantee of work. Just my opinion.

One thing you should definitly check, and one I've encountered with the same symtoms you have, is check and clear the fuel tank vent opening. These get clogged, especially in off season, with bees' nests, etc. It creates a vacuum in your tank, and will not let fuel go through lines to engine.

That was great!. Lots of good info. Thanks Wiley, and ReelBoating!

Sounds like a plan. Link below is method Poveromo uses. May come in handy for you. http://www.georgepoveromo.com/nononsenserigger.htm

Sounds great!

Glad they caught them. Its a shame there are people doing crap like that, and it appears that the number is growing. I worry for our children and grandchildren about the alarming rate of moral decay in our country. Hope we can turn it around.

Check fuel tank vent for blockage, and check all fuel lines for collapsing under pressure.

I researched various pourable transom cores before rebuilding my transom with traditional wood, but I found plenty of users of "SeaCast" were very satisfied with their results.

Welcome Frank. I'll bet you'll like the ReelBoating forum. Great sharing of info, and I find members here to be more mature and seasoned. I'm not saying we're old, but, oh never mind! Mike

I guess that depends on where you're fishing. Hope that "oil relesae" gets cleared up soon for you guys. Mike

Thanks all!

Choosing correct prop sometimes is trial and error. First you need to find the top recommended operating rpms for your engines. You'll want your boat, when at full throttle, to be at this limit. Not lower, not higher. To actually find that "correct" prop for your boat, many go to their local marina or marine parts store and seek recommendations. If you are friendly with some suppliers, they will let you trial a few different props, knowing you are eventually going to purchase from them. You should be able to contact Mercury with all your hull info (weight, length, etc.), and ask their recommendation for prop dimensions.

Launched my Grady Seafarer yesterday for the first time in almost two years. I just completed a complete rebuild from bow to stern, and everything in between. Shortly after purchasing I found that transom core was deteriorated to a point of being unsafe. Decided to tackle rebuilding it on my own. It had a single 200 Johnson on it, and I figured it would be a good time to go with twins. Found an excellant deal on a pair of very low hour 2002 Tohatsu 115s with all accessories. While researching Tohatsus, found out that the 115s are made by "detuning" 140s. What they do is retard timing two degrees, and place a throttle stop on number one carb. After speaking with Tohatsu mechanic, I brought timing back to 140 specs, and removed carb stop on carbs. Instant 140s! All in all, it was quite an job replacing everything, including all wiring, electronics, engines, transom, cockpit floor covers, controls, steering, and on and on. There were many times I wondered why I was even doing this, instead of just purchasing a better boat. Now that it is complete, and I took it out on for the first time in a few years, I could not be happier, and glad I took it on. See you out there. Mike

That's terrible. Why not just shoot it with a 12ga when it is swimming around the boat? Better yet, run the boat over it and hit it with the props.

Great looking boat Captain. I wish you the best of luck and many years of enjoyable boating with it.

That would depend on the cracks, and what is actually cracked. Most times cracks develop in gelcoat, and occur in many boats, especially offshore type boats that experience high speeds, large waves, etc.. These gelcoat "stress cracks" are hard to repair, mostly because they reappear when boat gets stressed again. They are normally not a problem though, and only go skin deep. An example of a potentially serious crack, that needs a thorough checking, would be one that develops where cockpit sole (splash area) and interior transom meet at interior corner. This is a natural high stress point, especially for outboard powered vessels. If transom is compromised with possible woodcore rot, then this area will flex so much that the crack will go down into fiberglass. On an outboard power vessel, out of water, you can normally stand on lower unit and see if transom is flexing. If it is, and you have this tell-tell crack at interior lower transom corner, you should definitly check further into this.

Can't go wrong with a Whaler thats in good shape. Good luck with it.

I saw that post and was thinking the same thing. Though that particular captain is an experienced go-fast boater, any number of small things could have happened that were out of his control, combined with the lack of attention shown by all aboard, that could have created an instant trajedy. I am of the mindset that, a combination of two normally insignificant problems, can cause dangerous irreversible life threatening situations. i.e. high speed in rough seas/thrown overboard hard without pfd bad bilge pump/leak in washdown/baitwell plumbing while offshore nightime high speeds in busy waterways/no bow watchman or proper lighting You can't be too careful out there. JMO

I completely disagree. Although the youth towing the boats without lights was a major factor contributing to the mishap, that in itself did not take the lives of the others. What did take their lives was the vessel riding up and over the other vessel. If you are traveling at night or in limited visibility you are supposed to post a lookout at the bow and proceed with all due caution. What if it were your boat and you lost all electric power, would that give someone the right to plow over you. I don't think so. There are no accidents, only mistakes. Just my opinion.

If it were only the river and an occasional 4 or 5 mile trip nearshore, then a single with a kicker and seatow or similar should suffice. But 40 mile offshore runs, trip across, etc., to not have twins, just doesn't make sense to me. If you don't think 4 strokes break down, look at the cars on the side of the road when you go to work tomorrow. I personally grenaded an Evinrude 225 on a 22 Grady in the Long Island Sound. Had a 10 hp kicker on a bracket, dropped it down and headed to ramp under GW bridge, an easy 10+ miles away. Once I hit currents that kicker was like using an oar. Completely overwhelmed. Now think about having to do that out in the gulfstream, while waiting for seatow to find you. That kicker will be fine for big lakes, bays, etc., but way offshore, where weather and water can can change quickly, why would you NOT have twins? Plan for the worst, and hope for the best. Mike

Thanks for the comments guys. Mike

Below is link to detailed transom rebuild I recently completed on my 22' Grady. I took pics for all of the steps from beginning to hanging twin outboards. It took a lot of labor, but not really too much money. I did all the work myself, without any assistance. I would guesstimate a total cost for all materials to be around $700-$800, and that is using the more expensive epoxy resin. Its' definitly not for the faint of heart, especially when you're cutting the rear floor out of the cockpit to access the interior transom area. I am very happy with the results of all my hard work though. Transom is much better than when new, and doesn't have the water infusion areas it had from the factory. Hopefully, this will help someone contemplating doing a similar rebuild on their boat. Mike http://forums.bateau2.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=19949

Thats interesting! I'll check that out too.

Thanks for all the replies. I see that opinions are mixed on this subject. I'm going to go out and look at some trucks today, and when weather clears a little, I'm going down to the ramp and see if I can get a few opinions from people using 2wd vehicles for launching/retrieving boats. Thanks again, Mike.