Living For Sailvideo
⛵️ I Found SERIOUS Rot in My Sailboat’s Transom - DIY Restoration
8 March 2026 · 29 min · 12K views
What this video covers
Rot and wet core throughout the transom of a 1989 Liberty 458 named Antidote forces a full re-core during a driveway restoration.0:29 John, an engineer and sailor, chooses to attack the repair from the interior rather than the exterior, a decision driven by the opportunity to refresh the cabin and limit damage to original woodwork.1:09 The work begins by removing teak trim and numbered teak battens — numbering them with masking tape to preserve reinstallation order — then cutting and prying out three sections of interior plywood to expose the full transom wall.2:46 Stainless screws hidden under filler require sanding to locate, and three stripped fasteners need cutting out.13:58 A sagging bunk beam, apparently broken at some point, is flagged for replacement while the area is open.15:39 On the transom itself, John marks a 5-inch cutback to allow a 1-to-12 scarf joint for new fiberglass.18:16 He tests the Freedom Pro blade-sharpening system from Tiger Teeth, Battle Creek, Michigan, to revive worn oscillating saw blades cutting through fiberglass.19:44 Bronze backing plates bedded behind the hardware are recovered intact for reuse.27:48 The core removal is partially complete at the episode's end, with the lower transom glass found thin enough to cut back to a 2-inch overhang.28:09
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