I have done quite a bit of work since my last post. I finished removing all of the remaining wood crumbs from the transom and fashioned a new one using birch plywood. I know it isn't marine grade but it was super smooth and I was planning on covering it in several coats of epoxy anyways so I am not too worried. My first step after shaping it to fit was to drill holes through the new transom board everywhere I needed them. I did this with a small bit using the existing fiberglass as the guide, removed the wood from the boat and then expanded the holes to be bigger than the screws that fit in them. I did this so that I could plug them up with epoxy so the holes wouldn't expose the transom to water either. Then I glassed the transom in place using some heavy duty cloth from west marine. I have put two coats of epoxy on so far, and sanded in between coats. I will probably do one or two more light coats of epoxy before moving on to gelcoat. I also had to repair the piece of wood that runs down the centerline of the boat, as it had rotted out where it was in contact with the transom. I decided to replace the missing piece with fiberglass since I had some left over after putting the transom in place. Here are some pics of the transom:
Another piece of exciting news is that a friend of mine was able to procure me some Osage Orange (aka hedge) lumber. I had lamented with him on the high price of teak and he suggested I look into using hedge. I got the pieces yesterday and cut them to fit. This is some seriously hard wood. It has run me through my stock of 60 grit and it still needs a bit more work to get smooth. It is very beautiful though, and feels rock solid. Here are some pics of the existing teak I removed, and the replacement pieces I am sti
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