Please help in identifying the spots on transom

[konon]

Hello everyone.
I put a deposit on my first boat, a 87 Sea Ray, sight unseen. The owner sent me some of the photographs, and one of the pictures shows some suspicious spots on the transom, where the depth finer wire is. Does it look like it is starting to rot? I suspect that the hole for the wire might not be properly sealed. The rest of the boat is spotless, and was always stored indoors. I hope it isn't so, I really like the boat.

 

[Golfman25]

No way to tell what that is from a picture.

When you look at it make sure you check around all of those screw holes. You might be best off to get a moisture meter to do quick checks. A few hundred dollars and will save you a lot of grief.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I can't tell anything definitive from that picture, either. But it looks more like staining than anything to do with rot.

What does the owner say about it?

Moisture meters are good - but unless you are VERY experienced with it, it's not going to help. Most surveyors aren't very good with it, either. There's more to it than just "is there moisture".

The better thing is to "sound" the area and (with permission of course), remove some screws and poke the core to check integrity.

Again, nothing about that picture would give me alarm - it really doesn't look ANYTHING like rot. Again, again... can't really tell, though!

 

[konon]

Thank you for replies, I think inspecting the screw holes and knocking is doable. I was alarmed because of the pattern of the stains, definitely looks like it is spreading from the top, where the wire goes through transom.

 

[Golfman25]

I can't tell anything definitive from that picture, either. But it looks more like staining than anything to do with rot.

What does the owner say about it?

Moisture meters are good - but unless you are VERY experienced with it, it's not going to help. Most surveyors aren't very good with it, either. There's more to it than just "is there moisture".

The better thing is to "sound" the area and (with permission of course), remove some screws and poke the core to check integrity.

Again, nothing about that picture would give me alarm - it really doesn't look ANYTHING like rot. Again, again... can't really tell, though!

I’ll disagree on the meter. Simple to use and will tell you if further investigation is needed. Sounding may require more expertise as you need to know what sound you’re looking for. Bottom line with both you want to do a relative comparison from a know good spot to a suspect spot.

 

[Golfman25]

Thank you for replies, I think inspecting the screw holes and knocking is doable. I was alarmed because of the pattern of the stains, definitely looks like it is spreading from the top, where the wire goes through transom.

You generally won’t see rot on the gelcoat. It is inside the fiberglass core. That‘s why you need some testing and if necessary further investigation. On that boat and that year, with all of those screws, I would expect some moisture in the transom. Question will be how much and how bad.