Trailer Sailor Forums

S2 6.7/6.9/22 Forum

Transom moisture

Posted By: Frank Vaughan 6.7 153
Date: 5/30/03 9:09a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

I have read articles where people drill holes in their balsa core boats and suck the moisture out by creating a vacuum bag with tape, plastic and a shop-vac. I have also seen articles about drilling a bunch of holes and shining a heat lamp on the area for a month or so to dry it. Do any of these methods work? I have to remove my outboard bracket and reinstall it lower on the transom to accommodate a different engine and I know there will be moisture back there just by looking at the way it was installed. Someone on this site mentioned "probing" balsa cored areas to determine moisture content. Is there a tool that can help with this like a probe used to measure moisture in potted plants or is "probing" just drilling a hole big enough to gouge out some wood so you can look at it. Is there any acceptable level of moisture or are we striving for 100% dry wood? Thanks PS - For you doubters out there, we really do beat the 9.1's consistently. I'm not making this stuff up. Where we usually make up the distance is sailing the edges of the river with our board up in an adverse current. They are stuck in the deep water channel.

 

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