Making the first cut

It's always hard to make the first cut, but I did it today. I decided to work inside rather than outside the transom knowing that it will be more difficult. I wanted to minimize any exterior finish work that needs to be done. Here is a picture of the first cut.














There was water coming out of the cut fiberglass as the blade moved through the core. I used a Fein Multimaster tool that I borrowed from a friend. This uses a serrated blade like a saw and the tool vibrates. It also has a chisel blade that can be used for getting out the old core.


I drilled some holes with a circle cutter to get core sample on the stbd side aft. It looks like some of the balsa core there is rotten and will need to be replaced. Other core holes have solid balsa, but it is wet. That's all the time I have this weekend, so to be continued later.