# Problems with 14' Sears Gamefisher



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi everyone, I am hoping that somebody here willl know whats going on with my skiff. I bought it a few months and threw in a casting deck and false floor. The problem is that when im running the boat, water almost continuosly comes in over the transom. It does it even worse when going over the smallest of waves, and the bigger the wave the more water comes in. The water comes in right inbetween the motor clamps on my 9.9 nissian. I am also having transome cracking issues, but I want to know what is going on with this water problem first before I bother rebuilding it. I will post pictures in a few hours to better show the problem.


----------



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Take a picture from the side with the motor in running position.
Need to see how the spray plate sits in relation to the bottom of the hull.
Make sure to be fairly close when you take the picture, so the details show up.
Post the picture here so a solution can be found.

Welcome to the forum...


----------



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

> Take a picture from the side with the motor in running position.
> Need to see how the spray plate sits in relation to the bottom of the hull.
> Make sure to be fairly close when you take the picture, so the details show up.
> Post the picture here so a solution can be found.
> ...


Thanks for the fast response, I will take that picture and post it as well as the others in a few hours when I get home.


----------



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

I should add as well that I added two pices of 1/4in plywood across the back of the transom as a temporary fix until spring was over, and that made the problem much worse, but even without the plywood it was preety bad, especially when turning or in choppy waters. I am planing on redoing the whole transom and deck setup, I just thrw it in quickly becuase this fishing is real good this time of year in west florida.


----------



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

There are pictures of the transom without the motor as well as with the motor in the running position on this link. There is also some of the deck that were on my camara. I hope this is the angle that you needed for it, if its not I will take some more. Thank you for all the help!

http://www.dropshots.com/MikeSparks#date/2011-03-25/14:51:27


----------



## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

Looks like the outboard is mounted too low.
I think your spray plate is below water level when running.
Water coming out from under the transom when on plane,
is slamming into the exhaust housing/midsection and blasting upwards.
With the spray plate below the point of impact, it can't
divert the water away as it would if the outboard was mounted higher.












You probably need to lift the outboard up to where the anti-ventilation plate
is 1/4 inch below the bottom of the transom when the hull is leveled on the trailer.


----------



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

Thank you for the great infomation and espically thank you for the diagram. It was very helpful. In a day or two I will raise it up as you instructed with a quick wood block and see if that fixes the problem, and assumeing it does I will start the transome teardown and rebuild. This will be my first undertaking of a project this big, so im sure more questions will follow. Once again, thanks for your great info, it was very helpful.


----------



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

So, I took an 8hp with a shorter shaft and tried it on my boat and sure enough it ran perfect with not water over the transome. So now that the problem is figured out, I have a few things to consider.

1. The transome needs to be replaced and I dont know that I can handle that on my own...if I did it myself what would materials cost and if I paid someone what would it cost (ballpark figure)? If I do it myself is it something that an average guy with some woodworking and limited fiberglass experiance can handle?

2. I want to redo the decks so they are a tight fit and glass them into the boat. The problem is, the actual boat floor flexes while running. So, should I fiberglass them in anyway, or just cut them to fit tight then use marine addhisive/sealent? I used 'tub surround" Loctite the first time I threw them in quickly and they are pretty much completly unglued, and I want to redo them right this time. I was thinking of something like 3M Marine Adhisive. 

Thanks for any information you guys can give me. If anyone needs any pictures to give advice let me know. There are pictures of the deck layout and transom with the old motor on it. I would like to keep a similar layout but just make everything tighter and fit better and clearly I will have to address the tansom. Thanks guys!


----------



## beyondhelp (Nov 6, 2008)

There's not much to replacing a transom in one of those. If you can run a saw at all without killing yourself.    It's messy, somewhat itchy but do-able. 

I haven't redone the transom yet but it looks like one sheet of plywood and some resin and mat should do it. Maybe $200 or so. I havent looked priced that stuff recently. 

I started with a 14' gamefisher and ended up making it look like this: 










Build thread is in my signature. Not a professional job but it floats and gets me on the water nearly every weekend. Caught some trout yesterday in fact.


----------



## flatsskiff14 (Mar 27, 2011)

Gosh man that things sick. I bet it flies with a 50hp. Mine gets on plane with the 8hp and ran preety good with the 10hp. I would say 12-15 mph. I think that I will go ahead and try the transome rebuild. I need to keep researching it as far as the firberglass work because that is what im worried about. As far as the deck goes, do you think that fiberglassing in the origional seats as well as stringers and floors with a deck in the front would work out? I dont belive that I have the ability to build something as modified as what you have. Im honestly preety worried about fiberglassing in the transome...


----------



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

Don't be scared of the FG work. It is no harder than wallpapering or caulking a tub... the materials are just more expensive and just a bit more messy. Most of us here read up on the subject in the bateau.com "How To" section and jumped right in. You'll make mistakes, but you can fix them as you go. Cured epoxy FG is tough, but a side grinder with a 40 grit sanding disk is tougher.

Nate


----------



## beyondhelp (Nov 6, 2008)

> Don't be scared of the FG work.  It is no harder than wallpapering or caulking a tub... the materials are just more expensive and just a bit more messy.  Most of us here read up on the subject in the bateau.com "How To" section and jumped right in.  You'll make mistakes, but you can fix them as you go.  Cured epoxy FG is tough, but a side grinder with a 40 grit sanding disk is tougher.
> 
> Nate



What he said... I've been too busy actually working to respond. Mine hit 25 with a mercury 25 tiller. Now i can run at 30. I was surprised that it wasn't too scary. The main thing I gained was torque, and maneuverability. Both make driving the boat in traffic much much less stressful. Now I can point and go where I need to. 

Of course, 95% of the time I am drifting or using the trolling motor.


----------



## bwwboating (Apr 9, 2011)

I had the same fiberglassing concerns when I replaced my transom. I ended up using a product called SeaCast. Real easy to use. I had to cut open the top of the transom and cut/scrape out all the wood (which was more like wet wood shavings than plywood). Once all the wood was out, I mixed and then poured in the SeaCast. Took six gallons of product on my hull. In 24 hours I was amazed at how hard the product was. It really is amazing stuff. I was even more impressed the first time I put it in the water and witnessed zero flex when I gunned the throttle. It is a little on the expensive side as it cost me $350 for the product but, I would use it again in a heartbeat. The only glass work I had to do is the cap on top of the transom.


----------



## Dannyboy (12 mo ago)

flatsskiff14 said:


> So, I took an 8hp with a shorter shaft and tried it on my boat and sure enough it ran perfect with not water over the transome. So now that the problem is figured out, I have a few things to consider.
> 
> 1. The transome needs to be replaced and I dont know that I can handle that on my own...if I did it myself what would materials cost and if I paid someone what would it cost (ballpark figure)? If I do it myself is it something that an average guy with some woodworking and limited fiberglass experiance can handle?
> 
> ...


Call seacast transom repair co.
Florida. Tell Sabina that Steve from MN sent you her way. Im redoing my 14 ft. Sears Gamefisher right now myself.


----------



## Gogittum (May 24, 2020)

As said, it's not rocket science. 32 years ago I bought an older 19 ft Glastron runabout that had a thru the hull transducer mounted - incorrectly - and water poured in. No YouTube then, so read up on it and talked to the nice folks at System 3 resins.

The transducer left a 1" hole in the bottom and I prepped for it carefully, ground the hull away at an 8:1 ratio and had at it. It went perfectly and with the confidence that instilled, I took on a complete floor replacement a few months later. (that was an adventure - the breaking loose of the floor in heavy weather, 10 miles offshore)

A couple of things to think about:

1) epoxy isn't as bad as polyester, but over time, working on several boats, I developed a sensitivity to the resin. After a few minutes my chest would clog up and I had trouble breathing. No pain, just felt like someone was sitting on my chest. An organic vapors respirator took care of that.










2) If you're gonna sand fiberglass, you're gonna itch. Fact of life. The dust does wash off easily in the shower, but I found that an elastic cuff Tyvek coverall and head cover and googles to be a huge benefit. Wear the respirator. Sanding dust in the eyes is a bit different story - avoid it.

Not so bad on a small repair, but when I built a couple of boats, I really learned.


----------

