Transom door

Post by **Admin** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:36 pm

Anyone have a transom door installed? If so, can you post any pictures of it? I know they are kind of a pain, but I am really interested in doing one. David Sumich 33 Megabites Huntington Harbour, CA Forum Administrator

Post by **dougl33** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 2:42 pm

David, You should do a search as I've brought this topic up before. Off the top of my head, Al is the only one I know with a transom door. Regards, Doug L. 1986 33 Bertram FBC Queen Elizabeth Marblehead, MA

lobsta1 · Post by **lobsta1** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 11:03 am

david, as Doug stated, NITES OFF has a transom door. At some time in the DISTANT past a PO had the door installed. Whoever did it did a pretty job. They did not do a good job. Our Bert's have a very thin transom. If you cut that, you will have to do extensive reinforcing. The original job was not done that way. Also when they formed the interior box to the outer original fiberglass skin, they did not epoxy seal everything. They also used a LOT of polyester putty fairing everything off. When the inevitable cracks appeared, everything inside the door started delaminating & rotting. The door jambs in the transom also had the same fate. I'm not a pro like Frank so it took me quite a long time rebuilding the door & transom. I also added a lot of reinforcement to the transom. Bottom line is it can be done. Just be aware that it has to be done right. Al 1978 33 FBC NITES OFF

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:04 pm

Dave, It would be so awesome if this boat had one. I called Bertram one day and spoke to one of the designers named Jerry. He said "transom door on a 33 ? NO!" Unless I found someone who really knew what they were doing, he suggested forgetting the idea completely. I asked if he knew anyone in the Northeast.....no. Seemed like it wasn't open for discussion at all and to them anyway, the job was out of the question. So it begs the question.....what should we be looking for when this work is done ? Rick Ticket 85 SF Falmouth, MA

franklyprice · Post by **franklyprice** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 2:20 pm

Rick and David, Al is right, there really is no strength to the transom of these boats. They were not engineered to cut a door in the stern. If you really had to have one you'd have to not only give the door itself something to hang on but also the transom itself would want to be all floppy and try to move fore and aft. If you could build in a re-enforcement that extended through the deck, down to the bottom of the hull, then you might have that licked but then I'd still wonder how much stress it would take to spread the transom open , at least enough to crack the corners. I wouldn't do it to my boat. My last boat would work the hull in any kind of rough seas, enough that screws would bend and cabinets would break so I was super happy to find that my Bertram doesn't jiggle at all in any weather, so cutting structural pieces apart are not an option for me. Frank Price

smanni · Post by **smanni** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 4:08 pm

I also would love a transom door - but after talking to several people about it - and noticing how thin the transom seems to be - I agree with Frank - not anything that I want to play with. Our boats have large stringers and seem to be thick where they need to be - but hull sides and transom are surprisingly thin - Imagine how heavy these boats would be if they were consistently thick all over...