Coosa board fiberglass shedding solution

[Mmmjuice]

Howdy - I just got some coosa board blue water 26 to replace my transom and I’m now realizing how much of a PITA this material is. Even just handing the box it got shipped in has my hands skewered with fiberglass shards.

I’ve realize even that gloves/apron/goggles/respirator is going to be essential for cutting and drilling it. Wondering how others have dealt with this once it’s installed, is there some sort spray I can coat it with to make sure it doesn’t shed once it’s on the boat?

I was thinking of priming and painting it, wondering if that would be sufficient to prevent it from shedding fiberglass?

 

[Still Afloat]

I have considered and avoided the stuff on a couple of occasions. A buddy just redecked with Coosa and it required support every 16” if I’m recalling correctly. Doesn’t seem like anything that would be strong enough for a transom.

Curious to hear other opinions.

 

[Mmmjuice]

I have considered and avoided the stuff on a couple of occasions. A buddy just redecked with Coosa and it required support every 16” if I’m recalling correctly. Doesn’t seem like anything that would be strong enough for a transom.

Curious to hear other opinions.

I’ve only inspect the blue water 26 coosa to make sure that it wasn’t damaged in shipping, but from my initial once over it seems to feel solid. It’s only a 12ft boat and the people before me were using HDPE for the transom, so I think really anything is an improvement. I’ll definitely follow up once I have it all cut and installed.

 

[AlanT]

I used coosa board to replace the wood flooring in my flat boat. I didn't find it difficult to deal with, but I did use gloves. In some ways it was easier than plywood because I could use a file to make minor adjustments around the ribs to get a closer fit. It doesn't splinter making small cuts like plywood. As far as covering it, Coosa provided the following response to my question......"Coosa panels must be protected from UV radiation, so if the panel will be exposed to sunlight you will need to coat it, or cover it, with something." It's my understanding the sun won't damage it, but the surface will turn chalky white - I'm not 100% certain of this. I primed and painted with Total Boat Total Tread on the top side. The bottom side was primed and painted with an exterior "return" paint from home depot just to protect it from gas spills and such. I watched some videos of people using it for transoms and in all cases they doubled the thickness and fiberglassed the coosa board the same as a plywood transom. Seems the advantage is it will never rot and will be lighter, but the disadvantage is a thicker transom. The videos I saw were very large heavy engines on 20'+ boats. Hope this helps.

 

[Still Afloat]

I think I’d use aluminum before going the Coosa route. Actually, in hindsight I should have gone aluminum on my current project rather than marine plywood. Al is easier to work with and it requires minimal prep.

Anyway, don’t want to distract the thread. If Coosa is your cup of tea that’s cool too.