I was planning on using SS and rubber washers where both sides of the
bolt squeezed the transom, since this seems to be the way that the
maker attached the old Michigan Wheel Co. aluminum motor mount, since
that, too, is attached to the transom a handsbreadth above the
waterline.
I figured I'd polysulphide caulk under and around the outside rubber
washers to insure a good seal on the outside. (And omit the caulk on
the inside ones, so as to not confine leaked water to the hole --
loosely following JudyB's excellent advice of a week or two ago.)
As I prepared to do this, however, it suddenly occurred to me that
the rubber washers were probably on the motor mount installation for
their vibration dampening (and load-spreading) characteristics
rather than their sealing characteristics. Obviously vibration is not
an issue with the ladder.
I was wondering if I'd be better off by omitting the rubber washers,
and whether the polysulfide will be okay with the rubber.
----- Warning: low-grade rant follows -----
Garelick is *amazingly* silent on the entire issue of attaching the
ladder to the boat. They include four brackets to which one attaches
the ladder...Including detailed drawings on the painfully-obvious-to-
my-3-year-old issue of how to attach the broackerts to the ladder.
Put the bolt through the hole!!! There is however no hardware --- and
not one single word of guidance --- for attaching the brackets to the
boat!
Obviously, they don't want any irate phone calls (or lawsuits) about
leaky installations ... but still ... one would think that they could
include a page of general advice about caulk, SS fittings, figuring
how to tight to make the bolts without crushing the transom core,
etc.
------- End rant -----