Soggy rudder mount

removed my loose rudder port that was sealed with clear silicon. when i cleaned off all of the silicon and re-mounted the port (with 5200) I was actually pressing water out of the hull. I'm assuming it has already started rotting, so how do I fix this? The rudder is sturdy but I know this will be a problem. If I grind it down to see the core, how does one repair this area? Is it possible from the topside? the holes are filled with silicon from the PO. I'm sure I could manage the glass work, but exactly how do you replace the core?

Thanks Guys.

This will give you an idea of what's back there.

William,
The "soggyness is all the way in the hull" is because the plywood reinforcement (rotted and full of water) is between the hull and then glass layed up on the inside (bilge) to hold it in place and distribute the loading. See the picture Greg (BuffaloBFN) posted and you'll see the ply back next to the transom. The fix is not a patch but rather a repair. The old is cut/ground out back to the hull. New plywood is layed in and then glassed over. It will come out like new again!

About a month ago, I was asked to help out with a wakeboader.com members problem. His prop shaft log had broke loose from his hull. He had never touched resin or glass so didn't know the first thing about how to go about repairing it. I walked him through it over the course of a couple of weeks. He would post pictures and I would feed him the steps from grinding out the old and then glassing it in again. He found the process pretty simple and now considers himself a fibergass repair pro!! We (all of us here on CCfan) can walk you through this if you decide to take on the repair.

The pic I posted is from this thread. If you put 'stringers' in the seacrch engine above, you'll get a lot more good reading.

The rudder port in my boat was a 2x6 glassed into the hull like Pete was saying. The transom has ply glassed to the inside. It's a messy job, but it's as simple as cutting the old out with your grinder, prepping the area, and glassing in the new piece. Don't use pressure treated wood and enjoy the read!

Here is a picture of mine as I was removing it.