A broker, who used to sell O'days, tried to get me to look at a 302. I found something about this keel issue on line and said "no way." He said that it was an issue with early boats and that O'Day was informed and fixed the issue with later boats and repaired early boats. Looks like they missed one. Glad I took the pass. Also glad my keel is integral to the hull and very strong...although that approach has its own issues.
If I had a 302 with a wobbly keel I'd drop it and rebuild the stub entirely, if necessary (wet plywood and/or thin fiberglass). Those wings are just massive and must place an enormous stress on the joint.
I also walked from a last generation Newport 30, which showed extensive keel damage after a grounding. There just wasn't much "meat" at the turn from the hull to the keel stub and it was cracking at that juncture, NOT the keel to stub juncture.
If I had a 302 with a wobbly keel I'd drop it and rebuild the stub entirely, if necessary (wet plywood and/or thin fiberglass). Those wings are just massive and must place an enormous stress on the joint.
I also walked from a last generation Newport 30, which showed extensive keel damage after a grounding. There just wasn't much "meat" at the turn from the hull to the keel stub and it was cracking at that juncture, NOT the keel to stub juncture.