bad deck??

Jackdaw · Jul 11, 2013

A friend of mine (who also posts here) just did this job on his Oday 25. The wood core under the mast base had turned to mush. He cut off the top skin, dug out all the mush, laid down some marine ply, and epoxied it all back together, reusing the skin. I think it took him two weeks between rainstorms. Its work but doable. Looks OK. If you want a PRO finish, you might have to go to a pro. But its a 30 year old 22 foot long boat. Only you will know it it's worth that.

geehaw · Jul 11, 2013

Well yo have 2 options as I see it. One, sell the boat hope to get what ya have in it. Or two,repair it. Look around this site lots of info. Not as hard as you might think. As I recall there was a thread just recently on this same thing on this forum. Also in bigger boats read 25yearslater thread. A couple hours of reading there. But filled with more info then you would need. But lots of good info. But I would guess 40 hours of work at the most maybe $500 in materials and she back in the water giving you enjoyment.

And look at this way if ya don't fix it its worthless to ya.. So if ya try and fail you really aren't out anything. But I be willing to bet you can do it.

Indysailor · Jul 12, 2013

Agree with geehaw, plus you may surprise yourself with what you can accomplish. I've seen deck jobs that look a little rough, but are at least even and symmetrical and thus appear perfectly acceptable. Also, I think there is a bit of a tendency among we sailboat owners to be a little obsessive about trying to make our boats look like they just came out of the factory. At some point maybe we need to give ourselves a break, these boats are getting old. So what do you have to lose? If you're that far in, what's another couple hundred in a repair that gets you sailing again?

Joe11688 · Jul 12, 2013

You are probably going to need to have a tension bar or strut built and installed to the post on the galley cabinet to the bolts on your tabernacle. The 1984 O'Day 222s were built without these tension bars. The tension bar is nothing more than a 1" stainless steel pipe with a flat welded flange on one end with two holes in it to accept two of the four bolts that hold your tabernacle to the cabin top. The other end of this bar is flattened out enough for the two bolts that are used to secure it to the square wooden post which is connected to your galley cabinet. I have some pictures of it in my albums on this site but I can provide you some additional pics if you email me direct.
My 1986 O'Day 222 came through with this tension bar. My mast was made by Z-Spar and it has internal halyards. If your mast was made by Dwyer or some other spar builder, the hole spacing on the bar's flange won't be the same.
So you're going to need to have a bar made up that will attach to the bolts on your tabernacle.
It's possible that your cabin top could have rotted core caused by leaks which you will need to direct all your attention to first. If not, you're definitely going to need this strut to lend support to your mast.

Many O'Day 222 owners have experienced this problem. I've talked to Rudy at D&R Marine about this problem years ago and he was going to try to have these bars made up but due to the different spar manufacturers for this boat, it would have been too cost prohibitive because of the different size flanges that would be needed.
At any rate, check out my album and you will see what the flange looks like.
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/album.php?albumid=372&page=3
Just keep in mine that the bolt spacing might be different on the plate than the tabernacle bolt spacing on your boat.

Joe
sailtrinkka1986@verizon.net

cb32863 · Jul 12, 2013

As Jackdaw said, I recored the deck under the mast step on my 25 about 4 weeks ago. If this is the only thing you need to do then it can be done in a weekend, barring the aforementioned rain storms. Your only limiting factor on how quickly you get this done is weather, and how fast the epoxy kicks. I used thickend epoxy, West System with 404 filler. The core was 3/8", though most folks say it is 1/2" on the 25 I measured and it was 3/8". Do not know on the 222 on thickness. I plan on redoing the deck paint and anti skid this fall or next spring so that will finish it off nicely.

I cannot speak to any of the additional fixes you may need that others have mentioned. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

geehaw · Jul 12, 2013

Wow,so they made a deck stepped mast without a compression post under it. What designer fell asleep on that one!

Joe11688 · Jul 12, 2013

geehaw said:
Wow,so they made a deck stepped mast without a compression post under it. What designer fell asleep on that one!

I think that all the 1984s were built without the compression posts and it was just due to poor engineering back then like when they first started manufacturing the O'Day 23s back in the early 1970s with cast iron keels.

I remember communicating with a lady in NV who owned an 87 O'Day 222 that needed a new centerboard pendant line every year due to fraying. As it turned out, when they were building this boat at the factory, they neglected to install the single sheave U bolt assembly inside the keel slot of her boat. She bought the boat used and had no idea why the pendant line was fraying on it. My guess is that the worker at the West Coast O'Day plant must have gone on a long coffee break and plumb forgot about it.
The sheave U bolt assembly was installed with a special long tool through the bottom of the keel. The assemble fits into a small pocket up inside the keel slot and the plate and nuts that hold it in place are accessed under the sole plate in the cabin. The O'Day 26s also have a similar set up. The reason for the sheave is because the pendant line pipe is L shaped as opposed to a straight pipe that runs straight down to the centerboard.

Joe11688 · Jul 12, 2013

ericravnsails said:
Thanks for your help!!!!!!!!!!!

If you have core rot in the area of your tabernacle, you'll need to address that first of course, but these tension bars mounted under the tabernacle to support the mast must have really been needed back then or they wouldn't have installed them on their later model O'Day 222s.
Good luck with that.

Joe

Gaf · Jul 12, 2013

I did not see anyone mention this, but you might also want to check the area where your chainplates attach to the main bulkheads. This also an area that has a tendency to rot. Keeping the area where the chainplates go through the deck well sealed is very important. The bulkheads can be replaced, and is a job you can also do with some effort. Good luck, let us know how you make out.

25yearslater · Jul 14, 2013

You can do it. I did and I had never done anything like this before. Read and follow the directions of the products you use. If you have more questions the tech support people at the companies who make the product will help you to succeed. They want their products to succeed. It's great advertising. Don't forget the great people here at SBO are always willing to help. Get ready to amaze yourself.

Joe11688 · Jul 14, 2013

Generally, if the L brackets located on the O'Day 222 bulkhead that are attached to the chainplate bolts should break (mine did) the side chainplate will pull away and cause a bulge on the deck.
This is sure to happen if you go to thicker diameter stays. Stick with 1/8" stays and you'll be OK.