Replacing Original yellow bilge hose on O'day 28 1985

dmax · Dec 10, 2021

My boat is similar to yours - I replaced the bilge pump hoses recently (manual and electric). It wasn't too bad until I got to the stern like you say, I crawled back as far as I could get and was able to just barely reach the through hull for the electirc pump hose. It was tight in there - bring a cushion to pad your body. The whole job took about 4 hours including replacing the stern through-hull. This is definitely a project you should do yourself - you'll get to see how your boat was put together.

dmax · Dec 10, 2021

I don't know about the 28's but I should think you have a manual bilge pump standard as well, it should be in the cockpit with a handle around somewhere to operate it. You can also look in the bilge to see if there are two hoses. Mine has a white cover - here's the best picture I have of it (it's in the yellow rectangle):

This is the hose I used (good stuff) - 28 feet of the 1 1/8" for the electric pump, 31 feet of the 1 1/2" for the manual pump with about 3 feet of each left-over:

Trident 144 Vac HD Bilge/Live Well Hose

Trident Vac Heavy Duty Bilge and Live Well Hose is specially compounded to provide excellent resistance to odor permeation. Features: Designed for bilge, live well and drain Exceptional flexibility and bend radius Allows you to see hose conte

www.defender.com

Tally Ho · Dec 10, 2021

BKParks said:
Thank you very much, my first of many projects, I did find out the light at the top of the mast is burned out as well. Not ready to run and fix that yet though. This is my bilge area, not sure what the smaller diameter hose is for? the yellow hose is cracked just outside the picture

Ha…I was trying to figure out when O’Day used yellow bilge hose….now I see. That started out as white hose oh so many years ago!

Greg

dmax · Dec 10, 2021

The larger hose (yellow) is the manual pump hose, the white cylinder that says Rule is the electric bilge pump with a non-standard hose (it should be reinforced so it doesn't collapse, though it will be under positive pressure). Good that you plan on replacing them

. The bilge is in good shape for an "abandoned" boat.

Tally Ho · Dec 10, 2021

BKParks said:
I think I will find a lot of things that used to be white on this boat... You are not too far away, this boat will have a slip in Milwaukee once I get her there next year.

i bought my first boat (Hunter 280) in Milwaukee.

sailed her to my home port in East Chicago, In in 2 days! Lots of fun.

The work never really stops!

I try to do work over the winter, so I can sail. During the summer…

My “To Do” this year is a bit ambitious….

1) Replace traditional stuffing box with Volvo dripless…just put it on today, but still need to reconnect coupling and tranny.

2) Make new radio console for VHF, stereo, Sirius receiver and new battery monitor…installed.

3) Replace under the sink drain hose in galley (rotted), rebed thru hull…done.

4) Repair Mack Pack sail cover…. In progress….had to make a palm to sew the sail cover ;-)

5) Upgrade primary winches, and move old primaries to cabin top…. Started, it not too far along.

6) Relocate engine control panel… add fuel gauge and hours meter. Not started.

7) Refill binnacle compass….done

Enjoy the journey… and get out and sail when you can.

Greg

Ralph Johnstone · Dec 10, 2021

dmax said:
The whole job took about 4 hours including replacing the stern through-hull. This is definitely a project you should do yourself - you'll get to see how your boat was put together.

Only four hours

, that's such a small job, hardly worth mentioning, but you will get to see how the boat is constructed. Be sure to use the original hose as a fish line for pulling the new hoses.

BKParks said:
Someone decided to abandon her and I would like to bring her back to life as best I can.

Someone decided to sell her, but I doubt that boat ever suffered being abandoned. The bilge appears to be in pristine condition and that's usually the grubbiest part of the whole boat. I'd say you've got a real keeper. Treat her well and she'll take good care of you.

Tally Ho · Dec 10, 2021

I took delivery of my boat in the spring…my 2 boys wanted to help bring it down. One was in college, but had a long weekend over Good Friday. I had never seen the boat with the mast and sails on…and had sailed about 5 times prior to taking delivery…I was greener than grass.

My wife drove us to Milwaukee in the rain and sleet…38 degrees and nasty. Worse yet, winds were blowing from the East, around 25 knots…but I didnt really know what would mean on the Lake.

The broker kept asking me if we really intended to out that day (my first clue)…and I said “yes, we have been planning this for a while”. Then he asked where we were going to spend the night, and would I please text him when I pulled in somewhere for the night (my second clue).

We left the marina, thinking why everyone was so worried…we didn’t even have our life jackets on.

As soon as we got outside the break-wall, we knew!

As we bashed through the 8-foot waves, under engine power, we were all seasick in a matter of 30 minutes. We were wet and cold and sick. It was a most miserable first day of boat ownership ever!

Luckily, the little Yanmar kept humming, and we made it as far as Winthrop Harbor. We pulled off the Lake, ate (funny how the seasickness was gone as soon as we stepped on dry land), slept on the boat that night watching lightening and hoping it didn’t hit our mast.

The next morning, we woke to sunshine, and wind off the west (so almost no waves), but it was still blowing hard. We put out some jib, and ran the engine all the way home.

I made a lot of mistakes on that trip, and am fortunate nothing bad happened. It takes experience, growing your skills, testing yourself a little at a time, and not doing anything that makes you too uncomfortable.

That was 11 years ago or so…and I have gained a lot of experience. Today I am comfortable sailing alone most of the time (no, I didn’t ruin the boys for sailing…they are grown and moved away)…in almost any weather. My wife goes out on perfect days (sunny, warm, not too much wind, and flat seas). Otherwise, I am usually solo.

I do like to sail and spend the night by Beverly Shores and the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore. There is no anchorage there per se…you really need to pick your weather window carefully. Big waves would be a tough anchor out there. I look for a south wind, then not big seas close to the south shore.

This is from a few years ago…

Michigan City is close and has a nice marina.

Always happy to take folks sailing…I will email you my contact info.

Have fun with the new boat!

Greg

dmax · Dec 12, 2021

Forgot to mention: while you're back there, you should also replace the cockpit drain hoses, they use the same size hose as the manual bilge pump on my boat. They will likely be in the same shape as the your bilge hoses.

Tally Ho · Dec 12, 2021

dmax said:
Forgot to mention: while you're back there, you should also replace the cockpit drain hoses, they use the same size hose as the manual bilge pump on my boat. They will likely be in the same shape as the your bilge hoses.

Good point.

Last years winter layup project included replace 8 above-the-waterline thru hulls. 5 of them were in the back transom area (2 scupper drains, 2 propane locker drains and the bilge pump one drain). I was able to remove a “fake wall” at the foot of the berth and gain access to the area, but it was a stretch to get to all of the fittings. The scupper hoses didn’t look too bad, but the LPG locker drain hoses are being replaced this winter.

While I was in there, I rebed the swim ladder bolts as I saw a little leak when it was raining.

Greg

Project_Mayhem · Dec 25, 2021

BKParks said:
Thank you very much, my first of many projects, I did find out the light at the top of the mast is burned out as well. Not ready to run and fix that yet though. This is my bilge area, not sure what the smaller diameter hose is for? the yellow hose is cracked just outside the picture

I highly suggest you remove the screws in the bottom of your bilge so they can be resealed. If water gets into the keel it can expand crack the keel over the winter. This happened on my 25. It was not a fun project

Replacing Original yellow bilge hose on O'day 28 1985

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