Your doing exactly what I want to do. I have the same boat, only with an OMC saildrive. The saildrive I don’t know about or I mean trust. Good luck to you maybe we’ll pass each other on the water.
Age 80, O'Day 26 CB, great loop
- Thread starter jmczzz
- Start date
That sounds great, and I agree that an O'Day 26 is a big enough boat for one perujson. Spartan, but a good berth, and of course the benefit of being smaller is maneuverability.
You should enjoy having the roller furling. Because you're new to it, I a small bit of advice. Grease the system, top and bottom with the appropriate grease. Get your hands on the manual for what you have. They don't require greasing very often. Like a lot of things on a boat, it's inconvenient to have bad performance or failure after you've started your journey.
I'm going to guess that you've given consideration to prepping this 1985 vessel for full time use and for faraway ports. I'm sure the forum members would be glad to provide suggestions on fine tuning your maintenance list.
Good luck.
You should enjoy having the roller furling. Because you're new to it, I a small bit of advice. Grease the system, top and bottom with the appropriate grease. Get your hands on the manual for what you have. They don't require greasing very often. Like a lot of things on a boat, it's inconvenient to have bad performance or failure after you've started your journey.
I'm going to guess that you've given consideration to prepping this 1985 vessel for full time use and for faraway ports. I'm sure the forum members would be glad to provide suggestions on fine tuning your maintenance list.
Good luck.
July 6, 2022 Ward (see above post) came over and helped and taught me how to get the headsail into and up the roller furler. Plus he lead me thru the rigging tension adjustment starting with checking the center and square of the mast. What a pleasure to belong to a community of great people that are so willing to share knowledge and give help. Based on the discussion on sail dry lube I bought a can of Maclube. Ward sitting in the forepeak sprayed the headsail bolt rope and guided it into the furler slot as I was out on the dock for a correct angle hosting it up with the trout-line size red tinted line. Ward correctly said to take it slow and steady and do it in small bites of a foot or two. The whole job took a little less than an hour. It is definitely a two-person job. He then stepped me thru centering and squaring mast as well as adjusting the stays' tension. Then it was my treat for a great afternoon lunch at the very popular Dockside Cafe in the middle of the Marina. A blacked fish burrito and fried oyster po-boy made me homesick for NOLA.
Next is installing the 9.8 Tohatsu remote control. I will take some photos of what I come up with and how it looks in a few days. I am determined to go up the Hudson all the way to Montreal and the St Larence seaway. Does anyone have recent experience with mast-dropping realities I have heard about going into the NY canal system?
jimmy mc aboard Nit Z, @ Dockside Marina and Cafe, Tuckerton N.J.
Next is installing the 9.8 Tohatsu remote control. I will take some photos of what I come up with and how it looks in a few days. I am determined to go up the Hudson all the way to Montreal and the St Larence seaway. Does anyone have recent experience with mast-dropping realities I have heard about going into the NY canal system?
jimmy mc aboard Nit Z, @ Dockside Marina and Cafe, Tuckerton N.J.
A couple tips on installing the foresail, a pre-feeder ring helps a lot. If you don't have one you can buy them. Prefeeder (furling system)
Run the halyard through a block (or around a winch or any slippery thing) and run it back up to the foredeck so that you can feed the sail and haul the halyard without running back and forth.
I find that lubricating the furler track to be much less necessary than the mainsail track (assuming a traditional mainsail track). The foresail is rarely raised or lowered, just furled.
Run the halyard through a block (or around a winch or any slippery thing) and run it back up to the foredeck so that you can feed the sail and haul the halyard without running back and forth.
I find that lubricating the furler track to be much less necessary than the mainsail track (assuming a traditional mainsail track). The foresail is rarely raised or lowered, just furled.
We just completed the Hudson River section of this trip and then down the Erie Canal. Next year we plan to sail down the St. Lawrence River to the Canadian Maritimes and then back to Lake Ontario.
If you are considering a trip down the St Lawrence to the ocean, you've missed this year's window. It is a long trip, about 1000 miles from NJ to the Gulf of St Lawrence. By late August the weather starts to close in with frequent cold fronts and strong winds. Nothing I want to do in a small boat.
On the other hand, if all you would like to do is get to Montreal and then return, the trip is doable if you leave soon. Another option is going up the Hudson then on to the Erie Canal to the Oswego Canal and Lake Ontario. From Ontario sail downwind and down stream to Montreal before turning south and going across Lake Champlain and back down the Hudson. Figure 10 to 14 days to get to Oswego, then another couple of weeks to Montreal. This will get you back to NYC around Labor Day, which is a good time to start heading south on the ICW.
The Hudson is tidal. Expect currents of 1 to 2 knots in places. The ebb tide is longer and stronger than the flood tide. The scenery along most of the river is beautiful with the Catskill Mountains in the background. Some other sections are boring and monotonous. With a shallow draft you'll have a few more options for anchoring than we did, even so anchoring options are limited. Figure 4 to 5 travel days from NYC to Waterford, the start of the Erie and Champlain canals, plus a couple of days to unstep the mast.
On the Hudson River, there are 3 options for unstepping the mast. A DIY crane at Castleton Yacht Club. It is the least expensive option, I've heard mixed stories about the experience. As I understand it you are basically on your own, don't expect any help or guidance. The crane dock is right on the river and passing boat wakes can make the job more exciting.
In Catskill, NY there are 2 marinas, Hop-o-Nose and Riverview. My preference is for Riverview. I had my mast unstepped and stepped there.
There is one Marina in Oswego that steps masts. They are quick and efficient.
I'm not familiar with marinas on Lake Champlain. I know there is one at the north end where many Canadians keep boats. Most boaters heading to Montreal leave their masts down on Champlain, much easier than putting it up for a few days and then taking it back down.
Entering Canada will require proof of citizenship, a Passport is best. Visitors to Canada must be fully vaccinated.
Let me know if you decide to come through Oswego. I live nearby.
Wow, lots of good info and good wishes. I am not sure I'll have S.V. Nit Z ready to make it make that leg this year looks like I will have to head south for the winter and be ready to get underway at the first turn of spring 2023. After 80 yrs what are a few more months? I am feeling good and losing the extra fat and limbering up the old legs, (steel implanted lower right included). I highly recommend getting a sailboat as 200 % better than joining a gym! lol, jmc
Yep, it was great meeting Jimmy last Wed. We got some good work done on his O'day, had some good conversation and he treated me to a very good lunch.
I'm looking forward to doing some sailing with him soon.
I'm looking forward to doing some sailing with him soon.
Thanks for the tips but in this case they wouldn't have helped.
Jimmy has a CDI furler. It doesn't use the jib halyard. It has a wire halyard that attaches to the head of the sail, runs up to the top of the furler, then attaches to a car that runs in a groove on the backside of the foil. A tag line is used to pull the car down, which pulls the sail up. I don't think a pre feeder will help on that foil, maybe but what it took was some guiding by hand, while pulling the tag line down in parallel to the foil.
Jimmy had not seen that type of set up before and while I had, it took a few minutes to figure out the best way to make it all happen.
simple thing but seems important. the boat hook that was on the included equipment list is not on this boat. i have looked everywhere. including completely cleaning out the large under the cockpit storage area. I even got down in there myself to make sure it was not hidden behind or under some ledge or corner. No boat hook! that is what I get for being a trusting person. Emens got his $ and immediately left town. So lesson learned do not trust anyone on the jersey coast named ken. ha. The other indignity I was subjected to by him is that the voltage converter and new death gauge were just left in a bucket full of water in the cockpit. I guess it was a test! they both failed, ha ha ha, that was a cute one emens! I did get my Tohatsu motor remote controls all hooked up and working. The boat came with an old Suzuki but I gave it to my grandson along with an O'Day 23-footer. He and my great grand son were so happy to get them. They live down on the Miss Gulf Coast. My Tohatsu is new and I know it well. Plus it has a remote control, power lift, and start. So I hope to get the hang of navigating in this bay and get going soon. I have met a lot of very nice and good people up here on the Jersey coast. and on this forum. jmc
discovered the stopped-up sink drain was just stuff from the sink that should have been put in the garbage, not the drain
I did find the hose clamps top and bottom lose ith the top one barely connected. remover the hose from sink to thru hull after shutting thru hull valve. Cleaned it out it still looked serviceable. With the hose off open the valve carefully and left the water pressure to push the crud in the valve up and out until the water came clear and strong. All that corrected sealer in connections and clamps tightened sink drained properly and no water is leaking for any connection. cleaned up the grease stuff off the sink and counter with Goop hand cleaner and rinsed. all good to go.
A new problem; the several weeks old Ipad I bought to run the navigation app Aqua Map froze up, will not charge, or power up? Guess i must find an AT&T store and get it fixed or replaced. Ho hum, another boring delay. jmc
I did find the hose clamps top and bottom lose ith the top one barely connected. remover the hose from sink to thru hull after shutting thru hull valve. Cleaned it out it still looked serviceable. With the hose off open the valve carefully and left the water pressure to push the crud in the valve up and out until the water came clear and strong. All that corrected sealer in connections and clamps tightened sink drained properly and no water is leaking for any connection. cleaned up the grease stuff off the sink and counter with Goop hand cleaner and rinsed. all good to go.
A new problem; the several weeks old Ipad I bought to run the navigation app Aqua Map froze up, will not charge, or power up? Guess i must find an AT&T store and get it fixed or replaced. Ho hum, another boring delay. jmc
As Roseanne Roseannadanna would say, "It's always something." Welcome to refitting a sailboat.
My new Ipad failed and will not charge up. I bought it a few weeks ago and loaded AquaMap to use to navigate. but now only have a phone version. Frankly, it is too small for me. So I am looking at buying a Garmin 472 Chartplotter with coastal and inland maps pre-loaded. I am sending the Ipad back to the AT&T store where i bought it many states to the south. Thinking it will be a miracle if i ever get it back working or replaced. So i am in the market for a Marine environment chart plotter. and would appreciate recommendations. thanks jmc
I went over to the cross canal slips to help a sailor step his mast. In the discussions, i mentioned my iPad charger failure. Wa-La by the time we got the mast up and secure his wife had found me a spare iPad charger and cord. Thus gifted and a few cookies to I now have the iPad fully charged. They will join me for a trip down the canal and across Little Egg Harbor to show me the way later today. What great people sailors and wives are. jmc