I'm looking to purchase a 1984 O'Day 28, which the owner states has a draft of 3.8'. The pictures show keel bolts. My understanding is the ballast in shoal draft model is encapsulated in the keel and no keel boats. Anyone with first hand knowledge out there care to weigh in? Thanks.
O'Day 28 Keel bolts
- Thread starter hozpypr
- Start date
28’s of that era did have bolt on lead keels. Ours was an 85 and was the same way. 3’8” was considered the shoal draft. They also made a full draft that was about a foot deeper. The lead is coated in some kind of barrier but over time it’s not unusual for that to chip away, especially in spots that have imperfections in the casting. If that happens it can be repaired by sanding or grinding down to fresh metal (with significant PPE) and coating in new barrier coat.
I haven’t heard about any significant problems with the bolts. You may read about O’Days having problems with thin layups in their keel stubs, but that only affected the 3-digit O’Day models in the later 80’s.
I haven’t heard about any significant problems with the bolts. You may read about O’Days having problems with thin layups in their keel stubs, but that only affected the 3-digit O’Day models in the later 80’s.
I didn’t think so either, but a little while back I came across this post saying they did before 83 - Encapsulated or Keel bolt 1985 O'Day 28
They did make a fin keel 28.
Not sure about the 28, but 19-27 foot boats with a shoal draft/centerboard were encapsulated stub keels. Good design.
