O'day 23 swing board stuck hard

Joe11688 · Jun 15, 2011

GeorgiaBII said:
Hi everybody,

Just bought this boat and it's my first personally owned sailboat. If I can't get this swing board freed up how bad is my 23' oday going to sail? Or will it be useable without it down?

So far I've beat on the keel with a hammer to break up the rust inside and blasted inside with a pressure washer with no results. Is there a way to get it freed up?

I'm assuming I have a rust issue and it's locked the board in the keel.

Somehow the previous owner didn't bother to mention this and with it on the trailer I wasn't able to test it.

I've been told that the O'Day 23s that were built prior to 1974 had cast iron keels and from 1974 on they started building them with lead keels. The year of your boat should be stamped in the last three digits of your hull number on the upper right outside transom. The last digit will be a letter which stand for the month that the boat was built.
There are a few guys on this forum who own these boats and they have met the challenge that it takes to correct the problem. Will the boat sail without the centerboard down? Absolutely, I used to sail my O'Day 222 on the lake where I live for many years because it was shallow in some spots and my board would sometimes collect weeds on the board's pendant line. Of course, these keel/centerboard sloops are going to have better up wind performance with the board down.

One of my friends owned a 1973 O'Day 23 and he loved the boat in spite of the keel issue. I sailed with him one day and I liked the boat and I really love the way the cabin interior is set up with the dinette on one side and the galley on the opposite side. Even with the keel issue, it's still a nice looking small boat with big boat features.
A guy in Providence RI had one with the same issues and he was able to restore it to almost new condition. He cleaned the keel up and used a certain type of rust preventative paint on it of which the brand name escapes me now. Some guy on Long Island NY owns this boat now and he loves it. So if you're up for the challenge, it's a boat well worth fixing and keeping.
I don't know what to tell you about how to get the board free. The guy in RI, "Baysailor Bill," had a tough time removing it and finally broke it trying to get it out. He then built a new board for it. There may be some info on this site in the archives on the older O'Day 23s that you can dig up. Look under Baysailor Bill and there's a guy in the South called Nateman who is fixing his up right now. I'm sure that they would be more than glad to offer you some info on it.
Good Luck!
Joe

nateman · Jun 15, 2011

Welcome Bill!

As far as I know mine is free and clear right now, at least I can hear and feel it move I think... Hoping to avoid any problems with it this year.

Let us know what you figure out, as Joe said - usually they are destroyed getting them out.

Camelot OD25 ~ /) · Jun 15, 2011

OD 23 and 25 identical

Here is how I got mine down. With the boat in a lift or sling (best) or in the water (not so much) get under it with a crow bar and pry the board out from the end. Once down, clean out any foreign matter from up inside the bulkhead/keel and repaint. Don't forget to check the line for wear.
Good Luck and welcome to Oday ownership. You gonna love it!

GeorgiaBII said:
Hi everybody,

Just bought this boat and it's my first personally owned sailboat. If I can't get this swing board freed up how bad is my 23' oday going to sail? Or will it be useable without it down?

So far I've beat on the keel with a hammer to break up the rust inside and blasted inside with a pressure washer with no results. Is there a way to get it freed up?

I'm assuming I have a rust issue and it's locked the board in the keel.

Somehow the previous owner didn't bother to mention this and with it on the trailer I wasn't able to test it.

Joe11688 · Jun 16, 2011

TJD 25 said:
Here is how I got mine down. With the boat in a lift or sling (best) or in the water (not so much) get under it with a crow bar and pry the board out from the end. Once down, clean out any foreign matter from up inside the bulkhead/keel and repaint. Don't forget to check the line for wear.
Good Luck and welcome to Oday ownership. You gonna love it!

I sincerely hope that it's that simple for him, but if you remember reading the threads that Baysailor Bill wrote a few years back when he was working on his 73 O'Day 23, it took him days and weeks to free his board. He wound up breaking it. Bill lives in your area. He's retired and he restores boats for a hobby. He had a blog with some great pics of the boats that he restored and he took it down. Hopefully he may put it back up. The guy does excellent restorations and woodwork.
It's good to hear from you again. I'm getting ready to cruise down to your area today with a stop off at the Spar Islands. I caught a 31" Striper on the South side of Spar last week and I'm going to try for another one today.
Smooth Sailing!
Joe

ruidh · Jun 16, 2011

I would get up in the slot with a handsaw and some eye protection and try to remove the rust.

Frankly, my boatyad freed the stuck c/b on my '71 O23 and only charged me $100 for labor and sling time.

Joe11688 · Jun 17, 2011

ruidh said:
I would get up in the slot with a handsaw and some eye protection and try to remove the rust.

Frankly, my boatyad freed the stuck c/b on my '71 O23 and only charged me $100 for labor and sling time.

I'm curious. Does your 23 have the two plates held on by for bolts and two wedges for the pin, under the keel?

Joe11688 · Jun 17, 2011

GeorgiaBII said:
Got the board out today!

Had to jack the boat way up on the trailer and block it then went to work on the hinge pin. I was under the impression it was stainless steel? Mine was plastic! It wouldn't drive out ended up drilling it out Going to make a replacement out of stainless tomorrow.

Was able to take a hammer and long bar to break up the rust. Pulled it out and unfortunately about the lower third is broken up and flimsy. Going to repair it as well. Lots of grinding and fiberglass in my future I see.

Took tomorrow off from work and going to keep grinding on this. Still have to paint the entire boat before I launch her. Goal is keel wet by July 4th weekend.

They are made of a white fiber Bill. They're all like that, even the O'Day 25s and 26s have fiber pins. Are there two metal plates under the forward portion of your keel? I may be wrong, but I think there should be two fiberglass wedges that hold that fiber pin in position. Check it out.

Joe11688 · Jun 20, 2011

GeorgiaBII said:
I checked today and there are no plates or fiber wedges.

Looks like I'll be replacing the pin with a stainless steel bolt.

Very annoying! Stupid cast iron keel

You had mentioned that there was a plastic pin in there, If there are no plates and wedges in the bottom on your keel, how do you suppose they got that pin in there? I'm curious because I really don't know if the early keel/centerboard 23s are set up like the ones on most of the O'Day keel/centerboard sloops.

Nate,
How is your keel/centerboard set up? Anyone who owns and early 1970s O'Day 23 can chime in if they like.
Joe

nateman · Jun 21, 2011

Unfortunately i've not seen how mines configured - I just assumed it was like the pics above.

48dodge · Jun 21, 2011

Do you happen to have any pictures? If you have any antifouling paint on then that might obscure some brackets or other mounting hardware.

Joe11688 · Jun 23, 2011

GeorgiaBII said:
I have no idea. I'm assuming it's pressed in. I tried driving it out and no joy.

So it's now going to be replaced by a 50 dollar stainless steel bolt and lock nut. argh!

Bill,
If your keel has these plates and wedges, they can be found under the front section of the keel. Maybe they are hiding under a few coats of bottom paint. You should really check again to make sure because this is the way that O'Day mounted their centerboards in these boats as far as I know.

48dodge · Jun 23, 2011

What it looks like with everything out on my 222.

Joe11688 · Jun 24, 2011

Great pics Dodge!

48dodge · Jun 24, 2011

Just did a search and it looks like the 23s had a 6" plastic pin? How wide is your keel around the pivot point? Have you been in touch with Rudy at drmarine.com?

48dodge · Jun 24, 2011

Just looked on drmarine for the 23 and it has the hardware trinnka has posted. Must be for the lead keel versions. Rudy should be able to help you out.

O'day 23 swing board stuck hard

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