Cracks inside my cuddy cabin- Advice needed

[Gracie A]

Hello,

I recently came into an '81 Oday Day Sailer II. I paid next to nothing for it and intend to learn on it here on Lake Erie. While I'm all for making any vital repairs, I really just want to get sailing. I'm asking if these cracks are major bad news, more cosmetic, or somewhere in between.

After cleaning her up (she sat outside, trailered for years) I noticed some worrisome "cracks" inside the cubby cabin. They are located on both sides of the cabin where what appears to be a support beam meets the cabin wall (so they're essentially on the ceiling of the cuddy cabin). There are four total (two forward and two aft). The worst ones are shown below- thumb for reference.

There's also a hairline around the centerboard housing. How concerning is this?

Thank you all so much!!
-Grace

 

[Sunbird22358]

I wouldn't worry about the minor cracking just forward of the CB trunk, that appears cosmetic only. The cracks at the ends of the deck-beams are border-line concerning, minor, yet....... MAYBE, a concern. In the long run, I wouldn't let them stop me from sailing the boat, they can be fixed later, unless they get much worse. By the way.... in "boat-speak" the under side of the deck is called the overhead. I'm not sure of the actual source of the name, but on a boat the CEILING is actually the name for a covering for the inside of the hull (on a wooden boat it usually consists of wood slats screwed to the inside of the frames) Thus will end this lesson on nautical trivia <GRIN!> Ain't sailing confusing some times?
You will enjoy the DS II! I've owned mine for 21 years and have had a lot of great times sailing her. One tip, ALWAYS keep the mainsheet in your hand while sailing, use the provided camcleat to hold the tension, but keep the sheet I hand to allow quick release if a gust of wind hits, that technique has allowed me to safely sail my DSII for all those years without capsizing. Try sailing with just the jib if the wind is too strong for full sail (just raise the CB a bit to adjust the helm balance), and if you don't already have one, get a tiller extension to allow you to sit n the side deck on windy days which really helps keep the boat "on her feet" and more stable.
I see that a previous owner has modified the jib sheet controls, installing blocks on the adjustable tracks and mounting cam cleats on the CB trunk as was stock before 1975. I had that setup on my 12'4" O'DAY Widgeon, it works well, except when I sometimes tripped over the jibsheets! OH WELL! My DSII has the cleats mounted to bullseye fairleads on those tracks.