O'Day 39 general knowledge and conversation

[JAyers]

My name is Josh Ayers, My wife and I just recently purchased a 1983 O'day 39 in San Diego CA.

The reason for this post is fairly generic. I want to learn all I can about this model of boat. Outlets for parts and service either local or requiring shipping, General discussion about experiences with these boats from current and previous owners. Sail combinations that worked best for individual uses. Really very broad topics. I just would like to hear any and all things related to the O'Day 39.

You can see from my profile I know very little about sailing. I have researched it a lot thru books and online but I really havent found much about the 39. There is a lot of info on O'day in general and while very interesting I would like to narow the field to the 39 in particular. I realize that any information spoken about on here will be based partly on opinions. Opinions are based on experience and experience is key so please feel free to share your experiences.

Just a bit about me so you can get an accurate feel about my experience... or lack there of.
I have been an underground miner for the last 20 years. I have worked in 21 different mines across the U.S.A. The ability to travel for work has encouraged me and taught me that the world can be a scary place but worth looking around. 7 years ago my wife and I decided we want to get out of the debt we had aquired and buy a boat. Well we are very close to accomplishing that now. We have sold our home, bought a boat and finishing off the last of the pesky bills. Our youngest child will graduate in 3 years so we are going to stick it out until then. That will give us time to put some savings away and learn to sail. While we are waiting the next few years we are also modifying the boat and making it safe for offshore sailing. It has taken a long time to get here and we have a little while left to go. When we do finally push off we will only be in our mid to late fourties.
We have owned power boats our entire boating career so we are not completely new to boating but sailing is a new endevour. We have taken the boat out once already and were successful getting it back to the slip. Spent the entire day saling off the coast of San Diego tacking north along the coast. In the afternoon we turned around and headed back south to San Diego harbor. I figured we sailed about 26 nm. not far for a sailor that has a clue but quite the accomplisment for a couple that only watched from the shore until then.
At anyrate I look forward to hearing from somebody or everybody.

Thanks and have a great day!!,
Josh

 

[Pura Vida 85]

39 owner

Owned a 39 for six years. Bought in florida sailed to home port in NY. (Lincoln Harbor Yacht Club). Have sailed it since, as far north as Montauk & South to Key West. Close hauls better than any boat I've sailed. Does have some weather helm. Mine has the lead keel so handles heavy weather very well. I have a jenny & jib (that I mostly use as an emergency spare.) also has an Autohelm wind vain which works well in all weather & winds.

You can purchase anything you need for an O'day from Rudy at DR Marine, 14 Water St. Assonet, MA 508-644-3001. I even got a new bow pulpit from him when mine was damaged by a dolphin pole in a storm. Very knowledgable guy about o'days. *

Good luck with yours & don't ever stop sailing.

*Bob Brooks
*('~')
<[::]>
* / *\

 

[Pura Vida 85]

39 owner

PS. I have sailed in SD. Love your weather.

 

[JAyers]

Re: 39 owner

Thank you for your feed back and info. Very encouraging to hear the wind vane worked well. I don't know if the keel is steel or lead on mine. The marine surveyor said steel so I'll have to go with that. I was looking at the hid and if I read it correctly it is the 22nd hull. I wonder if steel or lead was a early late model item or if it was just a random thing. Glad to hear your positive comments and thank you again

 

[Panta Rei]

Hi Josh,
I have an O’day 39 , hull # 53. I travel for business so I have a chance to meet many 39 owners. They all seem to agree that the 39 is one of the best deals out there. I recall seeing your boat posted for sale. From what I remember, I think you have a good boat. My boat has a steel keel and is a shoal draft.

I’m not the expert on the 39 but I know who is TED. Ted owned his 39 from day one and works in a boatyard. Ted is currently off the coast of Italy racing in the Swan Rolex regatta. They are currently 5th with one race to go. Ted does not like to post on these forums but I can get you in touch with him if you need him.
I’ll give you a good overview of the boat and since it will be helpful to other potential 39 owners, I will also include things that you obviously already know.
The boat was designed by Jeanneau who I believe made the molds. I believe O’day was responsible for the layup, all rigging, hardware and interior.
I am not aware of any major structural issues with the 39 or the younger sister the 40. However, one must be careful purchasing a 40 as the hull had balsa core even under the waterline. Most 40’s have had wet core removed or have considerable delamination under the waterline. The 39’s were solid composite layup thus no delamination.
The 40’s might be considered better liveaboards since they have a large stateroom under the cockpit while the 39’s have two cabins on each side of the engine with very tight double births. 39’s are great family boats or offshore racers since they have 3 private cabins with tight double berths plus the converted settee. My wife (5’4”) and I (5’10”) fit well into the forward v-berth of the 39 and enjoy being away from the engine and get the nice breeze coming in the forward hatch at anchor.
If I recall, I believe your boat might have had the aft bulkheads removed from the starboard side. (please correct me if I’m wrong) many 39’s have an extremely small but functional head with folding sink and shower in that area plus several doors to partition off the head from the aft cabin and the main cabin forward. A large number of 39’s were sold into the charter industry. They were fitted with up to 7 doors to allow privacy for large groups using either head when the adjacent cabin was occupied. It’s very common to have owners remove some of these doors as they can be a bit much. I believe this was the case with your boat. Please see Panta Rhei’s website for the typical layout http://panta-rhei.weebly.com/the-boat.html
The original engine is a Universal Atomic Diesel (actually a Kubota tractor engine modified for marine use) I have not seen one of these rebuilt or replaced. They seem to be a VERY reliable engine. The hurth transmission does not last as long. I replaced mine over a weekend. rebuilt units are $1800.
The rig is Isomat and all components can be purchased for an arm and a leg from Rig rite.

You should have:
An O’day Yacht owners manual
Universal atomic diesel operation and maintenance manual (model 5444)
Universal atomic diesel parts manual for model 5444
The owner’s manual is very complete and has all the specifications for both the standing and running rigging called out to the inch. It also has instructions for tuning the mast which needs a slight bend aft.
I recommend purchasing any new sails from
St Michaels Sails
605 South Talbot St
St Michaels, MD 21663 - View Map
Phone: (410) 745-3311
This is where Ted buy’s his sails so they know the boat and Ted wins races!!
Performance:
Most owners agree that the 39 needs winds at 12 knts to really get going and few can catch her. My boat with St. Michaels sails points very high. (remember I have a shoal draft keel.)
A large asymmetrical sail is needed for light winds.
The engine moves her a cruising speed 6 knts at 1800 rpm in flat seas you can push it to 7 but I never do.

Modifications to make her a blue water sailor:
Bulkheads need to be through bolted in place of screws.
Double the size of the cockpit drains (install a second set)
Install a 12 inch high curb in front of the dodger to stop green water breaking over the bow to smash the dodger.
These modifications are not needed for a typical coastal cruiser. (IMO)

 

[JAyers]

Panta rei,
Thanks for the info. Do you have a resource for the manuals? I haven't gone through all the paper work yet but if any is missing I'd like to know where to replace it from. This boat does still have both aft cabins. If the two designs I'm aware of ( 2 heads or 1 with a larger navigation station) this boat is the single head model. So I'm not sure if it did have a bulkhead on the starboard side originally. But you are correct there is not one there now. It seems like the double head model also had the double stainless sink in the galley. But those were both upgrade option if I'm not mistaking. I'm actually very excited you commented on this thread. I have read a lot if what you have written on here and it has been very helpful. I see a lot of owners on here but they appear not to be recently active. Your boat sounds wonderful and I will be going to the places you recommended.
Thank you very much

 

[Panta Rei]

First off , my apologies to all for the typo's exchanging ' with R's in my earlier post. I was traveling so I wrote it in Word and pasted it.

The folks on this forum can give you a hand with owners manuals and such. You will find many common items and construction methods with the 27' models and larger. I am aware that there are not a lot of 39/40 owners on this forum. I often write knowing that I am just making a record for future owners searching the thread. There is also a lot of commonsense reading these posts. It's nice to kick ideas around with these guys.

Double sinks came standard on the 39. The single basin sink was installed by a previous owner. Not a bad improvement as there is very little (no) counter space. I'm thinking I should have done the same when I replaced the counter.

 

[falkntrader39]

Gents,
Glad to see the 39 crowd growing. Mine is coming along. The galley is all torn apart, new plywood going in where the original rotted away. We are thinking of doing away with the seat in the nav station and adding more storage. I agree, these are a great value in the used sailboat arena. Is motoring really only 6 kts? I was hoping for 7.

 

[USY27]

Started my sailing carreer in mid 90s on literally two of the last O'days 39 made. Sailing club owner bought 2 unfinished boats from the factory in Fall River in late 80s at a bankruptcy auction. Well built and very rugged. Too bad they went under in the Bush recession of late 80s. Found out later that they were basically Jeanneau design with Cal rigging and some such. Best of 3 worlds so to speak. The ones I sailed had some issues with the engines as they were Westerbekes with all attending consequences. If I'd scored one to own I'd definitely replace the engine with a Yanmar and that would pretty much be it.

 

[Panta Rei]

Gents,
Glad to see the 39 crowd growing. Mine is coming along. The galley is all torn apart, new plywood going in where the original rotted away. We are thinking of doing away with the seat in the nav station and adding more storage. I agree, these are a great value in the used sailboat arena. Is motoring really only 6 kts? I was hoping for 7.

It cruises very happy at 6 kts at 1800 to 2000 rpm. Virtually no wake. Minimal vibrations etc. It takes a lot more energy to get it moving 7kts. My guess the rpms would be more like 2600 to 2800. At that RPM the boat is sitting in the bottom of the wave pushing a lot of water and making a good size wake. Lot's of Vibrations throughout the boat matching the harmonics of the hull (I'm told by my aerospace engineer son in law). My guess is that it would require twice the fuel to go 7 vs 6.

Please post photos of your project. I would be happy to send photos and dimensions of the optional ice box/ standing nav station installed in place of the standard nav station .

 

[JAyers]

I researched boats for about a year before we bought our O'Day. I think they are way undervalued and not very well know since not to many were actually produced. From what I can gather (from just research) without actual sailing experience, it is a very capable offshore worthy boat. Sail area, displacment and lenght are well balanced to hadle it. The standing riggin and chain plates are a very strong combination as long as they are serviced properly. The only thing I would change about the boat would be a skeg hung rudder for added security.
Under deisel power my boat responds very similiar to Panta Rei's description. everything sounds and feels better around 1800 to 2000 RPM's and 6 kts is where she likes to be.
I am very impressed or lucky maybe but she was very easy to sail and keeping her around 8 knts over ground was actually very easy. We were tacking in about 15 knt wind.
We will be headed back to San Diego this weekend and the next to do some more work. This weekend is a full scrub down and taking the headsail in for some work. The following weekend will be another experimental sailing trip back out into the pacific. We are going to look for a place to drop anchor and spend the night on the hook if we can find a place. But that all depends on how well I actually do getting out of the bay this time. I am hoping last time wasn't just beginners luck.
Thanks everyone for keeping this thread moving!
P.S. I am an underground miner, my typing skills are far below average so typo's and misspelling shall run rampant within! just FYI
Thanks again,

 

[jibes138]

JAyers, take a short cruise up to Catalina Island, drop a hook and enjoy. Should be about a day from SD?

 

[JAyers]

If I plotted out correctly it is about 22hrs sailing. Couple good tacks should do it. Sounds easy but very intimidating. Thanks for the suggestion

 

[Kings Gambit]

We will be headed back to San Diego this weekend and the next to do some more work. This weekend is a full scrub down and taking the headsail in for some work. The following weekend will be another experimental sailing trip back out into the pacific. We are going to look for a place to drop anchor and spend the night on the hook if we can find a place. But that all depends on how well I actually do getting out of the bay this time. I am hoping last time wasn't just beginners luck.

Josh,

There's a spot to anchor for the night at Mission Bay called Mariner's Cove [sometimes called Mariner's Basin]. The sea channel bends left (north) as you enter the Bay. A little further along and the opening to the Cove can be seen on your left (i.e., toward west now from you). There was once a sign there; perhaps there still is. Once inside, turn back north toward the middle and end of the Cove/Basin. Good anchoring in 15 ft surrounded by sandy beach. All of this is seaward of the highway bridge which you cannot pass under. Very pretty and very secure there; so, that area is sometimes called Bonita Cove.

It's a good shake down trip for a new boat that's ready for sea; about 15 n.mi. one way from Shelter Island in San Diego Bay. Be sure to avoid the kelp beds off Pt. Loma by heading south out of SD Bay for some distance, then west b/f turning north toward Mission Bay. See attachment for chart of MB.

You can anchor inside San Diego Bay at La Playa on weekends, and in Glorietta Bay. I believe you need advance permits for each of those spots. Can get them on-line from the Port of San Diego at the link below; so I've been told.

http://reservations.portofsandiego.org/boating/Index.asp

 

[JAyers]

Kings Gambit , Thanks for the info. We are going to try to make that anchorage in Mission Bay this coming weekend. Sounds like a great trip for us as we start to get comfortable with longer trips. We want to head to Catilina as jibes138 suggested as well. I think a couple round trips to Mission Bay and we will be ready for Catilina.
Thank you both so much for the help!

 

[Kings Gambit]

Mission Bay?

How did it go?

 

[JAyers]

Kings Gambit,
The wind was not I. Our favor this trip. Very light breeze most of the day. We spent several hours beating into the wind just trying to get out of San Diego bay. We are going to try again on our next trip out to San Diego. We barely made it to the kelp beds you mentioned by 4pm. Most people we sass motored out and sailed just outside the bay. Still had a lot of fun and learned the importance of using a preventer on our way back in!

 

[jibes138]

be careful gybing. a guy pulled in my marina with an IP38 with the boom snapped in half. he gybed coming in beaufort inlet and the boom broke in half. you always want to take in the mainsheet as you come through the eye of the wind then let it out on the other side.

 

[JAyers]

Jibes,
We were on a broad reach coming back In with no headsail. A big offshore racing boat went by about 60 and the wake tossed us to port. The boom came over about half way from starboard and luckily went back to starboard smoothly. I ran up front and put the preventer in for the remainder of the trip down wind.
Sorry for the typo's in the previous post. In using my phone to answer and am even more prone to failure in spelling than on my laptop.

 

[JAyers]

Hey everybody! I know this is an old post but was apprehensive about starting a whole new one with the information that's already on here. So here goes.
We've been sailing a lot since we bought Southern Cross in August and getting a pretty good grasp of the situation. Reason for this post is to let any O'day 39 owners or anyone else for that matter that we have started documenting all of it on our YouTube channel https://youtu.be/8eZLWLy2X_I This is a link to the first of a series of videos as we do a refit and upgrade items to prepare to throw off the lines. I do check into the forum often to see what's happening but what I noticed is very little visual information outside of the forums for O'day 39 sailboats and thought it might be nice to offer up some video footage where if you have questions you can also ask us through youtube. So if you're interested check us out and subscribe. We don't know it all but we have learned a lot and Panta Rei has helped us get in contact with a former employee of O'day that was involved with the build of our boat which we absolutely needed in order to get "coastwise" documentation on our boat.
We now have all the paperwork to accomplish it now but it is a pain if you don't have the certificate of U.S. Build Evidence. Anyhow hope this leads people to more info on the O'day 39

Thanks and have a great day! And thanks again Panta Rei for all the help!!