1970 O'day 23' Pop Top Project

Joe11688 · Sep 14, 2011

Nate,
Ed K. wrote about sealants on Page 3 of "Ask an O'Day Owner". I think that you can read it by clicking on to this link:
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=132930 Check it out.
Joe

Joe11688 · Sep 18, 2011

That sounds like a plan Nate. You've put a lot of work in that boat and it's time to enjoy it.
Good Luck!
Joe

ruidh · Oct 3, 2011

I don't have one. I don't know what I'd do with one. It seems it would interfere with operating the pop top unless it could easily be removed. I do have a loop at the bottom of the gooseneck which I secure to the cleat below with a short piece of line.

I had the gooseneck with the loop at the top in this picture. I have it on the bottom now. I don't know which is correct. I think I may prefer it on the top. http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0091009/photos/ruidh/3839677378/

ruidh · Oct 3, 2011

I have a cleat set into the track in the mast. There is enough clearance in the hole in the top of the cabin for the cleat when the top is up.

Hole up or hole down? I'm sort of concerned by how much pressure is on that ring. It is tied off when I raise the main and then I put tension into the sail. At least with the hole up, the line grabs the entire gooseneck.

But I think it was hole down when I got it and I flipped it when fiddling with the roller-reefing in the off season. I flipped it back later on.

ruidh · Oct 3, 2011

Like this?

http://www.flickr.com/x/t/0094009/photos/ruidh/6208604332/

I just cropped that out of a recent photo.

ruidh · Oct 3, 2011

I'm sure I've seen them at West Marine. Defender should have them as well. But I can't see anything in a quick look.

West has "sail track stops" and there's a round base one among them. Two of those plus a nylon cleat should do you.

Joe11688 · Oct 4, 2011

nateman said:
Question? Is a boom vang necessary to sail the 23?

Nate,
A boom vang really isn't necessary to sail your boat but if you ever had one set up on your 23, you would see a huge difference in speed going downwind. It comes in handy when I'm trolling under sail and I need to come up into the wind to play a large fish. What happens is; the sail starts luffing and the boom starts to lift and fall violently in a strong wind and if you're not careful you can get a good wrap on top of the head while your busy fighting the fish. This has happened to me a few times and about a week later I developed a stiff neck that was very painful for about a week. The boom vang would prevent the boom from jumping up and down. What really made matters worse was the swivel type stainless steel bale under the end of the boom that I had for sheeting before I installed my traveler. I had got hit on the top of the head by that more than once and it really smarted so I cut it right out with my Dremel Tool. I hated to cut it but it was the only way I could get it out for the track under the boom. I had been using it for my bungee sail tie attachment and after removing the bail, I replaced it with a nylon wire strap bolted to the bottom of the boom.
You may want to install a boom brake on your boat some day and you're definitely going to need a boom vang to go with it. Store bought boom brakes are pricey but you can make one for cheap money buy purchasing a mountain climbing belay device such as the Black Diamond Super Eight, some braid line, and a couple of sheaves.
For the boom vang you'll need a bale under your boom so that the vang can be set up at about a 45 degree angle and also some kind of an attachment point at the base of your mast for the vang. The boom vang can be made up of a set of two sheave blocks with a built in cam cleat. I use quick release shackles on both my mainsheet and my boom vang.
Some boom vangs have a wire with a swaged ball type connection that fits into a special plate attached to the bottom of the boom. The plate has a round hole and slot cut into it which is designed for that particular type of vang to boom attachment. Myself, I don't care much for this type of plate. I prefer the bale under the boom. Here's a pic of my boom vang. They're pricey but maybe you could pick up a couple of two sheave blocks, one with a cam cleat on it at a marine consignment store in your area and make up a boom vang for cheap money with some braid line.

Joe11688 · Oct 4, 2011

nateman said:
Good stuff Joe, thanks for that.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of my boom vang set while sailing. Also my hinged mast tabernacle has a utility plate under it which has a number of holes on it for sheave attachments. I had to cut the back plate off it several years ago because it was interfering with my mast raising. I had been using one of the holes in that plate for my boom vang attachment and what I have been doing is tying a short 1/4" braid line to the end holes in the side plates to form a loop so I can use it for my vang. It works OK but it looks kind of hacky and Mickey Moused.
The most crucial point is the boom attachment. I think that the bale needs to be installed about a third of the way out under the boom from the goose neck. Check out a book in your public library by Wallace Ross entitled, "Sail Power." This book has all the info you'll need on stuff like that. Also check out these two sites for info on the boom brake:
http://www.wwpotterowners.com/JohnTurpin1.html

http://www.sail-world.com/cruising/index.cfm?nid=73062&rid=11
My friend Wayne installed one on his Seaward 22 and he says it works great.
I bought a Super Eight a couple of months ago on the web and I plan on installing next year. Hey good luck with getting her in the water Nate.
Joe

Joe11688 · Oct 4, 2011

nateman said:
Cool, where do I find one of those?

If you buy one of those mast track cleats Nate, make sure you get the right size that will fit into the mast track groove. Measure one of your sail slides so you can get a pretty good idea. Rudy probably has these mast track tack downhaul cleats in stock also.
http://www.drmarine.com/

Tom J · Oct 4, 2011

I had a 1973 O'Day Pop-Top years ago. Back in 1995, I replaced the cabin sole, and my pictures look amazingly similar to yours. I also replaced the fiberglass center board with a steel one.
What promted all this work was that the keel bolts started to pull through the hull. The poor boat almost sank at the mooring. I found that at some point, the holes for the keel bolts had been counter-bored so that onlly 1/4" of glass was supporting the weight of the keel, most of that weight being on the forward two bolts. These, of course, were the bolts that pulled through.
I dropped the keel and filled the bolt holes in the top of the keel socket with West System epoxy, re-drilled the holes, and bought longer keel bolts. Now I had a good 2" of solid glass/epoxy holding up the keel. While I was at it, I installed the steel c/b. I had taken the old board to a metal fabricater and had him cut 1/2" steel to match the shape of the old board. I also installed a 10:1 winch over the down-tube, and ran the control line out to the cockkpit. No more running down into the cabin to raise/lower the c/b. I also never had to dive under the boat to pull down the stuck c/b again, and the added weight down low made her a little stiffer.
I loved that old boat. She gave us many hours of fun and adventure, as I'm sure yours will do for you.

1970 O'day 23' Pop Top Project

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