1977 o'day 27 bulhead replacement

[james27]

1977 o'day 27 bulkhead replacement/ chain plate

I just bought an o'day 27 (1977). When I bought her I knew I would have to replace the starboard side bulkhead, over the years the wood had rotted and weakened the chain plate in that area. I have been quoted over $2,000 to repair this. I'm okay with my hands, but don't want to be demasted in the middle of lake ontario because I thought I could do the fix myself. Has anyone perfromed this fix on a o'day 27 or similar model? It seems to be a pretty common problem so I knew from the get go this would be an issue. Port side bulkhead has held up well. Any advice for a poor novice sailor? U can e-mail me at murpj4@yahoo.com to connect to me or would love to read any advice posted in this forum....thanks!

 

[Oldhokie64]

I bought a 27LE last winter, the chainplates were not properly sealed to the deck and water had intruded and rotted the bulkhead. I took 5/8" underlayment fir which is supposedly free of voids and laminated with the same glue that is used on marine grade, just not as pretty. I glued the two largest sheets that I could install on either side of the existing bulkhead, and screwed through from both sides with 1.75" screws. I then added two more layers on the aft side of the bulkhead in decreasing sizes, sort of like a Myan pyramid used 3" screws then put the chain plates back using 4" SS nuts bolts and washers. Fasenal has better prices than West Marine. I sealed the chain plates at the deck with Boat Life caulk. The problem or the main problem with replacing the bulkhead would be cutting out the frp where the bulkhead attaches to the hull and putting it all back. 2K sounds like a lot of money but it is a lot of work.

 

[RichBone]

There's several Oday owners that have replaced the bulkheads on the 25- Ask An Oday Owner Forum.
My starboard bulkhead was rotten. Not a big deal. you're really just taking out the old one, using it for a pattern and reinstalling.
http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=110296

Rich

 

[james27]

Just want to thank everyone who replied on the msg boards and who sent me e-mails. Its all been very helpful information. Fortunately, I found a guy at my marina who said he could do the job dramatically cheaper. I don't have the time or the skills to do it myself. He got the bulkhead out in one piece. I brought it to Pittsford Lumber and those guys cut me a new bulkhead out of 1/2 inch marine teak plywood in no time. The job will be done this friday. All in, the cost will be dramatically less than my original quote of 2g. I'm going to try to get down there to help him and hopefully learn from him. Thanks to everyone who posted. I appreciate it, and look forward to sailing this weekend!