1978 O'Day 30 keel replacement?

[Gary Marquez]

I have a 1978 O'Day 30. I am in the middle of a full refit. I lost the keel somewhere along the way. Any ideas where I can get a replacement? Does the 27' or 25' O'Day use the same size keel? I'm also looking for a replacement water tank for the Bow? Comments, hints and suggestions warmly welcome.

 

[Ted]

You might want to consider buying a cheap parts boat and salvage the items you need. Something like this one might do the trick.

1980 Bangor Punta O'Day 30 sailboat for sale in New York

 

[jeepbluetj]

Interesting. Wondering how one misplaces a 4000lb chunk of lead. Or do you mean a centerboard?

If you mean a full lead keel, a salvage boat is likely the only way. I'd guess that having one made would cost serious $$$$.

 

[shemandr]

I think the salvage boat would have to be local. Any distance shipping would be substantial. If you buy a junk boat you will have to dispose of the carcass. That's not free either. If you don't get rid of it you'll have to store it.
For the water tank I think they are widely available from several tank manufacturers in a variety of sizes and shapes. You probably need one that is specifically for drinking water.

 

[Gary Marquez]

You might want to consider buying a cheap parts boat and salvage the items you need. Something like this one might do the trick.

1980 Bangor Punta O'Day 30 sailboat for sale in New York

Hi Ted, I just spoke with the people at D&R Marine. They seem to be the folks with loads of parts & know how for O'Days.
The guy I spoke with worked for O'Day for 18 years. He explained that It was a "Center board that I lost. The one that broke away from my boat was "I think cast iron". The man I spoke with said it must have been replaced at one time because the original center boards from O'Day were fiberglass enclosing a 1/4 place of iron. Weighing in at around 150lbs. The one that I lost was far heavier and appeared to be made of cast iron.,

I also contacted the Mystic Seaport Museum. They have all the drawings donated to them from O'Day when they closed business. Both contact details listed below. I hope this helps you in the future and pray you never need to contact them.

D & R Marine, 14 Water St, Assonet, Ma, 02702 D & R Marine
Ph 508 644-3001, Fx 508 644-3002

Mystic Seaport Museum, Collections Research Center, 860.572.5367
Please go to http://research.mysticseaport.org and consult the available resources. For rush or commercial inquiries please email permissions@mysticseaport.org . For rush or Rosenfeld inquiries, please email rosenfeld@mysticseaport.org .

Please check website for updates: https://research.mysticseaport.org/

 

[Gary Marquez]

Interesting. Wondering how one misplaces a 4000lb chunk of lead. Or do you mean a centerboard?

If you mean a full lead keel, a salvage boat is likely the only way. I'd guess that having one made would cost serious $$$$.

I just spoke with the people at D&R Marine. They seem to be the folks with loads of parts & know how for O'Days.
The guy I spoke with worked for O'Day for 18 years. He explained that It was a "Center board that I lost. The one that broke away from my boat was "I think cast iron". The man I spoke with said it must have been replaced at one time because the original center boards from O'Day were fiberglass enclosing a 1/4 place of iron. Weighing in at around 150lbs. The one that I lost was far heavier and appeared to be made of cast iron.,

I also contacted the Mystic Seaport Museum. They have all the drawings donated to them from O'Day when they closed business. Both contact details listed below. I hope this helps you in the future and pray you never need to contact them.

D & R Marine, 14 Water St, Assonet, Ma, 02702 D & R Marine
Ph 508 644-3001, Fx 508 644-3002

Mystic Seaport Museum, Collections Research Center, 860.572.5367
Please go to http://research.mysticseaport.org and consult the available resources. For rush or commercial inquiries please email permissions@mysticseaport.org . For rush or Rosenfeld inquiries, please email rosenfeld@mysticseaport.org .

Please check website for updates: https://research.mysticseaport.org/

 

[Sunbird22358]

D&R Marine is THE place for any O'DAY specific parts that we need for our boats! Just remember, D&R is just that....... Debbie and Rudy, Rudy is a great source for O'DAY info and has a lot of innovative ways to solve our needs (he has been known to get very creative at finding savings on shipping!) but D&R is a small shop, and VERY busy at times (Spring launching time brings out a lot of orders!) but Rudy does his best to get things out ASAP. If you order from the web-site, it is best to follow-up with a phone call, sometimes that saves confusion and delay.

Finally, as a reference, here is a copy & paste of the specs and Standard Equipment for the 1978 O'DAY 30. Note that the keel was molded as part of the hull and the original centerboard was (as Rudy mentioned) Fiberglass, with a chunk of Lead Ballast inside. The centerboards for the O'DAY 25/26, or the 23 will not fit the 30, the 30 used a much bigger CB, which unfortunately, D&R does not have the mold for. I think an O'DAY 30 owner has posted a sketch of the CB on this forum somewhere? I know he posted it on FaceBook recently.

 

[GeorgeC]

I have a 1978 O'Day 30. I am in the middle of a full refit. I lost the keel somewhere along the way. Any ideas where I can get a replacement? Does the 27' or 25' O'Day use the same size keel? I'm also looking for a replacement water tank for the Bow? Comments, hints and suggestions warmly welcome.

Gary.....I have a 1983 O'Day 30 with a centerboard. I would not bother trying to replace the centerboard as the boat sails fine without it. The tank in the bow of my 1983 O'Day 30 is a 15 gallon waste tank that was installed during construction and will not fit through the access hole in the berth for the storage bins. If it is not useable I would clean it out and cut it open to remove it and replace it with a flexible water tank.