Advice requested re. 1976 O’Day 22

[Sea&Air1]

I am the new owner of a 1976 O’Day 22. I knew it would need work.

After cleaning, spider cracks are now visible in many places on the deck and on the cabin sole.

The area around/under the mast step does not seem soft. I don’t know how to tell if the balsa core under it is rotten.

The deck around the starboard side chain plate has spider cracks all around it in the gel coat. (pic attached). The bulkhead under it does not seem to be rotten or rotting. The chain plates are the original 1/4” ones. Other than repairing the spider cracks and bedding new chain plates, should I be worried about anything else in the hull or glass in this area? That I need to repair there?

The port side bulkhead at its base is rotting. The compression post seems as though it has not rotted. The boat appears to have had 6” of water standing in it for some period of time.

The port chain plate seems in good shape. No cracking around it on the hull topside. The bulkhead seems sturdy and not rotted there.

There is a crack all around the inside of the forward hatch area. I’m not sure how to repair this other than fiberglass tape and epoxy it back together.

What would you do to repair this boat in these areas?

 

[Project_Mayhem]

With cracks like that I'm wondering if the lower chainplate bracket is bending under load or if the holes in the bulkhead have become enlarged over the years. Do you see any signs that it's bent? Can you remove it for inspection?

It seems quite odd that only one side of this U bolt is attached to the chainplate. Perhaps the other threaded end is attached to the bottom of the deck? That might explain the spider cracks in the gelcoat

As a note, full length threaded bolts should not be used on moving/flexing parts that are bolted to wood. The teeth can wear away the wood just like a file. I would not be surprised if O'Day did this on the 22. I'm pretty sure that's how they are on my 25.

Rudy at D&R Marine is hands down the expert on O'Day boats. His website states that the chainplates should be replaced with this newer design. Unfortunately I couldn't tell you what the difference is. Hopefully someone else here knows the 22 better than myself

DR Marine Product Detail
U-Bolt Type Chainplates

 

[Sea&Air1]

Project Mayhem,

Thank you. I spoke with Rudy about the chainpates. He was very helpful and suggested that I change out the chainplates. I probably should have asked him about the other issues.

 

[Sea&Air1]

I just noticed the mast step is aimed slightly off-center. Is this normal?

 

[Sea&Air1]

And some additional photos of the cracking between the mast step and the hatch. I welcome thoughts on this. (i.e. Is this most likely a serious issue or more superficial with cracks in need of epoxy?)

 

[dmax]

The cracks behind the mast look like they may have been caused by the wood core getting wet and then freezing in the winter and expanding, causing the cracks. I would say the same is true of the cracks around the chain plate. You want to get a moisture meter and go over the whole deck to see if there's high moisture content. You should also tap over the whole deck with a brass or plastic hammer - it should sound solid and not hollow. O'Days are notorious for their deck hardware leaking and wetting the core. If the core is dry, those cracks can be gouged out and filled and repainted. If you repaint the whole deck, it's a big job, mostly labor though.

The mast step is not normal, should be aligned fore and aft. Somebody probably removed it (leaking?) and did a lousy job putting it back on. If the area of rot in the bulkhead is small, you may get away with a repair (patch with plywood and epoxy) but you're probably looking at replacing it. Lots of people have written about replacing bulkheads on O'Days and othe similar boats.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Your mast step is much heavier duty than mine. Not sure if it's the original or not. The only issue I can imagine having it misaligned is that the end of your boom might touch the mast when going downwind. More likely than not, your sail and boom will touch your sidestays first. As dmax suggested, there's probably a reason it was removed in the first place. Take it off, inspect the wood in the bolt holes for moisture and reseal it with BedIt. Most other sealants, including 4200/5200 will fail at some point. The reason O'Days are notorious for leaking is because they used silicone. Take a look at the BedIT articles on marinehowto.com. I suggest that you put sealant around the bolt instead of trying to seal the whole mast step. My personal favorite tools to clean up old sealant are a scraper, scotch bright wheel on a drill @ full speed, knife, acetone and CLR (for cleaning dirt)

Bulkheads aren't hard to replace, just time consuming

 

[Sea&Air1]

This is very helpful. Thank you, Project_Mayhem and dmax!

 

[Project_Mayhem]

An impact driver and small prybar are invaluable when removing fittings by yourself. Star with the impact gun, the get prybar under the fastener, put a just enough tension to keep the opposite end of the fastener from spinning. Short, fast blasts usually work better