an experience

[Mike4116]

So, last fall I had to pull the depth sounder xducer from the boat and have it and the instrument display checked out by data marine. Comes the spring it's time to reinstall the transducer and, behold, the location is less, much less than user friendly for installation. Under the sole, in the head just forward of a removable panel which gives the installer about an RCH of room to move. Curses! So I went out and bought a 4" deck plate and installed. Ah, room to move, room to install, room like the wild west. The plate is covered by a rug anyway so it doesn't matter what it looks like. The mugs at O'day who originally put this thing where they did must have been on some good drugs. I gotta' think that they put the thing in before they installed the sole. If your O'day 28 is built like my 1980 then an access plate is the answer to your prayers.

 

[Joe11688]

Deck plates

I'm glad that I installed one on my inside transom on my boat, Mike. If there is an easy way to do something, I always try to find it. Some guys don't like to drill holes in their boats or make any changes for the better, for fear of getting a lower price for the boat when they turn around and sell it. I don't look at it that way. O'Day did some foolish things to these boats, like using cast iron for keels instead of lead, and building rudders blades in two pieces, gluing them together and pumping them with foam. If I didn't make the changes needed on my rudder, I'd still be buying new rudder blades. Some day I'm going to look into how they installed that small sheave inside my centerboard slot for my pendant line. I'm wondering if I can replace it if I ever have to.Joe

 

[Mike4116]

Rudder

Joe:What did you do to your rudder and what was the problem which caused you to work on it? A couple of years ago water infiltrated the interior of the rudder and during winter lay up it froze and popped the skin. I had it fixed and sealed the top of the rudder where the rudder post entered the glass and foam interior with 5200. The following winter I pulled the rudder took it home to a warm cellar, drilled the rudder at the bottom and allowed it to drain all winter. I then sealed the drill holes in the spring and things seem fine so far.

 

[Adirondack Bob]

Access Plate

Joe,In a previous post you included a photo of the access plate you installed in your transom. Where did you get the plate?Thanks.Bob

 

[RobG]

Joe

"Some day I'm going to look into how they installed that small sheave inside my centerboard slot for my pendant line. I'm wondering if I can replace it if I ever have to".There is a raised plastic part of the teak & holly sole. The ends of the U bolt that the pennant block attaches to are under there.

 

[Joe11688]

Rob, and Bob

Thanks for the info Rob. I'll check that out when I go into my boat this morning. The boat is still sitting on the trailer next to my house with the mast up and a tarp over the boom. Tomorrow, I'm going to take the mast down with my new stainless steel Gin Pole, and Tuesday I'm going to launch her at the club. I can't wait to try out my new Gin Pole to see how it works.Bob, I bought that deck plate in West Marine for about $20.00 I think. It's an 8" Beckson with a screw on cover. I think that you can buy them at any marine store. Check out Defender Marine. They'll probably have them cheaper than WM. I love it! You can install them almost anywhere. Every year I run a 10' duplex #10 strand wire that's connected to my outboard charging system, through a small outlet hole to a circuit block near my lazarett hatch, and this access hole really enables me to do this. I'm able to tape around the wire inside the transom to keep it from pulling out through the hole, and add a bead of tape to the wire on the outside of the transom and give it a small dab of 3-M caulking to keep the water out. I can inspect my bilge, gudgeons, and self bailing hose anytime. It's really worth having.Joe

 

[Joe11688]

O'Day Rudders

Mike, I don't know why O'Day made these rudders this way and this rudder issue wasn't just O'Day 222s, but other larger O'Days also. Rudy mentioned that people would lose them from time to time and they'd sink to the bottom, but having foam would allow them to float a little. I fiddled around with my rudders to try and fix them and got nowhere. I went to the O'Day factory and bought a new rudder blade and it set me back about $160.00. Back then, Rudy Nickerson and a guy named Jeff who was in partnership with him, were having the O'Days built in Bristol RI, and Jeff was also building O'Day rudder blades at his old shop. The rudder blades they built were solid. So I asked Rudy to build me a rudder blade, and I still have this blade to this day. I also had the other two rudder blades down in my cellar and didn't have the heart to chuck them out until years later. These foam filled rudders are easy to recognize. There's a seam that goes around the blade. This is where they glued them together before pumping them with foam. The worse thing that you can do to these blades is have excess weather helm applied to them. What happens is, the blade will flex and cause the seam to open up. If you can correct the weather helm by moving your mast forward a fraction or reducing sail, you may be able to get away with a blade repair. My rudder is a tip-up rudder and if the rudder should creep up a 1/2", it will create a lot of weather helm on my tiller. I use an autopilot about 90% of the time so I don't always know when and if this happens. If you can't fix your rudder, or build one yourself, you may have to bite the bullet like I did Mike. I don't know what else to tell you, but good luck!Joe