Are early eightyish oday 28's any good

[sailnoproblem]

This is 100% correct, re keels and condition.

Years ago I actually though about making an offer on a 28. I liked the boat. Fast forward to 2019, and many of them will be close to having zero economic value (net value after you subtract cost to remedy flaws).

I agree with you, however all boats eventually will have no economic value. If you buy a boat/sailboat and think you have a investment think again. Forget the original cost, just add in the dockage, electronic upgrades, insurance, maintenance, registration, and the list goes on.

 

[Jackdaw]

I agree with you, however all boats eventually will have no economic value. If you buy a boat/sailboat and think you have a investment think again. Forget the original cost, just add in the dockage, electronic upgrades, insurance, maintenance, registration, and the list goes on.

In absolute terms yes, but in a practical sense you can delay that a very long time with proactive maintenance and upgrades. Anytime something needs to be addressed on my boat, I use it as an opportunity to upgrade, to make the boat better. Every year, if you are not spending at least 10% of what your boat should be worth, then you are losing value.

Too many owners do not do this, defer replacement of worn parts and sails, not fixing things or fixing them with parts and items from Home Depot. Or not upgrading. Ancient or broken sailing instruments, old VHFs, radios with CD players. Half the Oday 28s I see these days have an outboard hanging off the transom, a sure sign of a dead inboard that the owner has simply decided not to repair or replace. These boats are basically worthless.

 

[Apex]

@Jackdaw I agree, the value of my boat now makes it sometimes hard to swallow putting in resources to repairs and upgrades. But I think all boats are that way: The maintenance and upkeep is absurd in relation to the resale value.
A '79 vintage has a long list of upgrades in que.

 

[Apex]

What you refer to sounds like the mast support to take the weight and pressure of a "deck stepped" spar. i.e. one that is stepped on your cabin top. That pole is required to transfer the force of the spar down to the keel (or some support structure on top of the keel attachment to the bilge).

Edit: OOPS.... just noticed that the 'OP' posted once in 2014, and never returned! All of our pontificating is going unnoticed......

No Worries is a keel-stepped mast. I also have what appears to be a support for a table. The pole in question is just forward of the hatch opening. It actually works well for a center handhold, No worries came without a table. The mast is directly aft of the salon bulkhead.

 

[Jackdaw]

@Jackdaw I agree, the value of my boat now makes it sometimes hard to swallow putting in resources to repairs and upgrades. But I think all boats are that way: The maintenance and upkeep is absurd in relation to the resale value.
A '79 vintage has a long list of upgrades in que.

Solid point. It makes sense to factor in the boats 'worth' to you as you look at the cost of keeping it at 100% fitness. A boat like the 28 is always going to be an early 70s design/build, so its like spending lavishly on maintaining and upgrading a 1976 Grand Torino. BlueJ while in her teens is still a production boat and a modern design, so it makes (from my perspective) to keep pumping in the cash.