I finally got my Oday 25 sitting in my driveway. Thanks to all of those who answered my trailer questions over the past year. I set the trailer the best I could from the dimensions I was given by several of you on this forum. I tried to get it out of the water during the holidays last year and ran into multiple problems. It has taken me this long to fix all of those problems (money and time seem to never line up right).
I got things coordinated with a few friends and the work crew at my marina (on Patrick AFB) for another attempt this past Friday. We got the boat to float onto the trailer but the electric winch I had didn’t work. So we improvised and used a cargo strap to hold the boat onto the trailer. We couldn’t get the boat all the way to the bow stop, but it was close enough for an attempt to pull it out of the water. We got it up the ramp without any major issues. The boat was sitting on the trailer making it a little rear heavy. So we parked it and put two boat stands under the stern to help support it. We were going to take the boat off the trailer completely on Friday but the thunderstorms moved in so we called it a day.
I had to work on Sat. and Sun. so I got back to work on Monday. When I showed up to the marina on Monday morning, the marina workers already had the boat up on stands. They placed my trailer next to their work shed giving me access to power for my air compressor.
From the notes I made on Friday, my keel wasn’t sitting on the keel pad. It was about 5 inches too high. Also, the bunk curvature was too straight. So I lowered my center two uprights down approx. 5 inches which gave the bunks the correct curvature. I also built a roller for the nose of the boat to sit on. Thank god I had my air compressor/air ratchet which made the adjustments easy. I finished all the work about an hour after the marina workers workday was over. So I had to wait until today to get the boat back onto the trailer.
This morning I arrived at the marina and we got started. The marina workers brought over their fork lift and we attached a strap to the bow to lift the bow up off the stands. We moved the front two stands and the middle two stands out of the way. We rolled the trailer in place, and then lowered the aft stands until the stern rested on the bunks. The forklift operator lowered the bow of the boat then I assessed the trailer. The roller I made for the nose of the boat was too low. One of the marina workers suggested I move it back to another cross member. Also, the keel was about an inch off the keel pad. So we lifted the boat back up off the trailer, I had some cut up 5/4x6” boards that I slide along the keel pad. I also moved the nose roller back. We lowered the boat down onto the trailer and it fit quite nicely. The tongue weight (one of my many concerns) felt properly balanced. We back my Jeep Grand Cherokee up to the trailer and hooked it up. I put cargo straps across the bow and stern for added peace of mind.
I towed it home (about 20 mi with relatively flat land except two bridges to cross) with no issues. I was able to tow at 50-55 mph down US1. Once I hit 60 mph, I got some sway. So I slowed down and kept it at 50-55 mph. It is now parked in my driveway for me to work on. I have some discoloration beginning to develop along my bulkheads so I am going to remove them to see how bad it is. The p/o replaced the bulkheads about 3 years ago. If it’s not that bad, I’m going to seal it up with epoxy and set them back into place. I also plan on repairing the transcom because I do have some coring rot at my motor mount. I’m going to remove all deck hardware and check the core around all the wholes. I’m praying the p/o sealed it up. If not, I’ll get that done. The rest will be cosmetic work. I have a few scrapes on the topside to repair and I want to repaint the deck and non-skid areas. I probably will replace the rub rail while I’m at it.
I got things coordinated with a few friends and the work crew at my marina (on Patrick AFB) for another attempt this past Friday. We got the boat to float onto the trailer but the electric winch I had didn’t work. So we improvised and used a cargo strap to hold the boat onto the trailer. We couldn’t get the boat all the way to the bow stop, but it was close enough for an attempt to pull it out of the water. We got it up the ramp without any major issues. The boat was sitting on the trailer making it a little rear heavy. So we parked it and put two boat stands under the stern to help support it. We were going to take the boat off the trailer completely on Friday but the thunderstorms moved in so we called it a day.
I had to work on Sat. and Sun. so I got back to work on Monday. When I showed up to the marina on Monday morning, the marina workers already had the boat up on stands. They placed my trailer next to their work shed giving me access to power for my air compressor.
From the notes I made on Friday, my keel wasn’t sitting on the keel pad. It was about 5 inches too high. Also, the bunk curvature was too straight. So I lowered my center two uprights down approx. 5 inches which gave the bunks the correct curvature. I also built a roller for the nose of the boat to sit on. Thank god I had my air compressor/air ratchet which made the adjustments easy. I finished all the work about an hour after the marina workers workday was over. So I had to wait until today to get the boat back onto the trailer.
This morning I arrived at the marina and we got started. The marina workers brought over their fork lift and we attached a strap to the bow to lift the bow up off the stands. We moved the front two stands and the middle two stands out of the way. We rolled the trailer in place, and then lowered the aft stands until the stern rested on the bunks. The forklift operator lowered the bow of the boat then I assessed the trailer. The roller I made for the nose of the boat was too low. One of the marina workers suggested I move it back to another cross member. Also, the keel was about an inch off the keel pad. So we lifted the boat back up off the trailer, I had some cut up 5/4x6” boards that I slide along the keel pad. I also moved the nose roller back. We lowered the boat down onto the trailer and it fit quite nicely. The tongue weight (one of my many concerns) felt properly balanced. We back my Jeep Grand Cherokee up to the trailer and hooked it up. I put cargo straps across the bow and stern for added peace of mind.
I towed it home (about 20 mi with relatively flat land except two bridges to cross) with no issues. I was able to tow at 50-55 mph down US1. Once I hit 60 mph, I got some sway. So I slowed down and kept it at 50-55 mph. It is now parked in my driveway for me to work on. I have some discoloration beginning to develop along my bulkheads so I am going to remove them to see how bad it is. The p/o replaced the bulkheads about 3 years ago. If it’s not that bad, I’m going to seal it up with epoxy and set them back into place. I also plan on repairing the transcom because I do have some coring rot at my motor mount. I’m going to remove all deck hardware and check the core around all the wholes. I’m praying the p/o sealed it up. If not, I’ll get that done. The rest will be cosmetic work. I have a few scrapes on the topside to repair and I want to repaint the deck and non-skid areas. I probably will replace the rub rail while I’m at it.
