Finally made the move...

[WestIslandJohnny]

After the first trip with my best friend, on a pretty calm day (for Beavertail), I realized that sailing is really how I wanted to navigate the waters around me. Five years later, I've grown to appreciate and respect the art of sailing and just couldn't wait any longer. We looked a many boats from $800 "mooring sitters" to a 33' Pearson, we landed on an O'Day 27 and both finally agreed that this was the one. It's a 1974 and in pretty decent shape. Typical of the year, the saildrive is in need of some work, but the previous owner had already succumbed to the outboard and threw in a fairly new 8hp Merc. I picked her up on Sunday floating to the head of the Taunton River in Dighton, MA and she's heading for my backyard in Fairhaven this week! So, I took a couple of pics... please let me know what you think... not only about my deal, but the O'Day27 and Saildrives in general.

Thanks,

John

 

[cb32863]

I asked about SailDrives a few years ago when I just started looking at boats and the main response was.. Run like hell.... Never had one so that is not form experience but just what I was told about them.

Nice boat though and doesn't it feel nice to be on "YOUR" boat?

One other thing, I have a 25 and my 9.9hp outboard fights it sometimes, not sure as others may know more about a 8hp on a 27 being enough.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Congratulations. Looks great.

As you probably know already, sailboats require maintenance.

A saildrive requires more maintenance than the traditional stuffing box. All you need to learn is what maintenance is required and then perform that required maintenance. It is more than the usual, but can be done.

 

[jibes138]

Why not stick with the outboard? Much less costly in the long run, if it dies you just bolt on a new one yourself. I had a 25 with a 9.9 and replaced it with an 8HP. The 8 was fine, I can't remember ever having it full throttle. Boat would reach hull speed long before that. The 9.9 I ran even slower. Biggest issue was in waves the prop comes out of the water when the boat pitches. Best solution to that is to sail, if the wind is strong enough to create waves it is strong enough to sail. Get a good set of storm sails so you can tackle strong wind conditions, don't try to sail with a jib half rolled up, you need to change it out for a smaller size.

 

[Panta Rei]

Congratulations!!! Nice looking boat. I say sell the outboard fix the saildrive.
My 22 has an outboard, that's OK for a 22 but a 27 deserves better. IMO

 

[ENeedz]

Congratulations. I hope it all works out.
I made a very similar move a year ago. I bought a 1979 28' with an 18 HP Volvo S-drive. Spent much of the spring getting her ready to re-launch and had a great summer. There is very little prop walk in reverse
Now she is back on stands for the winter. In the spring I will have a mechanic inspect the rubber o-ring gasket on the S-drive. Its a little frightening to think there is an 18" hole in the bottom of the boat.
What condition is your engine? If it is serviceable I would definetly look into repairing the drive.
Enjoy it.

 

[25yearslater]

Outstanding choice. Then again I'm partial to the 27.

 

[SailingCal21]

Welcome to the club of "good ole sailboat" owners. The sail drive may be an issue, particularly if the PO had abandoned it in place. But don't fret over it as long as you have a reliable alternative.

 

[Sunbird22358]

What Brand/Model of "saildrive"?
If it is the OMC "ZEPHYR" 15 HP saildrive, it may be hard getting parts even though the powerhead is really just a detuned 35 HP Johnson/Evinrude outboard powerhead (same as 25 HP I think). These were not introduced until 1977 so this would not be the original engine on the boat, perhaps she originally had an outboard? The original factory-supplied inboards were either a 7 HP gas VIRE inboard or a similar-size Diesel. Later models used either a gas ATOMIC-4 (20-25 HP) or small Diesel of 10-15 HP. Any Sail-Drive engine would be owner-added I believe.

8HP may be OK especially if it is an extra-longshaft (25") with a sailboat prop. I know originally the 27 might have had as small as a 6HP or up to a 15 HP outboard, many had a 9.5 or later 9.9 HP Evinrude or Johnson or else a simialr size Mercury.
If the saidrive is a VOLVO-Penta "S-Drive" it should be more worth fixing, but parts may not be "cheap" (is anything on a boat??) but stil la good engine especially if Diesel. If it is the 7.5 HP Volvo-Penta gas saildrive.... I would expect it to be more durable than hte OMC, but at 1/2 the HP it may be short on powerfull OOMPH. The one big advantage to any saildrive though is that the prop is wel lbelow the water and won't come out of the water in waves. Outboard is also haging out off the transom and how easy are the controls (throttle ,steering and shift) to reach? Remote controls are available but may be pricey.

Outboard is less costly to repair/replace and wil lbe less weight, just placed further aft. Inboard is protected inside boat, prop won't be prone to come out of water, Diesel may be "safer" but any inboard takes up room inside boat.

You will have a long ways to power in and out of Fairhaven/New Bedford, and may need to dodge fishing boats and ferries at the hurricane barrier, a reliable engine with oomph is important. (OOPS!, I missed your screen name, are you going to keep this boat in Fairhaven/New Bedford Harbor? or at Earl's Marina on West Island? Either way you will want adequate power to get in and out, but at least at Earl's you aren't dodging as much commerical traffic!) If the outboard works fine, it may be best choice and removing hte saildrive a good idea. If the saildrive can be fixed economically...... and especially if Diesel, might be better option. I'd get opinions/quotes on fixing saildrive and proceed from there. Bringing boat from Dighton (Shaw's Boatyard??) to Fairhaven will give plenty of chances to "wring out" the effectiveness of the outboard. If it seems to work out OK...... maybe that is best choice.