First Post as a owner! Sail Shackles, Sail questions...

[bailing bucket]

This will be my first post a new sailboat owner! I recently purchased a 1976 O'Day 25 and now is my time to start the joy of buying parts and maintaining it. (Don’t laugh) I have a long road ahead of me as I have no sailing experience, but I've been dreaming of owning a sailboat all my life. The sailing community has welcomed me with open arms and I have been pleasantly surprised of all the willingness to help and support I have received thus far.

I have a question concerning the sail shackles. I've notices that there is some binding when raising the main. When I looked to see what the issue was, I saw that I was missing four of the factory shackles and the one below were pulling three of slides all the way. What size or make plastic shackle do I need? Most listed are either small or large. I hope this is my issue...I can't seem to get the main all the way up. It falls about 8-10" from the top. I hope this will solve my problems. Any advice and experience will be greatly appreciated.

I know I will be getting the question...A picture of the new boat is attached!

 

[cb32863]

Should make this a sticky here in the O'Day forums but, call the folks over at D & R Marine. They specialize in O'Days and I got my chainplates from them. Will probably get some other stuff there too. You can pick Rudy's brain I hear as well, haven't done that yet myself but others here have. As my sig says, I have a 77 and will hopefully have her in the water in about a week. Good luck and welcome to the asylum!

EDIT: I just checked D & R's site and you can get the slide & shackle for $3.95 each.

 

[RichBone]

Nice looking 25 you've got. Sounds like you need new sail slides if I understand correctly. If they are original then they should be all changed. I broke about a half a dozen all at once on a windy night two years ago. I don't know if there is a sail maker local to you, not that big of a job, but if there isn't they can be changed if you're handy. Getting the right size will be the problem. There are many sizes and thicknesses and you can send one to whoever you order from.

Rich

 

[bailing bucket]

Should make this a sticky here in the O'Day forums but, call the folks over at D & R Marine. They specialize in O'Days and I got my chainplates from them. Will probably get some other stuff there too. You can pick Rudy's brain I hear as well, haven't done that yet myself but others here have. As my sig says, I have a 77 and will hopefully have her in the water in about a week. Good luck and welcome to the asylum!

EDIT: I just checked D & R's site and you can get the slide & shackle for $3.95 each.

I just called the nice folks at D & R Marine. They hooked me up with some shackles. (No pun intended) Still wondering about the main sail going all the way up. Something seems to be binding it up inside the mast. Would anybody know what lightbulbs go in the mastlight? Any suggestions of a *better* replacement of the entire mastlight unit? Thanks again everyone.

 

[bear62041]

I've read in this forum that if you put a drop or two of Dawn dish soap on each slide (after you replace the shackles) as you raise the main the dish soap will make the slide slippery and the main easier to raise or lower. It cleans and lubes the slide and after the first rain it apparently washes a lot of gunk out of the slide. I don't think you have to specifically use Dawn, I'm sure any liquid dish soap will work. I admit I have yet to use this idea as my slides work well so far, but I would not hesitate to try it. The suggestion comes from some pretty respectable sources on this forum. Welcome to the wonderful world of sailing !!!

 

[bear62041]

If you are going to replace the mast light (or bulb) I'd recommend an light with led bulb type replacement. Then as you replace bulbs use led replacements. You will reduce your electrical comsumption (read battery drain) by a lot. This includes your interior lighting. Just be sure you get the navigation bulbs which meet the 2 nautical mile visibility requirement. You can check with Marinebeam.com for replacements, and Jeff there is an expert on led lighting.

 

[Indysailor]

Check the mainsheet and make sure it's loose enough to allow the main to raise all the way up. Seems like a no-brainer, but it's easy to forget.
FWIW, I used dish washing liquid to raise my genoa, which was hanging up somewhat. Worked very well and only a tiny bit was needed.

 

[Swee Pea 1976]

Welcome!!

 

[ebsail]

Make sure the mainsheet is loose when raising the mainsail. Also loosen the line at the goose neck (front end of the boom) that pulls the boom down on the track on the mast, as well as the boom vang (which runs between the mast and the boom). Ernie

 

[emergpa1]

This will be my first post a new sailboat owner! I recently purchased a 1976 O'Day 25 and now is my time to start the joy of buying parts and maintaining it. (Don’t laugh) I have a long road ahead of me as I have no sailing experience, but I've been dreaming of owning a sailboat all my life. The sailing community has welcomed me with open arms and I have been pleasantly surprised of all the willingness to help and support I have received thus far.

I have a question concerning the sail shackles. I've notices that there is some binding when raising the main. When I looked to see what the issue was, I saw that I was missing four of the factory shackles and the one below were pulling three of slides all the way. What size or make plastic shackle do I need? Most listed are either small or large. I hope this is my issue...I can't seem to get the main all the way up. It falls about 8-10" from the top. I hope this will solve my problems. Any advice and experience will be greatly appreciated.

I know I will be getting the question...A picture of the new boat is attached!

Just a thought, if your main sheet is not loose, your main will not go all the way up! I had a "friend" with that problem! Wink

 

[emergpa1]

Some handy sources for parts:

Defender marine, usually good prices,

Jamestown distributors, their website has a lot of info on the products and do it yourself info, also little overviews of classes of products such as different fasteners,

The back pages of "good old boat" for advertisers

Genuinedealz for wiring and terminals.

Sail trailers.com for trailers and mast raising

 

[bailing bucket]

I just called the nice folks at D & R Marine. They hooked me up with some shackles. (No pun intended) Still wondering about the main sail going all the way up. Something seems to be binding it up inside the mast. Would anybody know what lightbulbs go in the mastlight? Any suggestions of a *better* replacement of the entire mastlight unit? Thanks again everyone.

I finally finshed up, the mount is made of several sheets of 3/4" marine plywood epoxied together than properly cut to fit. Seems to work well. The 3/16" Stainless steel backing plate seems overkill, but sure is pretty. All in all, I think it turned out well.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

You should check the slot in your mast to make sure it hasn't been pinched somehow restricting your slides from going all the way up your mast.

 

[RichBone]

Nice job on the motor mount block

 

[tigereye37]

I had a very similar issue the first time a attempted to raise the main on my (new to me) oday 25 last year. It was really hard to see, but my main halyard was wrapped around my backstay. Just hold the halyard at an angle and make sure it goes right to the sheave... something to check at least. Also, i sprayed my slides with a mclube product and it definitely smoothed things along this year.