Daysailer Stuff
Phil, The answer to a couple of questions would help me identify what you have, though I'll give it a stab in the dark in a minute. What year is your boat? Was it built by O'day or by one of the licensees? (Spindrift, Rebel, SLI, Cape Cod Shipbuilders) Where in the boat are the ports? My guess is that you are talking about inspection ports in the bottom of the cockpit sole. If this is correct, you likely have a DS2, with a cable actutated centerboard. The ports are there to allow you to access the cable mechanism for raising and loweing the board. The fact that they are full of water indicates an issue, but not necessarily a nasty one. Firstly, remove the covers and clean them and the sockets into which they screw thoroughly. Then siphon or pump out the water from between the cockpit flooring and the hull. You probably have a drain plug at the aft end of the boat for this purpose as well. Then lubricate the covers and screw them home. Next, use a hose to fill the cockpit with some water. Be careful as you do this because the boat is not designed to support the weight of a lot of water while its on the trailer. You shouldn't accumulate water because it should drain through the scuppers, but if they are blocked you could have an issue. Reopen the covers now and see if there is water below. If there is, you know you have a leak somewhere other than the the covers. We'll deal with that later. If not, you may have found the problem. Clean and lubricate the aft drain plug and reinstall it. Float the boat, then reopen the covers to see if you are getting water from below. It is likely that you are getting some through the centerboard pivot point. That repair is a whole new project, so get this far and lets reassess. As far as the rigging goes, do you have turnbuckles or the older pin style adjusters? Either will work, though you will have a lot more sucess in tuning the rig with the turnbuckles. I was able to replace all of my rigging for a reasonable amount of money with an order to Cape Cod Shipbuilding in Mass. I'll look up the number for you. I don't have a manual for your boat, but I can forward lots of information. As questions arrise, send them my way and I'll help you out. Justin - O'day Owner's Web
