Introduction - Ballenita

[pr5992]

Good evening everyone:

I am the new owner of a 1977 O'Day 32. See pictures below. I am not new to sailing, but new to a boat this size. Before I purchased her, I had her surveyed, and then spent a lot of money on repairs and preventive maintenance at Svendsen, one of the finest boatyards in the SF Bay Area. She is good shape now, but there are still things to be done. My plan is to take her out for day trips in the SF Bay Area. John and Connie, the previous owners, had to sell due to health reasons. We are still in contact and have become good friends.

 

[kappykaplan]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[kloudie1]

Congrats on the boat; she looks to have been well kept.
Welcome to the forum!. Lots of great info to be had by exploring the tabs like "Owner Resources" and "General Downloads"

 

[eherlihy]

Welcome!

That hull looks to be in GREAT condition! Is that gelcoat or paint?

 

[Tally Ho]

That is a neat looking boat…and only 32 feet?

I am interested to see some interior photos as well.

I have an O’Day 322 that I really like, but your CC 32 really is nice looking.



Congrats,

Greg

 

[pr5992]

Welcome!

That hull looks to be in GREAT condition! Is that gelcoat or paint?

Thank you! I believe the hull has been painted but I could be wrong. The deck has been gelcoated (and the gel coating is in poor condition so I need to redo all of that, which is going to be a lot of work). There are some black scuff marks which are more distinctive on the starboard side, I'm in the process of buffing those out with a Mr. clean sponge. The anti-fouling paint was redone in the beginning of this year, I did that myself which saved me about $1,000 in labor.

This is what the surveyor said: "
This 1977 ODAY 322 center cockpit auxiliary cruiser was found in above average
condition with a few recommendations. This vessel has been meticulously looked
after, almost like going into a time capsule."

There are a lot of sketchy boats here in Oakland (in fact, Oakland overall is sketchy in general) but this one I found on craigslist. It was the first boat I looked at in person, believe it or not.

 

[pr5992]

Some pictures of the interior.

Aft cabin (it is a centercockpit)

Cockpit. It has a depthfinder, GPS, radar, autopit, compass (of course). Everything works (have to figure out how the radar works, old Raytheon Raymarina Pathfinder).

 

[kappykaplan]

Wow! Interior looks great for a 48-yr-old boat.

 

[twodzusfittings]

That is one nice looking boat and as it's older, I bet it's well built, with no shortcuts or skimping. You know, when they really put quality into production! And a 32 footer with center cockpit. Man you really won the lottery there. Congrats and welcome. I'm sure you will be able to provide us all with great reading content.

 

[pr5992]

That is one nice looking boat and as it's older, I bet it's well built, with no shortcuts or skimping. You know, when they really put quality into production! And a 32 footer with center cockpit. Man you really won the lottery there. Congrats and welcome. I'm sure you will be able to provide us all with great reading content.

Yeah, she is very solid even if old. It really helped that the previous owner took meticulous care of her, that makes all the difference. There are so many terrible boats out there in Oakland (probably well over half of the boats in my own marina are abandoned and in dismal condition).

First thing on the agenda is to fix the bilge pump ... there is an electric gremlin somewhere, when I switched it to on a few days ago to test it I heard nothing, so I checked the fuse. Turned out it was blown. Put in a new fuse, turned on the pump, and the new fuse immediately blew as well. So I have a short somewhere. I don't have an electrical diagram so I will have to figure it out myself or get a good electrical guy (I have several contacts).

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I've never seen a center cockpit O'Day before. Interesting boat!

The melamine erasers will dull your gelcoat. I'd go for acetone first. It can dull it but only if you leave a sopping wet towel on the deck for a while

 

[pr5992]

And in case you are wondering what I paid for all this, here is the breakdown.

• Survey (including hang and haul): $ 480 + $960 = $1,440
• Boat: $10,000
• Svendsen: $11,019

Svendsen gave me several credits (half off for the second hang and haul, free electrical inspection, free inspection of standing rigging, free fix of halyard sheave at top of mast, $2k off engine service). They did the following:

• Haul out
• Prepare hull for fouling painting (taping and sanding)
• Replace cutlass bearing
• Rigging inspection (free)
• Replacement of zincs
• Electrical inspection (free)
• Engine and transmission service (all fluids and filters replaced)
• Repack stuffing box
• Replaced thru hall valves in the engine compartment (they were terrible) and above the waterline
• Replaced engine water pump
• Replaced raw water strainer
• Replaced both batteries by maintenance free batteries (at my request)

The batteries were of the old school lead acid type. There is nothing wrong with that, provided you check the distilled water level on a regular basis. They are located in a position where you can't even check the level (unless you are a dwarf or someone with 6 feet tall arms), so I suspected they had not been topped off in many years. I tried to check the water levels with the help of previous owner John. Nope. Svendsen tested them, one was gone, the other was half gone. So I had both replaced by maintenance free batteries.

There is more to come. Notably, the standing rigging is of unknown date but still looks good. Replacing that will be very expensive and will require the mast to come down. I am not ready for that right now.