Just Bought a O'day 22 - Now What to Upgrade first??

SailorGuides · Mar 26, 2010

Congrats on the new boat!

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about your power consumption. I've cruised for over a week at a time in various small boats without coming close to depleting the battery. If you're using so little power that it can be replenished with a small solar panel, then you're really not using enough power to worry about. If your primary consumption is a few hours of cabin light, a couple hours of TV and an anchor light overnight, it will take a long time to run down even a 100-amp marine battery. If you're still worried, I would consider spending the $130 you're budgeting for a solar cell on a second battery instead.

If your boat doesn't have a depth sounder, I would strongly recommend that as your first equipment purchase. Some transom-mounted models even come with a knotmeter built in.

Have a great time on the water this summer!
Dan
SailorGuides.com

pgiorda · Mar 26, 2010

Head Replacement

I purchased an O'Day 272 with a porta-potty last year and my wife insisted on a "real" head. She didn't want to see me gag when I emptied the porta-potty at home. After looking into where to a route water line and a location for holding tank I purchased a Sealand MSD 975 porta-potty. All the simplicity of a porta-potty with the convenience of a "real" head. Best of all, no need for a separate holding tank, new fresh water line or dealing with clogged or leaky hose to the holding tank.

I still had to cut a hole in the side for a vent and a hole on the deck for pump-out.

SailorGuides · Mar 26, 2010

Glad to help. And thanks for that link to the 12v faucet. I'm in the middle of a project installing a new sink on my own O'Day 22 and I want to add an electric faucet in addition to the manual pump I have now (I want the manual as a backup) and I couldn't find anything for less than $60 for the set. I think I'll order one for myself.

Back to the subject of gear, I would also strongly recommend installing a VHF radio and a transom-mounted boarding ladder if your boat doesn't already have these items. I wrote a short article stating my thoughts on the subject of mandatory boating gear on my web site that may be of interest to you. Here's the link: http://sailorguides.com/boatbasics/boatbasics002.html

Best Wishes,
Dan
SailorGuides.com

SailorGuides · Mar 27, 2010

Unfortunately, I'm not so good at following my own advice. My boat came with one of those cheap lightweight boat hooks and I haven't been able to bring myself to replace it until it actually bends (which I hope to accomplish this year). The shoal keel on our O'Days makes it pretty likely that we're going to run aground at some point if we're at all adventurous in our sailing, so if you're buying a new boat hook, I would recommend picking one that is both long enough and sturdy enough to pole yourself off the mud with. I agree that a boat hook with a paddle attached would probably be awkward to handle and would limit the utility of the hook. I have a separate little $15 telescoping paddle on my boat that stores in the lazarette and takes up practically no space at all.

Actually, my own boat didn't come with a transom ladder when I bought it. A lot of boats I've looked at in the 18- to 23-foot range don't have them, which I feel is really unsafe. I sail a lot in Lake Erie and we seldom go through a year without at least one body washing ashore from a boater who fell overboard at night and couldn't climb back aboard.

Dan

Sunbird22358 · Mar 27, 2010

Well, instead of a solar-panel, have you thought about a battery-charging coil on the outboard? you would not need to run it that much to keep the battery topped off. Your 9.9 might even already have one? Cost would be similar to the solar-panel, but takes up 0 room on deck!

For a stove... NEVER USE A CAMP STOVE INSIDE A BOAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Most of them operate on either propane or "white" gasoline, and neither is a safe type of stove inside a boat's cabin. Even the newer Butane stoves are borderline unless secured "Permanently" to the countertop and with the gas cylinder(s) detached and stored outside the boat when not in use. (like in the gas tank locker)
Larger boats use a propane system with the tank located in a sealed locker vented overboard and hte stove must be marine-grade. I'd suggest one of the alcohol stoves that uses an "absorbsion" type fuel-cell. (ORIGO is one brand) They are a lot safer and will still do a good job of heating up dinner. Stay away from the pressurized type of alcohol stove, they are the ones that scare people away from alcohol stoves.

I'd also stick with a portable head, the newer ones are much better and easier (plus CHEAPER!) to install/maintain. I se that you sail Lake St. Clair, and I was underthe impression that all of the Great Lakes (St Clair would seem to be an "arm" of the Great Lakes?) are totally "No Discharge" meaning htat you would need to install a good holding tank with the Marine Head, and having used a marine head w/holding tank on our old CAL 21, I can tell you that no matter what we tried..... we never did completely get rid of any odors each season. A porta-potty with a deck pump-out hose would seem like a good compromise between the completely self-contained porta-potty and a marine head w/separate holding tank. The head, hoses, fittings, and tank will add up to about double (or more) the cost of even a top of the line porta-potty.

RichBone · Mar 28, 2010

Just sail the boat for awhile and see how you'll be using it. At the end of the season things might look different then they do now.
After 30 years I'm still going through catalogs and websites.

Rich

tasdevil · Mar 29, 2010

Rigging...

I bought an Oday 22 , and nearly bit the anchor when I lowered the mast ! I was using the jib halyard - which looked to be original equipment - because the eye splice failed. Whoever made the splice took the shortcut of just burying the mantle and not the core.
Even if it doesn't drop the mast on you , a poor splice can let the sails go in a high wind - just when it's most embarassing !
I have now completely rebuilt my Oday; one of the most usefull mods was to put a hatch on the port cockpit bench, so that more stuff is easily available.

Sunbird22358 · Mar 29, 2010

I now remember hearing about that Canadian ban on Porta-potties, I wonder what their rule is on the ones set up for deck pumpouts? I think I see their point (what would stop someone from simply dumping the port-a-pottie directly overboard instead of emptying it ashore?) but find it troubling since the USCG considers the port-a-pottie to be a "Type III" MSD (no discharge) and thus allowed (in fact, prefered!). Not to disagreee with our neighbors to the North, but to me..... the lower price of the Portable compared to a traditional marine head-tank-hoses system would seem to encourage compliance with no-discharge, Oh well!

Reminds me of the original holding tank that we installed on our CAL 21 in 1980..... it was basically one of those 5-gallon collapsable water carriers (molded in tan instead of transparent) with a PVC pipe adapter to allow hooking up to the hose from the head and to a vent line. We added a Y-valve to alllow using the overboard discharge thru-hull that we had installed in 1970. That tank was installed....... but rarely if ever used! We finally updated the system to be truly legal in 1992 with a NAUTA flexible 14-gal rubber tank and glassed over the hole for the discharge thru-hull. This new setup worked, but we never did get it to be really odorless! Total cost was a lot more than a portable head, but the CAL 21 isn't really setup to easily install a port-a-pottie (despite manuafaturers claims) and our Raritan "Compact" Head just barely fit the compartment (this is a traditional marine head). If that setup were installed today, cost would be; Head $160, Tank $150 (est), hoses $50, deck fitting $30, intake thru-hull $10 +/- (All estimated) Total: $400 +/- YIKES!! A real good port-a-pottie is around $100 or less!

I think I'll stay on good old Buzzards Bay!

SailorGuides · Apr 1, 2010

My boat came with a small winch on both the port and starboard for handling the jib but I've never felt the need to use them for sail handling. I do use the port-side winch as a friction brake for lowering the mast with a line fed through a block at the bow, so I wouldn't say the winches are useless. They are, however, pretty expensive so I would probably recommend sailing the boat for a while and not make the investment until you're sure you need them.

The upper thru-hull is definitely for your cockpit drain and should be slightly above the waterline. Don't plug that one unless you want water to pile up in the cockpit. The bottom one is a mystery but you should definitely identify it before you dunk the boat. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to crawl back there and have a look. I'm 6'1 and 270 pounds and I can slide myself to the back of my boat from the port quarter berth without a problem (just remove the cushion first). While you're back there, take a good look at the hose connecting the cockpit drain to the thru-hull. Some of the 22's have a solid fiberglassed tube that can crack and flood the boat...not a good design. If you have a solid tube, make sure it's not leaking by wraping some toilet paper around it and pouring a few gallons of water into the cockpit -- if the paper stays dry, you're good to go.

Whatever the lower thru-hull is attached to, make sure that the hose loops up well above the waterline before it gets to wherever it's going so that a loose end inside the boat can't sink you. A vented loop would be even better. I'm curious as to what that hose could be servicing, so please post a follow up when you figure it out.

Best Wishes,
Dan
SailorGuides.com

Sunbird22358 · Apr 2, 2010

Is the lower thru-hull threaded? It looks to be just the right size to be a "Garboard Drain", used to drain any water out of the bilge after hauling the boat out. Not exactly where I would have put it....... seem like you would need to lift the bow too high to drain the bilge with that...but? If you do not have the original plug (bronze) they are available at most marine stores, PERKO is one brand.

jackhartjr · Apr 3, 2010

I wondered about that drain when I saw the photo too?????

Tasdevil, do you have photos of that hatch you built on the port side? If you have photos why not put them up in a new thread? PLEASE!!

And I have thought about a bimini too, most folks say there is not enough room under the boom and besides the stay at the rear would limit ones placement back there. However...I saw a photo of a 22 with one...I could never get a reply.

SailorGuides · Apr 3, 2010

damoses1 said:
Sailorguides,

I installed the 12vdc faucet yesterday. It looks great and works quietly with good flow as well. Did you purchase one?

I haven't gotten around to ordering one yet. It's one of those "eventually, someday" projects for me.

JackhartJr, I just put a quick and dirty access hatch in my port cockpit seat. It really opens up a lot of useful space that goes to waste otherwise. If you're curious what one looks like, here's a link to my blog post which has a photo:
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/sailorguides/?xjMsgID=121789

Happy Easter everyone!
Dan
Sailorguides.com

jackhartjr · Apr 3, 2010

Dan, can you secure the hatch, in other words is there a way to make sure it doesn't come open when you don't want it too?
Good looking job!
Jack
PS...to keep it on this topic, anyone know what that 2nd though hull was for?

Just Bought a O'day 22 - Now What to Upgrade first??

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