Looking to Buy an O'Day 25
- Thread starter Cabby
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Cabby,
O'Day built 25s with keel/centerboards which are easier to get on and off of a trailer. Are you sure that you want a fixed keel sailboat? If this boat has a fixed keel with an outboard on the stern, it may have had an inboard Sail-Drive gasoline engine at one time, and was converted over by installing an engine bracket on the stern for an outboard. Usually, most of the O'Day sailboats with outboard brackets also had a fiberglass block on the stern for the bracket. This boat should also have one if it was set up at the factory. Otherwise, this owner may have installed the bracket to the stern himself. It's just something to look for. Here's a picture of block on my friend's O'Day 272. There may be a small fuel compartment under a cover in the cockpit that vents out into the cockpit for a 6 gallon gas tank. The Sail Drive engines were under a similar cover down in the bilge and the gas tank was also in this area. I'm not too fond of this set up unless it's a diesel engine but that's my own personal opinion. So if there is no block on the transom for the outboard bracket, and the portable gasoline tank is down in the bilge, this boat may have been converted from a Sail Drive which is not such a big thing if the owner used the right hardware. I know of a guy who used regular steel bolts to attach an outboard bracket to a boat that he planned to sell. Bring a small magnet with you and check those bolts. If they're stainless steel, the magnet shouldn't attract.
Check out the bulkhead where the chain plates attach. If the wood is kind of black around the chain plates, chances are that the chain plates are leaking. Look for water stains. Check to make sure there are no bulges near the chain plates on the deck. Ask this guy a lot of questions about the boat. There are probably some other things that I may have left out. Maybe someone else will chime in. If the price is a little higher than you want to pay, maybe this guy has a lot of nice extras on it, and maybe not. Usually a dodger, Bimini Top, autopilot, roller furler, stereo system, fiberglass pram, spinnaker, and Etc will justify a higher than usual price on these boats. It's up to you to decide. Just go with your gut feelings. There are a lot of other boats out there and the way gas prices are and this poor economy is, guy may be giving their boat away. One of my friends gave away his O'Day 25 years ago, but that's another story. Good luck!
Joe
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Re: Thanks Joe
Let me know how you make out cabby. If you have any questions on what you see when you get there, email me. I go on line very frequent during the winter months.
Joe
sailtrinkka1986@verizon.net
Let me know how you make out cabby. If you have any questions on what you see when you get there, email me. I go on line very frequent during the winter months.
Joe
sailtrinkka1986@verizon.net
That's a nice looking O'Day 25 Cabby. I'm sure that you'll figure out a way to launch it. Ask him how he raised the mast. Did he raise it from over the bow with the boom for a Gin Pole, or from the stern? Some of these O'Day 25s came with a set of pivot bridles that connected the end of the boom to triangular plates attached to the side stays. They came with a set of directions that showed how to raise the mast over the bow using the boom and the main sheet. The rope was taken out of a sheave on both ends of the main sheet in order to have enough reach with the blocks. If there are triangular stainless steel plates built into the side stays, one on each side of the boat, it's part of the mast raising system. I'm not sure what the bridle looks like. If there isn't one, one can be made up out of 1/4" braid line pretty easy.
Check down in the bilge under the cockpit to see if there were any signs of an inboard Sail-Drive engine. The skeg or lower unit of the engine is similar to an outboard and it went through the hull just aft of the keel. They may have removed it and installed the outboard bracket and that's OK as long as the transom is strong. Myself, I prefer an outboard on these boats as a second choice from a diesel. Good luck!
Joe
Check down in the bilge under the cockpit to see if there were any signs of an inboard Sail-Drive engine. The skeg or lower unit of the engine is similar to an outboard and it went through the hull just aft of the keel. They may have removed it and installed the outboard bracket and that's OK as long as the transom is strong. Myself, I prefer an outboard on these boats as a second choice from a diesel. Good luck!
Joe
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