Most improved

[Ted]

Halyard access in cockpit

All 3 Oday boats I have owned have had the halyards moved to the cockpit. (20,22, and 25ft) This is an important safety item as it is never necessary to go onto the foredeck. And on small boats w/o roller furl, a hauldown line for the deadsail is also a great addition. On larger boats the weight of the sail will generally make it fall.

 

[Geoff Brook]

A Max Prop needs to be set right to get MAX

My boat came equipped with a Max Prop- a great option but it needs to be set properly. My boat ( Catalina 400) has a theoetical hull speed of 8.1 Knts. The best I could get out of it was about 7 Knts on a calm day with no head wind or adverse current. At the end of the first season I decided I would try increasing the pitch a notch (actually from 18 deg to 20 deg). Increased the motoring speed by over half a Knot and the engine feels and sounds more comfortable.

 

[Jim Forrester]

Galley and Halyards

Hard to say which I enjoy more on my Mac 21: the mini-galley I built and installed last year, or the halyards back to the cockpit I did recently. Both have their strong points and add lots of enjoyment.

 

[Rick SV BayTrek ~~~~_/)~~~~~]

Busy year

Probably the most significant item to improve the ease of sailing was replacing the mostly inoperative Hood furler with a Schafer furler that actually works. Other additions include; new Garhauer traveller and main sheet blocks upgrade, all sail control lines lead to cockpit, stern rail perch seats, two new solar vents, new edison pedestal guard and Navpod mount for the new Standard Horizon GPS chartplotter, new marine head, new interior cushions, all interior teak varnished, and a thermoelectric cooler added to the icebox to keep the beer cold. The wish list still includes autopilot and spinaker.

 

[BMC]

"Tuning" the Sails.

I made a lot of small improvements for comfort and convenience last season -- from fixing my roller furling that was always getting stuck to adding stern rail seats. But the best I think was removing the 8-Track player (yes, seriously) and installing a new sound system with a remote controlled MP3-Compatible CD player and adding cockpit speakers. ( I don't know how I ever sailed without a good Bob Marley mix all these years.)

 

[Ken King]

Hatch Cover

I used 1/4" gray tint acrylic to make a hatch cover to replace the deteriorated wooden one. I used a table saw to cut the sheet to size, and made a 1" wide doubler around the perimeter to achieve the proper thickness. I made a varnished plywood insert that fit the resulting "pocket", held in place with small swing clamps so that it can easily be removed.

 

[Wanderer138]

All kinds of things (busy year)

Let's see...extensive blister repair, refaired hull, epoxy barrier coat, new bottom paint, new genoa tracks, new traveler, new deck organizer to lead vang and cunningham back to cockpit, new hatch boards, refinished tiller, new depth sounder, new instrument panel with GPS, depth and autopilot remote control socket, upgraded electrics and a mast-raising rig.The last item is the most significant because mast raising is the only major headache with the wing-keel Hunter 23. Now that I can raise the mast single-handed, I will be trailering to lots of new cruising grounds.PeterH23 "Raven"

 

[Jean Younker]

Handling your full battened main sail

Our full battened mainsail did not come down well (the glides hung up) so we added the Harken roller bearing external car system - what a great move!!! When you let off on the halyard, the main sail is DOWN!! It is perfect when 2 senior citizens are short handling a 460, which sails great and is a wonderful boat from the creature comforts standpoint! We strongly recommend the Harken system. Contact us if you have questions.

 

[Tony Russell]

Put your traveller where it can travel.

I installed a new traveller on a beam across the seats from coaming to coaming against the cabin bulkhead. This allows about three times as much travel, keeps the boom down resulting in good sale shape (Points better) and I haven't had a hat knocked off by a mainsheet since I changed over. True, the main sheet limits access to the companionway when centered but can easily be moved out of the way.Best thing I've done to my boat.

 

[Tony Russell]

And while you're at it.....

Why not add to your sailing ease and pleasure by running all lines to the cockpit? Reefing,halyards,downhauls (Jib and main), furling, sheets etc. etc. Gives one a wonderful assortment of things to pull on! Being old and feelble as I am,I am really glad I took the time to do this. Especially the single line furling. Single handing is a piece of cake.

 

[Allan B.]

In the last several years my brother and I have made two major additions to the galley area which has made it more comfortable at dockside.We removed the two cabinets that were located over the ice box and stove and built in a microwave and refridgerator.

 

[Ted Day]

self-tailing winches

Putting in the self-tailing winches made the boat handling so much easier, especially alone, as I racing it. They are a must in any boat.Next will be autopilot either Raymarime ST20+ or Simard 30, Wind and GPS. I am looking at Garmin 182.

 

[Charlie E Hargrave]

Inner Forestay

Best improvement I've done to the boat is to install a removable-inner-forestay. Opened up a host of sailplan options, more control and added some self steering options.Charlie

 

[Darrow Neves]

boom brake

I recently purchased a used Freedom that had a Walder Boom Brake (mis) installed. I got an installation sheet and repositioned the brake to the same point on the boom as the boom vang. The thing really works.

 

[Ramsay Selden]

Bimini Top & Tank Gauges on H34

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[Henry Barousse]

Dedicated Battery for Starting

Approaching the pass at Destin Florida after dark, I could not crank the engine because both batteries had been depleted during the 36 hour off-shore trip from Lake Pontchartrain. Because the entrance is very tricky without sunlight to see the shoals, I had to lay outside until daylight to enter the very busy harbor under sail. To prevent a recurrence, I installed a diode to isolate the batteries, allowing both to charge when the engine is running, independant of the setting of the selection switch. I then installed a third battery controlled with a battery switch under the ingition switch in the cockpit. The cockpit swith is turned off as soon as the engine is killed, keeping the third battery fully reserved for engine cranking. In 15 years, I have never again been without engine cranking power. Other valuable improvements include a fuel gage, an oversized bimini to shade the entire cockpit, roller furling head sail, and a cockpit mounted remote access mic for my VHF radio.

 

[J Mashburn]

Boat & Trailer Improvements

To improve my boat while sailing, I added a Harken micro block w/ shackle to boom outhaul to make it easier to adjust the mainsail while sailing. To improve trailering my boat, I added a tie down strap to secure the boat on the trailer (instead of using rope or other misc. lines that tend to stretch & tighten due to temp & moisture). Also, I raised the winch up on the trailer to keep it from pulling the bow of the boat down to tight & damaging the hull bottom. Jim M 'TIKI'Hunter 146

 

[DJB]

Halyard Access

I am getting ready to move my Halyards to the cockpit on my O'Day 20. Any suggestions? Additionally I am considering fabricating Hunter's mast stepping system to my O'Day. What do you think?

 

[Alan Donaldson]

Staysail storm jib

I added an inner forestay for a storm jib. It makes sailing in high winds safe and fun.

 

[Peter Ludlow]

Best Improvements

In order of improvement(most recent to oldest)1) secondary winches2) converted continuous line Hood furling to single line Hood (Hood's conversion package - piece of cake at dock or on the water - don't have to cut the head stay!)3) 75W solar panel4) inner headstay - hvy weather/storm sail5) 3 bank battery system with smart(multistage regulator)