New to me O'day 28 - Getting into the water, re-rigging and running lines

Jun 20, 2014
39
Oday 28 2 Bay City
I am a woefully underqualified new bigger-boat owner. After more than 20 years with my Widgeon, I just bought a 1979 O'day 28. I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified.

The boat has been on the hard in a marina with the mast stepped for a couple seasons, but lovingly well maintained by the previous owner. We're having a transport company move it about 75 miles to our new homeport, and hope to get wet soon after we arrive in Saginaw Bay.

We understand the marina staff will supplement our lack of launch knowledge. They will be leaving me to do all of the re-rigging and I have a lot of questions about how/where to run the lines and rigging when we get the mast back in place. The halyards and topping lift should be easy, but if anyone has some photos of how to rig the sheets, boom vang, all of the stays, and words of wisdom about stuff I should do before I step the mast back up, I would greatly appreciate the nudge in the right direction. Even the simplest photos will help. All I have is pictures looking at our boat with the sails up from 200 yards offshore.

Thanks in advance for any input! If I can post anything for comparison, please ask. :)
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
So, I'm confused as to whether the mast is up on the boat now or not. If it's up take a lot of pics.
The new boatyard will raise the mast which includes attaching the fore and aft stays and shrouds. They most likely won't tune it.
As far as rigging it you'll pay the hourly rate for them to do that. It's a good time to put on your big boy pants and do it yourself. Put the boom on and hopefully there is a topping lift to hold the boom up while you work in the cockpit. Be careful to not lose the halyard tails into the mast but the halyards should be run up the mast and back down (Don't pull on any until you fully understand what you're pulling and what the other end is doing). From there you should run the mainsheet (To control the boom). It can be a bit of a puzzle but not that complicated. Look online for different configurations. Mid boom, end of boom, traveler on the cabin top, bridge deck or near helm. Remember, it's your boat. There is no one right way or wrong way to rig it. You rig it to suit your needs and how you will use the boat. Then rig vang, cunningham and leave reefing lines for another day. Tune the rig and you're ready to put some sails on.
Doing it yourself will build skills and allow you to be not dependent on the yard to do it. You'll save a lot of money over the years you own the boat. And you'll understand your boat rigging.
 
Jun 20, 2014
39
Oday 28 2 Bay City
So, I'm confused as to whether the mast is up on the boat now or not. If it's up take a lot of pics.
The new boatyard will raise the mast which includes attaching the fore and aft stays and shrouds. They most likely won't tune it.
As far as rigging it you'll pay the hourly rate for them to do that. It's a good time to put on your big boy pants and do it yourself. Put the boom on and hopefully there is a topping lift to hold the boom up while you work in the cockpit. Be careful to not lose the halyard tails into the mast but the halyards should be run up the mast and back down (Don't pull on any until you fully understand what you're pulling and what the other end is doing). From there you should run the mainsheet (To control the boom). It can be a bit of a puzzle but not that complicated. Look online for different configurations. Mid boom, end of boom, traveler on the cabin top, bridge deck or near helm. Remember, it's your boat. There is no one right way or wrong way to rig it. You rig it to suit your needs and how you will use the boat. Then rig vang, cunningham and leave reefing lines for another day. Tune the rig and you're ready to put some sails on.
Doing it yourself will build skills and allow you to be not dependent on the yard to do it. You'll save a lot of money over the years you own the boat. And you'll understand your boat rigging.
The mast is down for transport. The boat, mast, and cradle are shipping together. I stripped the mast rigging myself, and I have no reservations about doing all of the re-rigging myself. I know how to route and secure the halyards, and topping lift. After the marina team gets me in the water and has stepped the mast back in, I have a limited amount of time to get out of the way and re-rig the mast. I have been in, over, and under every part of the dry boat and am confident that I can do all of the post-launch assembly tasks.

Since I have never seen the mast/rigging in place on my boat, my ask is for some pictures to help me figure out the puzzle, ahead of time. As I'm sure most are aware, the original O'Day 28 Owners Manual leaves a lot to be desired regarding rigging drawings. The boom traveler (mine is on the cockpit deck, directly aft of the gangway entrance) mainsheet routing, and other detailed bits of help are unavailable and I was hoping this forum might be a good place to supplement the manual with some kind-hearted wisdom.

I recognize that everything can be customized. Since my boat is pretty much as it was when commissioned, I would like to keep it that way for now.

Oh, and thanks for the hint to get some big-boy pants. I've always wanted a pair of those. I'll add that to my West Marine shopping list.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,989
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Congrats on the new to you boat Terry-Buda

Running rigging is a 4-5 out of 10 on the DIY scale.

Rig the mast's halyards while the mast is down. When the marina puts the sling around the mast to lift it, the halyard lines should be tied in bundles at the base. The Shrouds should be outside the sling on the mast, as you will be on the boat guiding the mast into/onto the mast step. If you have electrical wires to attach they may be inside the mast or outside. If inside the connections must be made (or the wires fed into the boat) before the mast is set on the mast step.

Then while still in the sling all of the stays/shrouds are attached to the hull/chainplates and all slop removed. Not necessarily fully tensioned, but not sloppy loose. Once the mast is in place then you will fully tension the rig.

The rig will have either halyards at the mast, or the halyards will be run along the deck to the cockpit. Take a picture and post here so the members can see what you are seeing and give support.

You can do this.You'll be out sailing in short order.

Good luck.
 
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Feb 26, 2004
22,759
Catalina 34 224 Maple Bay, BC, Canada
After the marina team gets me in the water and has stepped the mast back in, I have a limited amount of time to get out of the way and re-rig the mast.
All you really need to do at this time is get the shrouds reasonably tightened to keep the mast up; halyards should go up and come back down cleanly, and the topping lift attached at the top, but don't worry about the boom end now, only if you think you need to attach the boom at this time.

All the rest of the work is done at the deck level, so there really should be no hurry once you're splashed to do any of the rest. This gives you time to do more research.

If your boat is a masthead rig with forward and aft lowers, then Catalina has always included simple shroud instructions with all it's masthead rigged boats.

You can read their instructions in this link, which should apply to your boat, on our C34 website if you can't find O'Day instructions.
MK-I (1986-1989) Owners Manual (PDF May 1987)

That manual also includes pages with details on rigging. Since no one here (yet) knows what specific blocks you have on your boat, you'd have to see what applies and what doesn't.

IIRC, the Catalina 28 is very similar to my C34 in terms of rigging. Only ther boat size and line sizes may be different, but the routing is similar if not identical. They may well all work for you, but take what you can from it.

You could also look on the Harken website, they have lots of guidance. Any block manufacturer should, also.

Good luck.
 
Jun 11, 2004
1,621
Oday 31 Redondo Beach
If you don't get any photos you might try searching the internet for O'day 28's for sale and look at the photos that come up. You might find something helpful..

For example there are a couple of photos of the cockpit traveler here.

 
Jun 20, 2014
39
Oday 28 2 Bay City
If you don't get any photos you might try searching the internet for O'day 28's for sale and look at the photos that come up. You might find something helpful..

For example there are a couple of photos of the cockpit traveler here.

This is a great link! Not sure why these did not come up on my searches. The traveler is similar to mine and looks like it attaches the same. Thank you very much!
 
Jun 20, 2014
39
Oday 28 2 Bay City
All you really need to do at this time is get the shrouds reasonably tightened to keep the mast up; halyards should go up and come back down cleanly, and the topping lift attached at the top, but don't worry about the boom end now, only if you think you need to attach the boom at this time.

All the rest of the work is done at the deck level, so there really should be no hurry once you're splashed to do any of the rest. This gives you time to do more research.

If your boat is a masthead rig with forward and aft lowers, then Catalina has always included simple shroud instructions with all it's masthead rigged boats.

You can read their instructions in this link, which should apply to your boat, on our C34 website if you can't find O'Day instructions.
MK-I (1986-1989) Owners Manual (PDF May 1987)

That manual also includes pages with details on rigging. Since no one here (yet) knows what specific blocks you have on your boat, you'd have to see what applies and what doesn't.

IIRC, the Catalina 28 is very similar to my C34 in terms of rigging. Only ther boat size and line sizes may be different, but the routing is similar if not identical. They may well all work for you, but take what you can from it.

You could also look on the Harken website, they have lots of guidance. Any block manufacturer should, also.

Good luck.
Awesome! I did not think to try Harken. Since that's the make of all of my winches it will be a real cache of knowledge.
Thank you very much for posting this.
 
Jun 20, 2014
39
Oday 28 2 Bay City
Congrats on the new to you boat Terry-Buda

Running rigging is a 4-5 out of 10 on the DIY scale.

Rig the mast's halyards while the mast is down. When the marina puts the sling around the mast to lift it, the halyard lines should be tied in bundles at the base. The Shrouds should be outside the sling on the mast, as you will be on the boat guiding the mast into/onto the mast step. If you have electrical wires to attach they may be inside the mast or outside. If inside the connections must be made (or the wires fed into the boat) before the mast is set on the mast step.

Then while still in the sling all of the stays/shrouds are attached to the hull/chainplates and all slop removed. Not necessarily fully tensioned, but not sloppy loose. Once the mast is in place then you will fully tension the rig.

The rig will have either halyards at the mast, or the halyards will be run along the deck to the cockpit. Take a picture and post here so the members can see what you are seeing and give support.

You can do this.You'll be out sailing in short order.

Good luck.
Thank you very much for this helpful information. The transporter is delivering Cracker Jack to my new homeport tomorrow morning. I will post pictures when I get there.
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
.......The halyards and topping lift should be easy, but if anyone has some photos of how to rig the sheets, boom vang, all of the stays.............Even the simplest photos will help.............
As a start, suggest doing an internet search on "O'day 28 sailboat rigging diagram images", "sailboat traveler rigging diagram images", "sialboat boom vang rigging diagram images", "sailboat jib sheet diagram images" and you will see photos of how the running and standing rigging are routed and secured. Also take a look at the diagrms in the link below. A lot depend on what hardware you have............ photos of the boom, traveler, boom vang (if you have one), jib sheet track (if you have one), main sail cringles for reefing and cunningham, mast hardware for cleating off control lines and deck hardware for routing, cleating and winching control lines would be helpful to walk you through one by one. Also, while not your sailboat look at page 4 in the attached manual to see how some of the rigging it run and attached and pages 41-45 in the attached O'Day manual for some of the running rigging lengths and general instructions.

Mainsail Rigging Diagram (diagramweb.net)
Mainsail Rigging Diagram (diagramweb.net)
 

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