12 years sailing in that area...
Hi! I owned an Oday 222 for almost 12 years and sailed almost all of the bays between Atl City and the northern end of the Barnegat between about 1984 and 1996. The Oday 222 was a Keel centerboard setup with 20 inches of fixed keel, and a swing down board to 4 feet, and the rudder needed about 3 feet before it kicked up. Once the rudder kicked up the boat was a real chore to steer. So if I felt the centerboard drag it was time to tack back for deeper water. The boat was ideally situated for that area. I have a Hunter 29.5 now and sai the Chesapeake. I am not sure exactly what the setup is on the 26, but here's some info on the bays. The post about the Barnegat oversimplifies. There are really several bays. The Barnegat is mostly between the Northern end of LBI northward up past island beach state park, Seaside Heights, Toms River, etc. The Barnegat for the most part was fine for the 4' board and you had a lot of leeway from the channels. As you head south behind LBI starting from about Harvey Cedars south you will generally be much more restricted to the channels. Once you pass under the bridge connecting LBI to the mainland (bridge has something like 50'clearance)I think you are actually in Little Egg Bay. Anyway, from there south to approximately Beach Haven there was very little water outside of the channels. That area is where I started with the O'Day, and sold that house and bought one north of Barnegat light on the mainland (Waretown) because the sailing was so much better. I believe the area of bay between the southern end of LBI and Tuckerton on the mainland to the west is probably decent sailing for your boat. Hope you have great sailing. I was down there the second week of July and the wind never stoped blowing our umbrella off the beach! Couldn't believe I didn't have a sailboat with me.
