While fixing one of the opening ports in the main cabin of my ODay 34, I was surprised to see no core. I took the port out to re-seal it and there was zero core between the inner liner and the outer fiber glass. At first I thought maybe the leak was so bad that core just rotted away, but after looking further, that would be impossible. I guess they didn't put any material in that spot. I have also looked at the fixed port lights and there is core material in there. Just seemed weird.
No core??
- Thread starter Arrgh
- Start date
Hmmm, never knew that. There is plywood core where the fixed portlights are though. Learning a lot as I go through and fix some leaks before the new season starts.
Welcome to "The world of how O'Day took steps to save costs". I find more and more issues as I move forward on trying to fix the basics, only to be hindered by the lack of quality in the build. I will say this, whom ever buys this boat when I can no longer manage physically or health wise to own her, is going to get one great boat!
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My 25 is the same around the ports. To make it even more difficult to use straight plexi, the width between inner and outer liner varies from top to bottom. I have a few ideas using modified weatherseals and flexible trim but have been fixing the original windows as needed
Overall good but far from amazing. That said, there isn't anything I've found that's terribly shocking or severely lacking in quality. It's done the job for the past 47 years
See, Greg's boat is still floating. They mustve done something right!
Actually, my O'Day 25 has surprised me at what it can handle
Actually, my O'Day 25 has surprised me at what it can handle
Lake Michigan is no joke!! I always liked the layout of the 322, but couldn't find one for sale when I was looking. Ended up with the 34, which I'm happy with. It's a 1981, so I've been chasing down leaks since I bought it two seasons ago. I started with the 22, which was also a great boat.
We all have deck leaks to chase. But the year or 2 that I owned Tally Ho, I identified a few stancion bases that were leaking along with a deck-fill or 2. Once those were rebed, the boat is a lot dryer. I still get some water in the bilge during a real soaking rain….i suspect the anchor locker drain), but I haven’t run that one down (yet).
The 34 is also a nice boat. But all of our boats are old…and need some love and care.
I can’t wait to get back on the water in the spring!
Greg
I have a few stancions to rebed too I think. On the 34 there is wood trim that goes all along the toe rail and is secured down with little wood screws. Many of those little screws were leaking. I think I also have to do a little re-core job near the chain plates. I stopped those leaks, but the core seemed a little saturated. I can't wait to get back out on the water either!! If the weather holds out a little, this coming week will be boat work week 
Agree. my previous boat was a 1989 Catalina 30 and I feel my current boat is of equal quality and has aged much better than some other (non-Catalina) brands from that era. My biggest complaint is the galley and nav station cabinetry, which in my boat were made of poor quality teak plywood, so I ripped them out and built new ones with a better layout, problem solved. Yeah, and I did have to pull all the deck hardware, do some core repair (all reachable from the existing openings) and re-bed - but any boat of this age would need that.
Do you have any pictures of the new nave station and galley? Also, when you say the core fix was reachable, do you mean you didn't have to cut out any fiberglass decking? That's what I'm worried about. I have some soft core near the chain plates and the jib sheet track.
Let me say, it's not how she handles, it's in the quality of the build. As already stated, lack of core in important places.Then deck to hull nuts and bolts hidden so its impossible to remove stanchions, sub floor in cockpit not incapsulated so it flexes too much, trim just screwed to cabin top allowing water to enter and the screw holes aren't camphered to avoid cracking. And then the sail tracks, just drilled through and bolted, no fill and re drilling. I am sure there are more. I'm not bashing it, just pointing out facts.
Yeah, some of the nuts are hard/impossible to reach - not unlike every other boat I've seen.
Yes, I was able to gouge out any wet core using various pick-like tools - can usually reach 3 - 4 inches from the opening. Using a slight bend (20 degrees) in the pick helps.
Here's what I replaced the galley and nav cabinets with - goals were to have one larger sink vs. the two small ones, cut off the corner at the galley so you don't have to turns sideways to enter. The top is matching formica, wood is teak plywood (cabinet grade) and mahogany. Nothing too fancy and it can all be taken apart (unlike the original which had inaccessible screws, once again). Right now, I have the stove out with a simple cabinet in its place. For the nav station, I didn't think the closet was of much use (mine had the backside of the electronics in it) and sitting at the nav table usualy resulted in bangng your head. I wanted to move the batteries there and open up the quater berth - there are two golf cart batteries in there now plus some good storage underneath the seat and a smaller nav desk with storage. I'm toying with what to do with the bulkhead. These pictures aren't that good, they look better in real-life.
Yes, I was able to gouge out any wet core using various pick-like tools - can usually reach 3 - 4 inches from the opening. Using a slight bend (20 degrees) in the pick helps.
Here's what I replaced the galley and nav cabinets with - goals were to have one larger sink vs. the two small ones, cut off the corner at the galley so you don't have to turns sideways to enter. The top is matching formica, wood is teak plywood (cabinet grade) and mahogany. Nothing too fancy and it can all be taken apart (unlike the original which had inaccessible screws, once again). Right now, I have the stove out with a simple cabinet in its place. For the nav station, I didn't think the closet was of much use (mine had the backside of the electronics in it) and sitting at the nav table usualy resulted in bangng your head. I wanted to move the batteries there and open up the quater berth - there are two golf cart batteries in there now plus some good storage underneath the seat and a smaller nav desk with storage. I'm toying with what to do with the bulkhead. These pictures aren't that good, they look better in real-life.