O'day Centerboards
Hi Bian; You are looking at a O'day centerboard which has a shallow, long keel with a hollowed-out slot in the bottom of it. A 60# -or-so blade fits into the slot and is lowered by a pennant that runs from the cockpit (just at the foot of the companionway) down through the hull via a metal tube into the centerboard slot. The blade is about 4 feet and change in length and tucks up into the slot almost completely. It pivots about the front portion of the keel and at low speeds in choppy seas, it will rumble about down there. I try to avoid strain on the bearings by pulling up the blade when the seas get choppy and there's little wind (lots of powerboat wakes!) The centerboard is preferred for it's ability to point better in the boat as opposed to the shoal draft keel. The draft with the blade all the way down is somewhere around 4 feet or so. The O'day in general is very easy to sail single handed. They don't have too many sail controls and very forgiving. Does you boat have roller furling? - it's a BIG help when single handed sailing! Look to make sure the chainplates are in good shape, look to see if there's rot where they are bolted to the bulkheads. Also look for wear in the deck at the mast step. If the rigging was overtightened, the deck at the mast step can get deformed. That is also a spot where doftness inthe core material can occur from water getting into cracks in the gel-coat. Check teh condition of the centerboard pennant - it's best to replace it with a polypropelene type of line that is rot-resistant. This is best done when out of the water and on jack stands. You need to drop the blade 50% to access the line. Check the motor mount to make sure it's solid to the transom as well as the rudder gudgeons and pintels. Let me know what you see and I can add to it if need be. Good luck, Stu "Karakahl" 1979 O'day CB Centerport, NY
