O'day 22 rescued

[jmczzz]

From 6 years sitting in the driveway near Lake Michigan. (maybe not).
Question: Were the cabin sides (walls) where the portlights (windows) are originally balsa cored? Cause now there is nothing in there. The portlights were leaking badly and had been re-bedded many times with a variety of sealants. but still leaked. I am thinking of coring them with plywood. Is this feasible?


I broke the glass getting the fame unstuck from several layers of sealant, white (3M 5200) clear and unknown. What's in the cabin's top deck?
thanks, jmczzz

 

[jmczzz]

27 views but nobody replied. I must have not ask clearly, were the cabin sides originally balsa cored? Is the cabin roof balsa cored? is the hull balsa cored?

 

[Hunter216]

I found this old posting re coring.

O'Day 22 Owner For 29 Years!

I have had my O'Day 22 since 1972. I feel I know the boat well. If you have any questions, I will endeavor to give a good answer.

forums.sailboatowners.com

I guess you could always drill a very small hole and see if any wood comes out.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I pulled the windows on my 25 last week. The cabin "walls" look the same as yours.... Empty space basically. Be very careful with those frames. The plastic is brittle from age and they break very easily. Chances are that some of the sealant has failed. With the exception of a few, silicone caulk has a short lifespan in the marine environment and is discouraged. Most windows and deck hardware will need to be rebedded at some point so the failure is more likely due to age of the sealant rather than a design flaw or rot. The typical approaches for rebedding include:

1. 3M VHB - Usually used along with 3M 4000 or Dow 795. The foam tape keeps the part in place and provides a gap for the 795 (so you dont squeeze it all out). People are starting to use just VHB to mount windows. The RV and trialer industry have been doing this for years. I would contact 3M to find out the correct type of VHB if you dont want to use any other sealant. A VHB only seal should be removable in the future.
2. Sealant - Dow 795 and GE Silpruf are the most popular. These sealants are often used to adhere window panes onto skyscrapers. This is the most common method to seal windows especially when it comes to a lexan to gelcoat seal. These are the exception to the no silicone rule
3. Butyl - This stuff has been around for decades. A member on this board manufactures a marine specific variation that's easy to work with and reasonably priced. Do a search for Bed-IT. I plan on using this to rebed my windows because it's easily serviceable. After taking the screws out I had each window out in under 30 seconds

Most people will recommend Dow 795. If you need a new window and frame check with IBXBoatworks.com. They often have used O'Day parts

I'm not sure if or what the cabin roof is cored with

 

[Noodat Lady]

If like my 20, I believe the hull will be solid FG except for the transom, and the rest will have a balsa core. But Hunter216's empirical method is your only sure shot.

 

[jmczzz]

ok, that is a good clue. and fits with what I have found thanks. This boat with its long shallow fixed keel seems like a good candidate for a resurrection. the rudder is sound as are it's mounting and tiller. The rigging looks unmolested and she has a like-new set of sails in rubber maid storage containers. She is on a sound trailer that has an extendible tongue for ramp launch and load. That also had a new set of tires and wheels. The rig was an easy tow from The Michigan coast of Lake Huron down to my shop just south of the MO State line in AR. So I am gonna have a go at her. Funny how you can tell her main original owner loved her and was a true sailor. She has a 20-30 yr old depth finder judging from the tech generation. And had a Loran C navigation system. That puts her last active sea time in the 80s. All the deck hardware is there and is intact rigging, mast, boom. The main problem I see is there is no core material between the inner cabin fiberglass and the outer fiberglass on the sides of the cabin. Over the past 46 years but for the last 15 or 20, I suspect subsequent owner(s) have tried to fix the leaky portlight seals by over-tightening them after globing on various caulking substances. This has had the negative effect of gradually causing the inner and outer skins to distort their shapes and be squeezed together in some places causing the leaks to get worse rather than better. Then the obvious treatment has been pile on more caulk(s) of various types. So my plan is to Dremel cut the outer skin all the way around the side leaving just about an inch lip and then using luan ply to cut and fit as core material to the inner cabin skin after treating the ply with penetrating epoxy and then regular epoxying the ply into what will become the cabin sidewall's inner core. Take a look at the pics in the first post and you will see how the core space between the inner and outer skin is not uniform but has been distorted.

 

[Noodat Lady]

O'Days are very sound, well designed boats. It is remarkable how many of these almost half century old boats you see, in good shape and being enjoyed. Yours sounds well worth saving.

 

[sreidvt]

You might want to consider using foam coring instead. This is what I used when I rebuilt the poptop on my 23. Divinycell Plain Sheet

 

[jmczzz]

thanks sreidvt. I've used this before and buy lots of supplies from Jamestown this is a good suggestion thank you, jmczzz

 

[Project_Mayhem]

1/4" plastic is another suggestion between the two skins for this application as it is not susceptibul to water damage

 

[jmczzz]

another good idea thanks Project Mayhem. jmczzz





Project_Mayhem





Project_Mayhem

 

[Project_Mayhem]

Local plastic fabricators may have scrap cheap/free. Otherwise PM me for an inexpensive option on amazon. I'll dig up what I ordered last year

 

[jmczzz]

great thanks... let me know

 

[jviss]

I don't think I'd try to core a boat that wasn't originally cored, but if I did, I'd use a two-part, pourable foam. You'd have to be careful you don't "blow it up that way, but it would go almost everywhere there's a void.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

@jviss On these boats the spacing between the inner and outer fiberglass is uneven. I think he wants to add spacers to correct it. The outer fiberglass is relatively straight on mine. I think most sealants will be able to fill the gaps

Because of the inner lip of the frame theres a channel for sealant and it wont squeeze out. You could use tape on the outside while the 795 sets. This way the inner frame and fiberglass has no chance of deforming the frame.

I'll be putting some butyl in that channel and calling it a day. I like to make things easily serviceable

It looks like Oday used foam tape from the factory. It was the first layer applied to my frames.