O’Day 23 Crack In bilge center board

Sep 24, 2018
2,549
O'Day 25 Chicago
I think it's going to be difficult and time consuming repair it properly because it's hard to access the crack. I think you should check the inside of the keel trunk to make sure there isnt any other damage. Lifting the boat up an inch or sliding it back on the trailer may provide enough room to get a snake cam in there.

Assuming the trunk and outer skin of the keel are in good shape your next concern would be bilge water getting inside the keel. The PO of my O'Day screwed the bilge pump into the keel without properly sealing it. Water got in and it froze resulting in a crack on the outside of the keel.

I've been told that O'day placed weights inside the keels around the trunk and then poured filler on top. When I ground down my keel I found lots of cracks in the filler. After lots of debate about whether or not to pour filler in there I decided to listen to the advice given on this forum... Seal it up and go sailing!

While I would avoid buying a boat with the damage you're looking at, I would repair it if I already owned it. I would start out by widening the crack and sanding down the surrounding areas of the bilge for good adhesion. From there I would fill the bottom of the bilge with 1/4"-1/2" of resin. This seems like a more practical approach than grinding until you no longer see cracks and then filling it back in. I believe this would work if the crack is only in the filler of the keel. The shell is quite thick and I believe it provides the majority of structural strength. If the shell is compromised a different approach (or possibly a different boat) may be necessary