oday 23 leak

Joe11688 · Jan 11, 2009

Kevin,
Try having someone soak the top deck with a water hose while you are down in the cabin keeping your eyes peeled for moisture. If it's coming in through the chain plates or anywhere else, you should be able to see or feel it with your fingers. Tabernacles and through hull fittings are always suspect to, so check everything while you're down there. Good luck buddy!
Joe

stevec22206 · Jan 11, 2009

Kevin,
I've had my 80' 23 going on five years. I'm still finding leaks. To date I've rebedded all the stantions, chain plates, stern raiil, nav lights and the water and waste caps. Also removed and rebedded one port light last year and will rebedding the remaining three this year. Haven't figured out how to gain access to the bow pulpit but may try that as well. Last will be the mast tabernacle. On a boat this old I'm finding water gets in everywhere there is a through hole. Also suspect I'm getting some leaking at spots around the rub rail. One other point, check the cockpit scupper and the hose. The caulk for my scupper had failed and I was getting a smalll amount of water down below. It's never ending but if you can take care of the obvious maybe you can keep it to the bare minimum.

Steve

Joe11688 · Jan 11, 2009

Steve,
I'm sorry that you went through all that trouble removing all that hardware and haven't solved the problem yet, but take it from me, the very first thing I did was remove my gunwale strips and cleaned and re-caulked that whole area under it, and this solved all my leak problems. If you are persistent, you can find all the leaks. My boat doesn't leak a drop. Use a good Polysulfide boat caulking like 3-M or Boat life. Also, beware of certain boat cleaners that have Oxalic Acid that can eat out caulking. Check thru-hull fittings, the self bailing hose, and take a peek at the gudgeon bolts and back up plates inside the transom for rusty colored water marks. After a heavy rain, if you have fabric inside the cabin, feel the fabric for moisture where the deck meets the hull. Look for water stains. Our boats may be old, but they still shouldn't leak. There is a lot of information in the archives on this site on removing the gunwale strip and re-caulking.
Joe

adirondackbob · Jan 12, 2009

Kevin,

My experience is similar to Steve's, though I've only had my 23 for three seasons. During our first season, we always had water in the bilge and even on the cabin floor after a rain. As a newbie, I didn't even know where to look for leaks, but with much help from sailors on this forum, lots of reading (Don Casey's books were extremely helpful), and some advice from the marina where I launch my boat, I was able to locate and get rid of just about all the leaks. I pulled and rebed both chainplates, the mast step, and the gunwale molding. Those jobs took care of the standing water after rains. I still have a few minor leaks, but I think I know where they are and will try to deal with them in the spring before I launch the boat. But my few years of experience suggest that Steve's right: keeping the boat dry is a never-ending job. But as Joe says, if you do it right, you can win the battle against leaks and have a dry boat.

Bob

Joe11688 · Jan 12, 2009

adirondackbob said:
Kevin,

My experience is similar to Steve's, though I've only had my 23 for three seasons. During our first season, we always had water in the bilge and even on the cabin floor after a rain. As a newbie, I didn't even know where to look for leaks, but with much help from sailors on this forum, lots of reading (Don Casey's books were extremely helpful), and some advice from the marina where I launch my boat, I was able to locate and get rid of just about all the leaks. I pulled and rebed both chainplates, the mast step, and the gunwale molding. Those jobs took care of the standing water after rains. I still have a few minor leaks, but I think I know where they are and will try to deal with them in the spring before I launch the boat. But my few years of experience suggest that Steve's right: keeping the boat dry is a never-ending job. But as Joe says, if you do it right, you can win the battle against leaks and have a dry boat.

Bob

Bob,
You're right about Don Casey's books. I have about three of them that belonged to my late pal Walter, and they are chalk full of good info. I might point out also that these books are probably in your local library. If not, your library can obtain them from other libraries through the Inter-library loan system. I stopped in at my public library last week to donate some books, and while I was browsing the shelves in their boat section, I ran across a book entitled, "Fitting Out Your Boat" by Michael Naujok. This book had an amazing amount of info that also covered inside cabin liner materials and how to apply them, and the best part of it was that it had color pictures through the book. This book is really worth checking out and may be in your hometown library.
Joe

adirondackbob · Jan 12, 2009

Trinkky-Dinky said:
Bob,
You're right about Don Casey's books. I have about three of them that belonged to my late pal Walter, and they are chalk full of good info. I might point out also that these books are probably in your local library. If not, your library can obtain them from other libraries through the Inter-library loan system. I stopped in at my public library last week to donate some books, and while I was browsing the shelves in their boat section, I ran across a book entitled, "Fitting Out Your Boat" by Michael Naujok. This book had an amazing amount of info that also covered inside cabin liner materials and how to apply them, and the best part of it was that it had color pictures through the book. This book is really worth checking out and may be in your hometown library.
Joe

Thank for the tip, Joe. (You always have good advice!) I'll look for that title. I've had good luck using Casey's books to learn some of the basic maintenance and repair techniques for sailboats, and I'm always looking for others.

Bob

Scott On Eagles Wings · Jan 12, 2009

Kevin If it is bolted or screwed to the deck. Do yourself a favor take them off one by one and rebed them. The chain plates are a constant source of movement thus leaks. You can get to all the nuts with the help of a flexable youngster. The only proplem was my son had his head all the way into the bow and actually came out seasick from the movement of the boat on the trailer while doing the bow pulpit. If you have questions about a specific bolt ask here and I am sure we can help you out.

LordNelson · Jan 13, 2009

don't forget to check the trailering eye bolt while your at it. mine leaked in rough weather on the mooring and the water would travel under the vinyl bow cushions making a slimy mess.

Joe11688 · Jan 17, 2009

Scott On Eagles Wings said:
Kevin If it is bolted or screwed to the deck. Do yourself a favor take them off one by one and rebed them. The chain plates are a constant source of movement thus leaks. You can get to all the nuts with the help of a flexable youngster. The only proplem was my son had his head all the way into the bow and actually came out seasick from the movement of the boat on the trailer while doing the bow pulpit. If you have questions about a specific bolt ask here and I am sure we can help you out.

Scott,
You really didn't do that to your son, did you?

If my "Ole man" ever did that to me, I'd leave home the first chance I got.

Joe11688 · Jan 17, 2009

kdnichols said:
I sailed my Oday 23 yesterday.

It had rained Friday and while shipshaping the boat after the day...I noticed standing water in the starboard compartment just forward of the bulkhead.

When I bought the boat in May, I inspected the bulkhead and chainplates....which were "ok"

Obviously, I have a lead. The bulkhead is still fine....not rotting or anything.

I understand that the leaking is probably around the chainplates....but where do I begin to stop the leak(s)?

Kevin

Kevin,
If you can't find moisture inside the cabin near the stanchion backup plates, bow rail, or anything that is held on by nuts and bolts, you're better off to leave them alone, because, 1. the stanchions have rubbers under them which may get damaged when you remove the stanchions. 2. Stainless steel bolts are known to seize up and break when you try to remove the nuts. 3. It takes two people to work on them to get them removed and it's a messy time consuming job. My boat is 23 years old and I've never had to remove, any of my rails or stanchions,-- chain plates, yes and gudgeons yes. All I can tell you is; I could feel moisture on the headliner inside my cabin in the vicinity of where the hull and deck comes together, and I knew that it wasn't coming from a lifeline stanchion, as it was dry to the touch near the backing plates. For me, it was a heck of a lot easier to remove that molding where it's only held on by wood screws, than it would have been to remove all the rails and stanchions.
Joe

Scott On Eagles Wings · Jan 17, 2009

Trinky, he came out of there sat in the cockpit for about ten minutes and than blew lunch over the side. He has never gotten Sea sick before that or since than. He just cant handle the boat when it is on the trailer I suppose.

Joe11688 · Jan 17, 2009

Scott On Eagles Wings said:
Trinky, he came out of there sat in the cockpit for about ten minutes and than blew lunch over the side. He has never gotten Sea sick before that or since than. He just cant handle the boat when it is on the trailer I suppose.

Scott,
I was just ribbing you with a Jay Leno "one liner".

stevec22206 · Jan 18, 2009

I'll just add one more thought on leaks as they pertain to this question. Keep in mind that these boats are balsa cored and any moisture that penetrates will ultimately create a far greater problem if not resolved quickly. I discovered some core rot around the waste cap where it had leaked for some time. I removed as much of the mush as possible and followed Don Casey's recommendations. After reading much about this issue I checked all the through bolted hardware and fittings and found none with any type of backing plate other than flat washers. As a result there appears to be a small amount of crazing around the stantions and pulpits due to the normal pressure exerted on these during use. I haven't found any significant water intrusion in these areas but decided to be proactive and rebed these. I check them each season prior to launch to make sure they are still sound. It took a bit of work to access the areas, a dremel tool to remove a small amount the fiberglass, a socket extension and a second set of hands to help out. Any soft core material was cleaned out and filled with West epoxy. I spent a weekend performing the work. It wasn't overly difficult, it just took time and patience. As I mentioned above, I'll try to tackle the bow pulpit, port windows and some others prior to this season. I almost purchased an O'day 222 that had incurred water damage around the mast step. It wasn't extreme but a close friend persuaded me to back off. A slip mate in our marina with an O'day 25 had severe compression and crazing around the mast step. Always wondered how they were able to tune the the rig on that one. Be vigilant and check everything you can get to.

Steve