O'Day 23 Stuck Swing Keel

[picklefreek]

I am new to this site and to the larger O'Days (had a day sailer in the past). Just purchased (awesome deal if you ask me: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=14055&item=6517653647&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW) a 1973 23 Pop-Top. She has been sitting a few years and the keel is stuck in the up position. I have tried taking things like the back of saw blade, a metal square to free it up. What came out was a mouse nest and some rust, but still stuck. I have been spraying lubes up there, and still stuck. Any recommendations? If I have to, how do I pop the pin out and is this something I should think about doing? We did damage the trailing end of the swing keel, so I know I need to get her to come down so I can get some new glass on there to keep water out. She is on a brand new trailer, but I have access to a car wrecker that I can lift her up to work under her. Thanks in advance! I love this site and can't wait to get her in the water!

 

[ED]

FREEING KEEL

I've heard this trick from an old mechanic, that he used to free rusted bolts or stuck pistons. I forgot which. Mix Marvel Mystery Oil with Keroscene and let it soak for a while. This frees the bolts and it might free your keel. If everything fails, try a little easyoff oven cleaner up there unless it will melt the fiberglass. I don't know.Good Luck.

 

[Mullet]

Not sure if I understand

what the swing keel is sticking on.Are the sides of the swing keel clear? Where is the rust coming from? Can you even see the pin?

 

[picklefreek]

Mullet

When I when to get the boat, the center board was stuck about 20% down. I forced it all the way down (that is where the damage came from), and then with a jack got it all the way back up, where it is now. The sides are clear, that is where I took the back end of a saw blade to. The rust I think is coming from the pin/pivot area. When I bang the the blade against the pin, that is when the flakes of rust drop out. hope this helps. if not, email me at chrisNOSPAM@fernstravel.com and I can fill you in more (remove the no spam). All the help I can get is soooo great!! thank you so much

 

[Mullet]

I take it that now that the thing is up

that it doesn't drop back down 20%?Were the sides completely clear or did the hacksaw blade clean things up a bit? If it wasn't completely clear, I'd keep working at it. By forcing it up, you might have wedged it into the junk that you weren't able to clean out with the hacksaw blade and the square. Some people have used a 1/4 iron rod with a hook bent onto the end.On my 25, there are two stainless plates held in place with 1/4" flathead bolts beneath the pivot on the swing keel. On top of these plates are two fiberglass triangular wedges that fit into cutouts on the shoal keel. On top of these traingles sit a hard plastic (delrin) pin that the swing keel pivots on. I'm pretty sure it is set up that way, too, becuase Rudy, at D and R Marine (drmarine.com) sells a pin, the wedges, and the plates for the 23. The plates were really easy to find: I just had to look under the forward keel roller of the trailer.Because rust is flaking off of the pin, I'm thinking that someone used an iron pin instead of a delrin one and it has corroded into a horrible mess. I'd really tinker with it and fix it. If you do have an iron pin in there and you leave it alone, you might end up losing your swing keel. Of course if you did, you could always get another one from Rudy. 8) keep us posted.

 

[Keith823]

Your Board is on a Steel Pin

I have the same boat, a 1973 Oday 23. Your keel is cast iron, and the centerboard has a plastic bushing and swings on a 1" diam steel pin that is friction fit through the keel. There is nothing here that responds to a lubricant. (The delrin pin held in by plates and wedges is the later model, when they switched to the integral keel).The board swings freely, if the keel slot is clear. If you had to force it down, and it did not swing easily in full down, then there is debris up around the head end where it should rotate on the pin. It is possible that the pin is bent (hard to do). Was the pendant attachment shackle narrow enough to easily go in? If you had to jack it up, then there must have been an interference up in there; something that is binding in the close quarters. If you jacked it up, you need to pull it down. I would suggest working a strap up over the end of the centerboard and pulling it back down.To completely remove, look for a slight cicular depression in the side of the keel toward the front. Scrape the paint off to confirm the pin, and drive the pin out from one side. When the yard took mine out, they used some heat to loosen the pin. The board is fiberglass wrapping a lead core and weighs about 50# (it is not steel or iron, as I have read in some posts). With the board out, you can clear the entire slot, and do a first class repair on the tip of your centerboard.

 

[picklefreek]

Thanks

Thanks for the input all. I am going to bring her to my friends shop this weekend and put slings around her in lift her of the trailer with his wrecker and hope for the best at that point. Will follow up next week. Happy sailing!! ~chris

 

[guyssail]

HELP! CB Stuck up, boat IN water

The centerboard on my '73 o'day 23 appears to be stuck up. this is my first swing keel boat...looked fine on the lift, cleaned out the the barnacles. now sh eis in the water and its stuck up, anyway to push the CB down without damaging the boat? does that "tube" that the cable goes down lead anywhere that could be damaged if i pushed a rod down there? will it hit the CB board or put a hole in my boat?i dont want to pay to have the boat lifted again...HELP!THANKS!

 

[Dave Haggett]

good luck with keel, what brand trailer?

I hope you got your keel down!I am about buy a trailer for my Oday 23. What brand did you get? I've been back and forth with the Traid and Road King (Trail'N'Sail) guys all week. Think I'm going with the Road King because they can deliver about 5 weeks sooner. I'd appreciate any words of wisdom you may have learned from buying your trailer.

 

[picklefreek]

Venture VBT4700

Dave, I purchased a 2005 Venture VBT4700. Dual axel (brakes on one) and can hold up to 4700 pounds. http://www.venturetrailers.com/tan_tri.html The base price was $2299 (cheapest I could find in NE) at Atlantic Boat and Trailer in Kittery Maine. Since I live in NH, there was no tax for me, which was nice. The only other thing I need way 8 "bunk extenders" to get the bunks high enough for the keel. they were $20 each, so total ready to roll for me was $2459. They had plenty in stock, so I would maybe check with them (207-439-8888) and be able to pick it up right away. Picked up the new boat in Shelton CT and bought back to NH, and have been back and forth to my friends shop a few times to work on it and it has been a pleasure to tow (will be a bigger pleasure next week when I get her in though!!). I have seen a few used ones for sale in "the want ad" last week, so may want to give that a try too (http://www.thewantad.com). If going new, I would highly recommend the Venture. Oh, and BTW, still haven't got keel down yet. A new plan of attack for this weekend using my friends car lift to her off the trailer...the wrecker idea didn't work, couldn't get her high enough off the trailer.

 

[Dave19493]

trailer and keel

Thanks for the trailer lead and good luck with that stuck keel again.

 

[picklefreek]

Trailer for Dave

Hey Dave..Lots or trailers in the newest "Want Ad". Email me (chris@fernstravel.com), with you number if you want and I will call and give you details. ~Chris

 

[Steve]

Bunk extenders

Would these bunk extenders work on a 1973 O'day 22 with a shoal draft keel? I'd like to try to get my Oday on the trailer I have for my 93 Mako 215 motorboat. Has anyone tried this?

 

[picklefreek]

The Board Swings Down!/ Extenders

IT WORK!!!! Lifted the boat off the trailer on Saturday at my friends auto garage, (we are now calling his shop Anytime Auto and Marine!!). Got her up high, pulled the trailer out, pryed down the swing center board, was able to look up into the keel and see all the crap that was holding her up. Cleaned it up and now have about 98% use. I say 98% because as a new thread said and I agree, I feel that over the years, the fiberglass on the board has cracked enough to let water in and swell the board. I am at a point if she is full retracted, I do need to swim under her and help her come down. I think I will be fine for this year. Since I pretty much "stole" this boat for what I paid for her, we have decide that next winter we are going all out on a paint job. At that point, I will have a friend make up a new swing board. So damn excited, can't even tell you. I do have some issues now with battery/grounding that the previous owner is being no help with, so see new link. Steve from Chatham. I would think that all you have to do is to find the manufacture of that trailer and find a dealer of that model and I am sure you can find bunk extenders. After doing all the research I did in purchasing a new trailer, basiclly all trailer makers have regular bunks, plus extenders. Always, feel free to email me and we can converse more freely. chris@(nospam)frenstravel.com (remove the no spam of course).