Oday 25 cabin roof

[tcbailey67]

Hi, I'm rebedding some things on my Oday 25, toe rails, cheek blocks, etc, was planning on the mast base plate, and wondering about the hand rails. I poked around inside the holes at the mast base plate, and they seem to be potted, i.e. no exposed wood, or maybe the cabin roof is solid fiberglass. Does anyone know how the cabin roof was constructed? If it is solid fiberglass, I won't bother rebedding the handrails. If it has a balsa or plywood core, I will remove/rebed the handrails.

Thanks, Todd

 

[jssailem]

Based on basic boat design and build practice, the boat deck is likely sandwiched fiberglass- filler- fiberglass. Solid glass is too heavy and too expensive. You would need a mold to create a solid fiberglass deck. To make it strong enough it would need to be 3/4 to an inch thick. This would be very expensive and very heavy to build.
Filler cores are typically foam, balsa, or plywood. Some boats have build up of glass or inlays of aluminum in places where hardware is attached. At the O’Day 25 price point this is unlikely the case.

Good luck with your plans. It is a proper practice to re-bed hardware. It will extend the useful life of your boat.

 

[dmax]

As far as I know, O'Day decks are all balsa cored. If the area is an inch or so thick, it's cored. My cabin roof is sandwiched balsa.

 

[Tally Ho]

On my 1988 O’Day 322, I have found foam core (around hatches), plywood (under winches), balsa in other areas, and solid glass around the toe rail edges.

Greg

 

[dmax]

I guess the "2" series changed that - mine is all balsa with plywood under the coaming winches, solid at the edges, no foam that I've found.

 

[Tally Ho]

I guess the "2" series changed that - mine is all balsa with plywood under the coaming winches, solid at the edges, no foam that I've found.

Here is what I found when I removed my main cabin hatch…




I don’t know how far it extends.

And I think I got wood shavings when I drilled holes for up-sized cabin top winches.

Greg

 

[jssailem]

So. Common sailboat building materials, balsa, plywood, and foam core construction sandwiched between an upper and lower fiberglass shell.

Best repair practice is the same. Remove the hardware, clean up any holes. Remove any wet or rotting material. Fill the hole with thickened epoxy to seal the core material. Redrill the hardware holes through the epoxy plugs and then apply bedding material to the outside surface. This is to stop water intrusion.

It is a process as old as time.

 

[Tally Ho]

I upgraded my cabin top and primary winches, all upsized. And that was the process I used. Over drill the holes, fill with thickened epoxy, redrill holes for the bolts.

I will say I was pleasantly surprised to see the foam around the hatch openings.

Greg

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I can confirm with confidence that it is plywood under the mast from the factory. I just rebuilt my mast step last winter. You really need a hole big enough to stick your finger in to confirm the condition of the wood. Tapping probably wont work because the compression post is pushing up against the fiberglass in that area. Can you ask the previous owner if it was rebuilt? Do you have a picture of the mast step? Do you see it the area sunken in a bit when the mast is up? Sometimes you need to run your finger over the area as it's not visible to the naked eye