Oday 25 Swing Keel Rigging

[CAS_O'DAY25]

I have 1978 O'Day 25 with a swing keel.
The rigging to pull the keel up snapped! Where can I find a new one and how would I go about replacing it?
Thank you in advance for any information!

 

[jssailem]

If it is not in a boat yard on stands, you will need to haul it out. You need to drop the centerboard(CB) to get at the attachment points for the CB. You will need to buy some wire and have the tools to crimp/attach the wire to the CB. Once the wire is attached you need to fish the wire through the blocks that run into the boat where you raise or lower the CB. While you are at it check all of the blocks for wear and replace as needed. It is likely that rust or broken blocks chaffed the wire and caused the break. Fix that before you reinstall the wire.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

Good morning . There are two ways to replace the line . The first as JSSailem mentioned is to pull the boat out of the water and put it up on stands .
There is a second way , which I have done . I just used a fish tape and threaded it through the hole in the cockpit . It goes straight to the centerboard cavity . I grabbed my scuba gear ,dove uder the boat and reattached the replacement line . Your boat is slightly older and I believe the line is led slightly differantly . There are no blocks to thread .On our boat there is only rope and no wire . Depending on where you are , there is a very good chance someone from the local dive community will replace the pendant for next to nothing . Stop in your local dive shop and ask . Our shop gets asked to do this kind of stuff pretty often .

 

[Project_Mayhem]

I saw an older ODay, I think it was a 1975, that had a winch. Mine is a 78 as well and it has the same configuration as Timm describes. D and R Marine sells a reasonably priced assembly. I used some cheap plastic laundry line and fed it down through the hole in the cockpit, I then went underneath the boat (it was on a cradle) and taped the plastic line onto the new pendant line and pulled it through. It's a pretty straight forward repair. If you decide to haul out, take some time to inspect and repair your centerboard. It may be the only opportunity you get

 

[Ward H]

Having had a 1980 O'day 25 I agree with Mayhem and Tim on how to repair.
One word of caution, the keel trunk narrows nearer the top of the trunk. My centerboard kept getting stuck in the up position. Tried fixing it over two winters but it wasn't until the third that I discovered the issue. The clevis pin in the shackle was cut down from a longer pin and was too long. It would wedge into the top of the trunk.

I suggest you follow Mayhem's advice and buy the line and shackle from D&R Marine, who specializes in O'days. He'll make sure you have the correct width shackle.

I loved my O 25, great sailing boat. I just needed more cabin space for living on the boat at times.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

The one thing you'll learn about D and R is that the prices are good enough that after you've shopped around, you'll realize the price difference is so negligible that you're better off buying the right part from them without a ton of research that would be required in order to buy elsewhere. Unless your boat is going on the hard for an extended period of time, I'd recommend buying from them. Solving centerboard issues is not fun unless you are the owner of a marina making money off of haul outs