O'day 26 construction info required

May 14, 2020
2
Oday 27 Jomtien
I have an O'day 26 Anniversary model imported to Thailand which I am totally renovating however I find at some time and seeming common with these boats that have deck stepped masts, the coachroof was insufficiently strong enough to support the weight and has caused sagging / compression problems at the coachroof and the hull.
It appears my boat is no exception and on investigation I found the saloon bulkheads had a poor glassed in repair made due to a large gap between the hull and bulkhead .
It is likely the superstructure was compressed down and pushed out the hull ? I now rectified all this problem with a mast compression post and re-glassed in the bulheads properly .
My question is - what bulkheads were originally glassed in ?? None of the other bulkheads appear to be properly glassed in / affixed to the hull ??
I have come to the conclusion that the boats hull / superstructure would be insufficiently rigid if bulkheads not properly fixed to the hull and therefore make it flexible !!
Any comments welcome
 
Mar 2, 2019
433
Oday 25 Milwaukee
Whoa ! I have the same boat . The bulkheads were not glassed in . There should be about a 3/8" gap around the curved portion of the bulkhead. My understanding was this was done to eliminate hard spots on the hull and to prevent fracturing .
The compression post is designed to take all the loads from the mast. The bulkheads spread the rigging loads and the cabin top.
When I replaced my compression post it was because the previous owner allowed water to collect in the shallow bilge and the
post rotted from the bottom .
Leaks from the mast step plate may well have allowed the plywood sandwiched in the cabin top to leak . This will allow the mast to sink into the roof
 
May 14, 2020
2
Oday 27 Jomtien
hi Tim and thanks your reply and your comments . My boat did not have a compression post under the mast but was relying on the bulkhead and it was pretty obvious after the boat arrived ( even after pre purchase survey in USA which did not show up any repairs) that there had been some real problems in way of the main "grid" floor on top of the keel area , with the bulkheads and also where the chainplates pass through the deck . The gap between the midships bulkheads and the hull topside was in some places 2 or 3 cm !! Some sub standard work had been done with some woven tape which was totally inadequate .
I ground out / removed the repair ,chamfered the bulkhead and filled the gap rounding same to spread any stress and used woven tape and epoxy to do the job properly . I did not want to see the hull flexing in a seaway and personally , as an ex marine surveyor , find it hard to believe that the boats were built without securing the bulkheads to the hull , allowing the whole superstructure to lift / flex ! The boats were lightly built being trailer-sailers but the design and construction has shown the boats to be well worth renovating .
I have removed the chainplates and all other deck fittings that were either in bad shape/poorly fastened or having soft spots in the core and all cut out and the core filled with sponge soaked epoxy and the fittings renewed or replaced . The wood handrails on the coachroof are gone and more solid alloy fittings with 316 stainless tube handrails fitted . Everything came off the boat which now has new windows , new ports , new hatch , new stemhead fitting with anchor roller , new jib sheet tracks, new mainsheet track , new wiring both DC and AC shore power , new galley , new centreboard bearings , all new hull fittings , new gunwhale rubbing strake rubber fender . The list goes on ,and on !! The mast has been stripped , all fittings either renewed or refastened (monel metal rivets) , new wiring, new nav lights etc .
I shall know every nut and bolt when I finish and will be glad to get her in the water as have not sailed her yet !! (I have another boat - a Whiting 45 - built like a tank and fully renovated )
I was going to put some photos on here but I need to reduce them first to an acceptable size !!
Have a good seasons sailing , mine will be next year
 

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
@Yachtman45 Welcome to SBO!
I had an 82 O'day 25 and looked at a few 26's. As @Timm R Oday25 relates on his boat, the bulkheads on mine were not tabbed in. I had heard the same explanation, O'day didn't want the bulkheads to create hard spots on the hull.
The compression post looked like a 2x4 and the port bulkhead fit into a slot on the compression post. My compression post rested on the keel trunk in the bilge with fiberglass wrapped up around the bottom. As Timm said, this could cause the bottom of the post to rot and allow the cabin top and mast base to sink.
I was lucky. I had none of these issues.

Supposedly when O'day started the 26s in 1983 they did lighten up on the some of the construction but they were still popular boats that sailed well.

Sounds like you have taken a good boat and made it stronger and basically much better built.

Looking forward to the photos.