I will agree with Bruce on the inside issue no doubt there. I am 6' and the only option for me is the port berth. V berth too short and Starboard berth too short. post side has a quarter berth behind it so plenty of length there. Use the pull out and my spouse and I sleep head to foot and we sleep together there quite well.
I did add a slide out to the Starboard side though so it slides out and I can hang my feet into the head area. Or a boom tent serves well and I sleep outside in the cockpit or on the deck under the tent.
However, I don't agree with the trailering issue. I trailer mine quite a bit. Too and from various lakes. So far no issue with trailering whatsoever. Have it down pretty pat.
Took the 6x6 frame it was sitting on, on the ground and mounted that to a tandem axle trailer. Cut open the back bunk and the keel slips through nicely float her right on and off. So far all the ramps I have been on do the job well. NYS has done a pretty good job with it's public ramps. cant believe I gave props to NYS for anything!
Stepping the mast takes two people unhook headstay and drop the mast on a crutch then unpin the mast and slid back and set on the rails Strap it all down with some shrink wrap and remove the outboard and the rudder and off you go. The mast is very light well under 100 lbs so stepping is not an issue. I do not have a furler so that helps.
Get to the new lake, pop the rudder back on drop the outboard back on, cut away the shrink wrap. Move mast forward and up on a crutch and pin it. raise the mast, attach headstay and second pin tabernacle and all set.
I leave the mainsail on the boom and simply attach the boom at the gooseneck and slid the slugs back in the groove. If I dont have a helper I seem to always attrack enough attention and grab a bystander to raise the mast. To date no problems getting people up there to assist and so forth. One day I may look back and wonder about liability though but typically I have a brother helping me, only now and again a bystander. I am pushing 50, so as they say "if I can do it so can you"
Seriously, I trailer quite often three four times a year and have no plans on stopping. I feel the 26 has enough interior space and handles well. As for trailering, a good vehicle is a must of course.
She weighs in at 4800 bare, so add the equipment and you have a decent load. Add trailer weight and you are pushing 7,000 lbs. However I tow her with a GMC 8 cylinder pickup and have power to spare. Has the full tow package transmission cooler and electric braking. but, so you know I can tow her no problem without trailer brakes and have had no issue with that as well. I am safe, I am not some off the wall crazy person without regard to safety here.
Once you strap the boat down on the trailer and strap the mast it tows very well. it is alot of weight so I have new rubber and repack the bearings often. I have replaced the bearings as well to be safe as the trailer was old. they do not heat up at all. The keel is well balanced over the axles. Enough weight on the hitch to keep her from swaying and so forth.
That's my take on trailering the O'day 26. I have an 85 and am pleased for the most part. Trying to race her is another matter! Light wind easy 2nd place, heavy air forget it
If you plan well, and prepare well, and take safety as serious as it is you will do well.
So far my furthermost tow point has been 90 miles one way. However next year I am planning a run to the coast with her. or a sail down the Hudson river and a 150 mile return trip via auto. Maybe both. Cape Cod is a good 4 hour drive by car, and next year I might tow her out and see about sailing to Nantucket or Maratha's vineyard. I hear it is a nice sail.
I live near the Hudson but it will take many days to sail down to NYC, so i would think once there I haul her out then drive her back home. Only have so much vacation time.
This fall and winter I am adding a gin pole mast raising system that I can work if I am alone. or with my spouse as she is not able to help step the mast but enjoys light sailing. I need a way to not count on bystanders but be able to step as a one man show.
Right now with one helper I can haul her out of the lake and have her prepped for the road in roughly 30 min. thats it, due to my assistant always helping me so we have a rythem. If a bystander add at least 20 min, and probably more like 30. You have to do it all alone and you have to work with them to ensure they are safe and you are safe and go slower.
Then when launching another 30 min to have her in the water ready to sail, well in the water, another 30 to finish getting her rigged truth be told.
As I say to date all is well. I enjoy hauling her to different lakes use it as a day sailor but the benefits of a longer range boat.
With our docks closing from the club soon, but October being a good sailing month, when I have to take her off the docks I am moving her to another body of water at a mooring for the month, then in November bring her home. I have no qualms about hauling her out and moving on the fly like that.
I hope you take this as it is. It is an enjoyable boat to trailer and believe it or not easier than the 23' I had. the 23' was not an O'Day. Don't be afraid to trailer her if you are comfortable with that idea. takes nerves of steel to haul her I will admit. My brother pretends he isnt towing anything and seems to forget she is behind us. I watched the entire rig bounce in the air one time and thought I was having a heart attack! He hit the bump so hard all wheels left the road on the trailer, I kid you not. I strap the boat to the trailer so the entire unit went up. I am sure he stole a few years from me that day. Point being she tows so well, you can forget it is there. More so when you are not the owner I think
I do hope this eases your thinking on that issue. Others may have similar thoughts or I might be out there on what I am doing, not sure. I have no comparison, I dont know any who do move a boat this size this often.
Happy sailing out there.
I am looking at purchasing Paceship PY26, but suddenly found myself admiring the Oday 26.
We currently sail a Paceship PY23 and would prefer a boat with just as big berths if not bigger.
I am 6'3 and normally use the v-berth along with the admiral for overnight arrangments allowing our twin teenage kids an option to berth in either side berth.
I am unable to locate a floorplan scematic showing the layout of a 1985 Oday 26 so can someone explain what the interior is like.
Could a tall person sleep in the v-berth with another person?
Is the head enclosed, or part of the v-berth like most 26 foot boats?
How big is the cockpit? How many people could comfortably sit in the cockpit?
We anchor out often and prefer to have the option to trailer when we get the crazy idea to go sailing in the North Channel or Door County, Wisconsin.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
