Oday 28 Steering Issues

[Paul Koestner]

Ahoy,
I'm a bit rusty at this. I'm here to help an old friend with his 28 Oday. 1982, I believe. He's been concerned about a wobble in his steering column. Lew doesn't get around too well, and has a hard time seeing the underside of the system, but thought it was due to the rotting of a wooden backing board supporting the cockpit sole. I took a look (and a few photos). First, I suspect this is the original system. I do see deterioration of what I assume to be marine ply around the backing plate, but it appears that the plate itself was designed to bolt flush to the sole. There appears to be a cut-out for its placement. Am I right?
I'd be happy to send a picture to any knowledgeable owner (I assume photos can't be sent this route). I'm hoping that his problem isn't that bad, that maybe new bolts tightened up would be adequate. If in fact there used to be one large, solid backing board, that will be one huge headache to replace.
Lew's never going to take a following wave over the stern, forcing him against the wheel. On the other hand, if the system should be reinforced, I'll let him know.

Thanks, all.

Paul Koestner
S/V Laura Lynn (Morgan 34)

 

[Joe11688]

Paul,
I don't know much about the O'Day 28 wheel steering, but the problem could possibly be the rudder shaft turning within the rudder blade on this boat. This is easy to check if the boat is out of the water, by locking the wheel in place and trying to turn the blade by hand. O'Day rudder blades are notorious for going bad. I've broken two of them on my O'Day 222, and there's a fellow in Russia who is trying to repair his spade rudder on his O'Day 32 center cockpit who has been seeking advice on this forum. It's worth checking out. I hope that I'm wrong about this.

 

[Paul Koestner]

Thanks Joe, but yeah, this boat is on the hard. The issue is not with the rudder. I should be more precise with my use of language.
If you were to stand at the helm of this boat and grab the helm, you can get the pedestal to sway a little. The cockpit sole flexes at the attachment point, which is through-bolted. A painful inspection under the sole (by crawling into the port lazarette) shows, besides a maze of cabling, hoses and whatnot, some rotting of a ply backing material around the steel plate that holds the pedestal in place.
The thing is, it's hard to tell if there was ever material under the pedestal plate. It looks like there was a cutout there, with the pedestal bolted to nothing but the fiberglass sole.
Obviously the wood material was intended to strengthen the sole, and the question becomes, how strong does a light duty daysailer need to be? I see no immenent sign of failure, but the pedestal does rock a slight bit, with the flexing of the sole, when horsing the steering.
Reminds me of the old joke: Patient: "Hey Doc, it hurts when I go like this." Doctor: "Well don't go like that."

 

[Joe11688]

Paul,
It looks like it needs some fiberglass reconstruction work. This may not be as bad as the rudder blade problem. Then on the other hand,--"four thumbs and a finger." I hope that it's not too involving and expensive for him. I wish him luck, Paul.
Joe

 

[Paul Koestner]

Again, my thanks, Joe. I'll pass on your wish to Lew Now I'd really like to hear from anybody who could verify that the underside of the 28 sole is reinforced with ply for stiffness, but that there is an intended cut-out for the pedestal base plate. Anybody know what thickness the layup is in this part of the boat?

 

[Joe11688]

Again, my thanks, Joe. I'll pass on your wish to Lew Now I'd really like to hear from anybody who could verify that the underside of the 28 sole is reinforced with ply for stiffness, but that there is an intended cut-out for the pedestal base plate. Anybody know what thickness the layup is in this part of the boat?

Paul,
The only guy I know who would really know, is Rudy Nickerson of D&R Marine. He's probably the only one in the country who has all the O'Day parts and molds. He also worked in the Fall River Ma. O'Day factory years back. It would be best for you to give Rudy a call, than to email him.
http://www.drmarine.com/ Good luck with that, Paul.