Possible New O'day owner

Stu Jackson · Oct 9, 2012

Nice boats. Somewhat different layout down below than, say, a Catalina 25. No quarterberth, IIRC. Outboard?

Joe11688 · Oct 9, 2012

Scurvy said:
Hi Folks!

My name is Chris and have sailed on and off for the past 20 years or so. Started with a Catalina 34, then a Sabre 28 MK1 and then purchased a wonderful little Albin Vega 27 which we sold three years ago.

I came upon a 1975 O'Day 25 the other day (not looking for another boat mind you) and the price and condition seem right. All I really know about the O'days is that they crowded Lake Winnipesaukee when I was a young kid and they were a very popular day sailer off the coast of NH.

I would be looking for a little boat that is easy to sail, forgiving, somewhat spacious for two young children gunkholing off the Maine coast and some overnighting as well. Despite the extra two feet of the Vega, her beam was narrow and quarters were tight. I am 6' tall as well and moving about below decks was a lower back workout.

Didn't know if other O'day 25 owners might want to chime in on their experiences, recomendations or warnings. I would greatly appreciate any and all corespondence.

Thanks everyone
Chris

Hi Chris,
One of our YC members owns a 1975 O'Day 25 which I am quite familiar with having sailed it up to our YC on the Taunton River from Cape Cod Ma years ago. Prior to that, one of my friends once owned this boat. He paid about $5000 for it and I had sailed with him a couple of times on it. It's gone through two owners since then and right now this owner has got it up for sale. Not that there is anything wrong with this boat because this guy loved the boat after he bought it. His infant son fell overboard and almost drowned on it and I think that it soured him on sailing.
Last winter he didn't cover the boat well enough and it received a lot of water damage which caused a lot of mildew down below. It's a real shame. He's been asking $2500 for it without the outboard engine.

As far as the boat is concerned, it's the fastest O'Day 25 in the club. That boat can get up and go. I had the gunwale buried as I was sailing it down Buzzard's Bay and she was still very stable.

The winch for the centerboard is on the table stanchion down below which is not too appealing to most sailors. The later model O'Day 25s have a braid centerboard pendant line that comes up into the cockpit right in front of the companionway. The 1975 has wire cable but I'm pretty sure that it can be converted to braid line. You would need to talk to Rudy at D&R Marine about this. http://www.drmarine.com/ The centerboard is made of Fiberglas and it's no heavier than the centerboards on the later model 25 and 26 O'Days.

All I can say is that it may be an older boat but it's a fast boat on the water and she's real comfortable sailing.
Good Luck!
Joe

Ritdog · Oct 9, 2012

HI- I'm Brian Peterson owner of " Room 25" , currently parked off East End Beach in Portland. I can highly recommend a 25 . My wife and I got one ---1977 version--- 2 years ago for $3000 for the boat, trailer, and a 9.9. Mercury. We love it. Named it after our honeymoon room in Paris. We put about 4 months and $1500 into rehabbing it (all new bottom paint, lines, backplated and rebedded EVERYTHING on deck , new bulkheads , etc) . It's stable, roomy, and cozy. If you were here for the 4th of July, we rode out that 50 MPH wind and thunderstorm on the mooring with NO trouble. It does well in a wind, has a slight weather helm .
We have the drop centerboard, so draft about 24" , mainly because of the rudder, which gets down there. We sleep in the V-berth, use the quarterberth for extra storage. Would be great with 2 small kids, who could use the salon setees for berths, in bags.
We have a porta potty "permanently" installed; pump out at Maine Yacht services the other side of the harbor, who I high recommend for everything .
Your height might be a problem. Cabin headroom is about 5'6" - I'm 5'8" , and have to stoop a little anywhere other than in the companionway area. I think you might have that problem in most anything trailerable, except for an Oday 23 pop-top.
If you'd like to talk, i'm at 856-2606 in Westbrook.

Ward H · Oct 9, 2012

Joe, that's a sharp looking 25. I am glad you posted the photos because they answer a question I had. I want to move the furling line to the outside of the lifeline stanchions for more walkway room. That was done in the boat you show so I should be able to do it.
Chris, I have a 1980 Oday 25. My wife and I love it but then we've only had it two weeks. I'm 6' and as Brian said, headroom is less than that. (I thought it was 5'8") I can live with it.
One nice thing is the door between the main cabin and head/v-berth area. Gives some privacy, which the wife will appreciate when we have guest.
I was glad to here Brian was able to ride out a 50mph wind with no problems.

We found a lot of storage under the berths and in the cockpit lockers. The cockpit has pleanty of room and the cabin layout is very convienant.

Good Luck!

Stu Jackson · Oct 9, 2012

Ward H said:
...I want to move the furling line to the outside of the lifeline stanchions for more walkway room. That was done in the boat you show so I should be able to do it.

Ward, yes, we did that. Johnson makes bullet fairleads that you clamp onto the stanchions, without having to remove the lifeline(s). Make sure you use a swivel block for the first one from your furler, and then a cleat on your pulpit for your furling line. Easy to do.

Joe11688 · Oct 10, 2012

Ward,
I wouldn't have even thought about that furler control line if you hadn't have mentioned it. I have to agree with you on that. That's a great idea. I think I'm going to look into doing that on my boat too next year, if I think of it. Right now I'm using these cheap little single sheaves with plastic spools and I know that I'm going to step on them and break them some day as I'm making my way forward.
Let me know if you can't open the pdf attachment I sent you.

Joe

Gaf · Oct 10, 2012

Hi Joe, hope all is well with you. Just wondering if you buddies boat has a trailer available with it. Nice looking boat. Take care.
George

Joe11688 · Oct 10, 2012

Gaf said:
Hi Joe, hope all is well with you. Just wondering if you buddies boat has a trailer available with it. Nice looking boat. Take care.
George

Hi George!

It's nice to hear from you. I'm doing great for an old guy. Every day when I buy my paper I check out the obituary and if I don't find my name in there, I know that I made it through another day.

No. He never bought a trailer for that boat. He kept it at a local boat yard up the river with the mast up.

I had mentioned this previously a couple of times that I was offered this boat years ago by a good friend who was in a fly fishing club I used to belong to. He wanted to give it to me free of charge. I asked him,"Why don't you try and sell it?" and he told me that he was trying to sell that boat for two years and nobody came up with a decent offer. Between the storage and mooring fees, the costs were taking a toll on his wallet. He didn't want to donate it to "Helping Hands of America" which is not far from where he lives. They have used cars and boats and all you have to do is put in a bid for anything you see. So he finally asked me to find someone who would love having this boat and use it.
Myself, I was and still am happy with my O'Day 222. I really don't need anything larger. As I get further into "Geezerdom", I'm thinking --"Smaller", like a kayak maybe.
To make a short story long, I called a guy that I knew would take this boat and I took a lot of flack from another friend for not asking him first.

Anyone who is given an O'Day 25 in the water with the mast up and no trailer had better have the money to transport it and I knew that this guy did. I wasn't sure about the other guy.
As soon as I phoned him, he got into his truck and shot right down the Cape to see this boat which must have been a pretty good trick because the boat was on a mooring way out in the harbor and it was just getting dark when he got there. I think he drove back down there the next day and got someone to take him out there to see the boat and after seeing it, he wanter it.
We arranged a meeting with my friend and he signed the boat over to him for $1.00.
That boat came fully found complete with the stereo system, Autohelm ST 1000+ autopilot, Fiberglas pram, braid pendant line w/pickup stick, and everything that my friend had in the cabin like rain gear, and a new copy of "This Old Boat" by Don Casey.
The outboard was old and not too dependable so I threw my outboard on his boat and we sailed the boat up from the Cape to the club on the Taunton River making an overnight stop at "Third Beach" in Newport RI and continuing the rest of the way the next day.
He kept the boat for a year and sold it to his wife's cousin who now owns it. The boat has a brand new outboard on it but whoever buys the boat is going to have to pay extra for it. Right now, the boat is sitting on a mooring in back of the club right where he left it in the spring. He never goes down there. What a shame. I hope he finds a home for it.

Gaf · Oct 10, 2012

Hi Joe, good to hear from you to. That's quite a history to that boat. Sounds like a really neat trip to, bet you enjoyed it. Hope that he finds a home for it, looks like a really nice boat, I'm guessing some elbow grease and sweat equity will bring it back. I have a friend down here that I thought might be interested, but after showing him the picture's and talking further, I'm not so sure.
Looks like fall arrived this week here, and our summer temp's probably won't return. It is still nice enough to sail for at least another month and a half. I have even been out in January, but that is rare. I guess you are on the hard now for the winter, there is still your kayak though. Good hearing from you take care.
George

Joe11688 · Oct 11, 2012

Gaf said:
Hi Joe, good to hear from you to. That's quite a history to that boat. Sounds like a really neat trip to, bet you enjoyed it. Hope that he finds a home for it, looks like a really nice boat, I'm guessing some elbow grease and sweat equity will bring it back. I have a friend down here that I thought might be interested, but after showing him the picture's and talking further, I'm not so sure.
Looks like fall arrived this week here, and our summer temp's probably won't return. It is still nice enough to sail for at least another month and a half. I have even been out in January, but that is rare. I guess you are on the hard now for the winter, there is still your kayak though. Good hearing from you take care.
George

I don't know George. I think that the inside of that boat is going to need more than elbow grease with all the mold it has in it.

It was fun sailing it back to our YC years ago but I was dead tired when we got there.

My boat is sitting on the jacked up trailer next to my house all covered up for the winter. I need to go in the cabin and remove the curtains and take in anything I may have missed.

The weather is getting cooler up here and the schoolie Stripers are coming up the river right now chasing the porgies. I'm thinking of launching my kayak at the club and going after them with my fly rod. I think there's some larger Stripers in the schools. Who knows, I may get lucky and catch a Striper this year after all. I got skunked in the beginning of the season with my outboard problems.
I'm looking forward to next year if I'm still alive and kicking.
Take care George!

Ahoy!
Joe

Possible New O'day owner

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