Swing Kell or not to swing keel???

[gabriel.donnelly]

I am about to be a new owner of a 1978 O'Day 25, my young familly and I couldn't be happier! She's in the water now, so I can't see the bottom of the hull, and I'm not familliar with the "swing keel", is this vessel a swing keel? If so, how will I know? How will I operate it?
Thanks so much,
-Gabriel

 

[LordNelson]

i don't have an oday 25, but according to this site it came in two models, keel board and fixed keel. if it has a keel board there has to be a mechanism to lower and raise it which is should be located somewhere around the cabin entrance. you might check with the seller and ask him about it.
http://www.iheartodays.com/model_oday_25.html

 

[Joe11688]

I am about to be a new owner of a 1978 O'Day 25, my young familly and I couldn't be happier! She's in the water now, so I can't see the bottom of the hull, and I'm not familliar with the "swing keel", is this vessel a swing keel? If so, how will I know? How will I operate it?
Thanks so much,
-Gabriel

Gabriel,
O'Day built 25's with full keels and they also built their 25s with what is known as Keel/centerboards, which have a shallow lead keel with the centerboard inside of it. The centerboard should have a pendant line attached to it which is operated from inside the cockpit right in front of the companionway hatch that leads down into the cabin. The older O'Day 25 keel/centerboard versions have a winch down below attached to the pedistal of the galley table. The older Catalina 22 sailboats have swing keels which are altogether different from keel/centerboard boats. If this boat has a working keel/centerboard, you should be able to let the board down or raise it up in the cockpit, and you should be able to feel the weight of the centerboard as you do this. They are made of Fiberglass and only weigh about 65 lbs. My O'Day 222 is set up the same way as the OD 25 and this is what it looks like in the pictures. The centerboard pendant line is under the traveler in the picture.
Joe

 

[LordNelson]

joe: my oday 20 has a similar arrangement. however, a previous owner cut a large swath in the fiberglass just inside the entranceway on the vertical portion. i was wondering if you had any idea why someone would do that. the only thing i can think of is that he needed to change the hose from the through hull fitting and it was the only way to get to the top fitting. as it is installed now, the hose ends at the deck fitting but is not clamped. i am not sure if it's supposed to have one or not (the water never seems to spill over the top of the hose.)

i have been thinking of refiberglassing this area to restore strenght, but wonder if i would be better to just leave it as is for access.

 

[Joe11688]

joe: my oday 20 has a similar arrangement. however, a previous owner cut a large swath in the fiberglass just inside the entranceway on the vertical portion. i was wondering if you had any idea why someone would do that. the only thing i can think of is that he needed to change the hose from the through hull fitting and it was the only way to get to the top fitting. as it is installed now, the hose ends at the deck fitting but is not clamped. i am not sure if it's supposed to have one or not (the water never seems to spill over the top of the hose.)

i have been thinking of refiberglassing this area to restore strenght, but wonder if i would be better to just leave it as is for access.

Ahoy there, Lord Nelson!
I think that your pendant line pipe area may be different than mine. Here's what mine looks like. In the next to the last picture, that hump with the strap with two nuts on the ends of the bolts sticking up, is what holds the small sheave inside the centerboard keel slot. Do you have such an animal as this on your O'Day 20? If so, don't ever poke anything through the pipe to free your centerboard. Maybe the PO changed the thru hull fitting on the companionway step, and he had to cut the area out to get it to fit. As you can see in the pictures, there's really nothing that would prohibit anyone from getting at the hose on mine. He must have done that for some reason though.
Joe

 

[LordNelson]

sort of. my pendant comes up about a 1/4 inch to the stern of the cabin boards. there is not clamp on the top fitting, only on the through hull. if you are in the cabin looking to the stern where the fiberglass curls down from the entrance, someone cut a big chunk out of it. the only reason i can think of was to access the top of the pendant hose. i'll take a picture once i pull the boat of of the water.

 

[Joe11688]

sort of. my pendant comes up about a 1/4 inch to the stern of the cabin boards. there is not clamp on the top fitting, only on the through hull. if you are in the cabin looking to the stern where the fiberglass curls down from the entrance, someone cut a big chunk out of it. the only reason i can think of was to access the top of the pendant hose. i'll take a picture once i pull the boat of of the water.

It should be interesting. I've looked in the OD 20 but I never really paid much attention to the centerboard arrangement. One of my friends owns one and he also owns an O'Day 272, not the LE but the one with the outboard and the tiller. This year, he put his OD 20 on the mooring. The OD 20 is a little easier for him to handle, I think.
Joe