My O’Day 22 Sailboat Blog

I am in the market for a good furler for the O’Day 22. There are only a handful that I can find so far that are within a reasonable price range.

CDI flexible furling
Schaefer Snapfurl
Aladous Nautica

All the other one seems to be almost double the price of the above 3 choices. Does anyone know of other brands between the 400 to 700 price range? I have posted a message in the forum asking for people’s opinions so please contribute if you have any expertise in this area. Thanks.

Click here to go to forum post.

I just got a compass I bought in the mail today. This is another one of those cases of misjudging the size of items on eBay. I actually like this compass and believe it will work very well. It is a new, old stock from the original box. The box looks like it is from the 1960’s but the compass looks brand new and never mounted. There is not a scratch on this thing and seems to point really well. It is a little big for my boat. Look at the photo below. I placed a lighter next to it for a little reference.

Airguide Marine Compass from eBay. A steal at $26 plus $15 shipping from NY.

I started installing the electrical system today. I'll have some photos to share later but I am still behind in posting photos from the work I did last week. I hope I will get to it tomorrow night. Long story short, it is going well. Probably the first time ever working on an electrical project without seeing any sparks. (Yet) I officially have a cabin light. By tomorrow, I should have running lights and some 12v outlets. I've been using my flexible solar panels to charge the battery. The system is set up to run 2 batteries and West Marine has a dual purpose Group 24 battery on sale for 50 bucks. I may pick one up but I really want one of those AGM or Gel batteries. I doubt I will have the money knowing that my mast problems will cost me more before its all over. More to come before the weekend is over…

This is one of the solar panels I'm using to charge the battery. I have 2 x 5 watters and 1 x 20 watter. Luckly these were already owned so I won't have to add to my ballooning cost tally  

The interior of the O'Day is in OK condition. One of the major problems is the plywood under the cushions are mildewed and mold-ridden beyond repair. It is amazing what the last owners did with it. Someone definitely went through the trouble of replacing the plywood because it certainly is not stock. What amazes me is they did not use anything to protect the wood from moisture.

Teak is the hardwood of choice when it comes to marine projects. But teak is pretty expensive. I understand if they chose to use another type of wood thats cheaper but at they at least should have covered it with something to repel moisture. Since they fail to do that, condensation and moisture naturally found its way into the cabin and eventually destroyed the plywood. The vinyl layer against the interior of the hull began to peel back and that helped trapping moisture behind and it dripped down to the edges of the plywood bunks.

Here are some photos of what it looked like:

Note the black mold in the corner of the starboard quarter berth against the bulkhead.

The old rotted wood removed and vinyl side covering peeled off. I will probably just paint the interior walls instead of replacing the vinyl. 

Port side of the v-berth where the vinyl hull interior collected water to cause more mold and mildew build up.

The same port side v-berth with the old wood removed. The space underneath is full of positive flotation foam. There are also stacks of this stuff under the cockpit sole. I will need to somehow add more if I want to install the additiona lead ballast in the bilge. 

My low-cost replacement:

Well, I can't afford teak. So I went shopping at my local hardware/lumber yard. I got some standard structural fir plywood that was more in my price range. After removing the old wood from the cabin and traced the outlines to the new plywood, I cut them out with a saber saw. I also decided to seal it with Thompson's water seal which I bought at the store for about $15. After more of less soaking the new wood in as much of this stuff, the results were pretty satisfactory. I shot a little video clip of some of the wood under my faucet to show the water repelling abilities of this combination:

This is the stuff I bought to seal the wood:

The next step will be to cut storage hatches and mount them inside the boat. I may be able to do that this weekend but looks like the weather may turn on me again.

I also bought a 4 ft x 2 ft piece of birch plywood, apply a similar liberal portion of the sealer and made new companionway hatch boards. I will take some photos of that next time I go to the boat yard to post here. They will give me a good test of how this sealer holds up especially if it rains this weekend.

So this is official. I didn't think I can make it after buying the new outboard that cost 1300 bucks. I have been trying to cut corners on the spending to make my goal of $5500 but I think I will regret it later. So here is what I did over the weekend…

As of the last purchase which is the parts for the square tubing for the tongue extension I was at $5293.37. The following purchases where made towards the tally since:

1. $27.28 - Straight 2×2 trailer tongue coupler: This is the end of the tongue extension that will connect to the hitch on the car. The other end will either u-bolt to the trailer itself or I will weld/bolt on a 2 inch ball to connect the trailer to the car.

2. $24.04 - Red and Green side navigation lights: Now this is a good deal. I went to West Marine friday to see how much the replacement perko lights were. I had these 2.5 inch diameter side-mounted round lights with holes already drilled on the boat. I didnt want to have to drill new holes. They were $90!!! So this is a steal from eBay.

3. $50.40 - Deep Cycle battery: I looked all around for batteries for a good price and I suddenly remember Costco. I really wanted to get AGM or Gel batteries but that was going to be 3 to 4 times as much as I spent. I have capacity for 2 batteries with my eBay Perko switch so maybe later I will splurge….

4. $92.46 - Miscellaneous electrical parts from Fry's: So this includes a diet coke and a couple of small things I needed but I was too lazy to substract that from the total on the receipt. It is a necessary purchase as I will need lights for this vessel to be legal and I will need wires and switches to enable the battery i bought.

5. $76.75 - 30 ft of high-tensile chain and 2 stainless steel shackles: This completes my heavy duty anchor and rode. This thing all put together is heavy! I mean now I'm thinking I need to spend more money getting an anchor bow roller and chain deck plate just to be able to use this. I am not going to like to have to drag this thing out of anchor without it. I bought a 50 ft piece of yellow nylon line to use as a trip line with an old fender tied to the end. I will really need that in place to be able to be able to unset the anchor this size. I think I will just use the smaller fluke anchor that I already have as a primary and use this on overnight trips as needed. The bow roller will have to wait.

6. $129.99 - Garelick outboard motor mount: I have been looking for a way to fix my current motor mount and also just looking to see if I can find one on eBay. People are really retarded there. It is unbelievable how many people have the I-will-over-pay-just-to-win attitude. It is a buyers market when it comes to things like this. As I was watching some guy pay up to $115 on a used Garelick I went shopping elsewhere. Amazon had the exact same one, brand new for $129.99 shipped and no tax. This will come in handy with the new motor. I really didn't want to half-ass the mount and as I was looking at it today, it just needs to go.

That pretty much brings me up to date with my weekend spending spree. the total is now $5642.97. There is one saving grace so far. The mainsail order from D&R Marine is still on backorder. That is priced at $510 with is figured into this total. I called Porpoise sailing in Florida and they told me that they can have one made for me from Thailand for as little as $375. If we figure the difference of $135, My total would actually be at $5507.97. That is still over my budget and god knows I have a long ways to go before this is all over. I am just going to keep it as is until further notice. I am keeping my toes crossed that nothing else turns up needing major repairs….. Ciao.