Been Awhile...

I sailed twice a week up until I pulled the boat out of the water in December 2011. I had a leak I wanted to fix and I was unsure how much I'd be able to sail in the California winter, in hindsight I would have sailed all winter long. I have really enjoyed this boat and look forward to getting back out there.

We welcomed a little girl into our family last year and the boat took a back seat until things settled down a bit. My son is going to be five this summer and he's anxious to go on the boat again so we've been getting things prepared. I've been busy working on the motor all week and hope to have it finished up soon.

I found a long shaft Suzuki DT8 with a bad motor on EBay and thought I could just transfer my power head. Sounded good in theory but as usual the seller over hyped the condition and the more I tear into it the more parts I need. Galvanic corrosion has made disassembling a real pain and nearly every bolt is frozen. Waiting on some new parts to arrive and should have it finished up next week, having a long shaft is going to make things so much easier.

Still lots to do...

1. Fix leaking lower gudgeon
2. Wash main sail
3. Wash entire boat
4. Who knows but I know there's more!

I also ordered a main sail cover, jib bag and tiller cover from Diego's Custom Marine . I ran across their eBay store and liked the price of a Sunbrella cover with twist locks made to your dimensions. I'll post some pictures when they come in next week.

O'day 22 Forestay Fitting Reinforcement

I had some free time this weekend so I decided to tackle a project I've been thinking about for some time. On my other boat the forestay fitting is distorted from probably years of improper rigging tension or being inadequately fastened to the deck. I thought it would be a good idea to add some reinforcement to keep the rigging from peeling it back off the deck. I searched around the Internet and came up with a couple different ways to do it, would just depend on what the local west marine had in stock.

I decided to build an adjustable strut from the forestay fitting to the bow eye. I replaced the original bow eye with a heavy duty u-bolt for added strength before I trailered it to the lake.

The hardware was found at west marine and consists of a turnbuckle, couple 6" tangs with 3/8 pins, two misc L-brackets and some washers and cotter pins. It was the first time I walked out of West Marine spending less than $50, I resisted the urge to buy a marine BBQ.

I'm happy with the way it turned out and it should add some much needed strength. I finished up sooner than expected which never happens so I decided to take her out for awhile. It was the first time I've singlehanded this boat and won't be the last, had some good wind and a great time!

New O'day 22 Main Sail

I'm glad I was able to moor the boat for the summer, I've been able to get out twice a week for some excellent sailing! The Oday 22 is such a pleasure to sail, very forgiving and yet still very capable. I've been using the blown out main sail that came with the boat and decided it's time to break out the new main from FX Sails. What an amazing difference, I swear this boat points higher and has better light wind performance. If your in the market for a new sail definitely consider a loose foot sail from FX Sails, you can't beat the price and the quality is top notch.

We were just settling into a starboard tack back to the marina when I realized I needed a photo to show my wife the sail I bought three years ago really exists. She had heard me talk about for some time but it's been collecting dust in my office at work.

Cheers!