New DS I owner!

[bgreywolf]

Hello everyone! My name is Ben.
I just picked up a DS1, I'd guess late 60s/early 70s build. I put the boat straight in storage so I can fix it up before sailing weather next spring.
The boat is reasonably complete, and solid, although it needs some cosmetic attention and I'm sure there are some missing pieces. The stays and most of the rigging are at least 15 years old so I will replace them regardless.
The boat appears to have had a single owner, who bought a larger boat about 25 years ago and used the DS less often. About 10 years ago, he bought sails for it, used it a season, and put it in his barn.
Earlier this year, he went to pull it out of the barn; after a new set of bearings, rims and tires on the trailer he had it as far as his front yard and decided to just sell it. I got it for not much more than what it cost him to move it those few feet.
Anyway, I've looked over the boat and the fiberglass is dull but solid and not blistered. There are a couple repairs where it looks like he dropped the mast half-stepped, and one midships where the rub rail is broken away; perhaps a minor collision with the corner of a dock? Neither repair is large and the damage is confined to the immediate area; but not pretty work. Sanding and painting the whole boat should fix all those things, as well as a good coat of varnish.

Anyway, here are the first of a raft of questions and a promise that next month when I get back to the boat I'll send more details and pictures:
Note: I haven't sailed a small boat in years (although I am a professional mariner on a diesel-electric vessel). I forget about 80% of the names of things so bear with me.

1. Since I'll be rigging this from scratch, and trailer/day-sailing it alone about 2/3 of the time, is there a particular way I should rig it for my convenience? I'll rarely have an experienced crew.
2. Anything particular to the DS I I should watch out for while I am refurbishing it? I've already checked the transom and curlins for rot, and the fiberglass for soft spots and cracks. I'll probably remove the flotation and replace it with new (I'm told pool noodles work well?)
3. Good products for painting the fiberglass, coating the woodwork, and so on? I have heard DR Marine is the place to buy ODay specific parts.
4. Does anyone sell the ODay Daysailer logos? I have both but one is broken. I might have to make a mold of the unbroken one and cast new ones for after painting...

And lastly, if anyone else is around Augusta, Maine (I'm about halfway from Augusta to Brunswick) I'd gladly provide coffee, beer, or whatever beverages are of interest, for a set of experienced eyes and some advice.

Cheers!
Ben

[rnlivingston]

Hi Ben

Welcome to the forum. The O'Day DS1 is a great boat.

A hinged tabernacle mast is a must if you are going to be putting the mast up and down frequently. For single handed sailing, the jib sheet cleats should be mounted on the top of the centerboard trunk. This is the original configuration and allows you to easily reach the jib sheets. A good ratcheting block on the main sheet will allow you to hand hold the main sheet uncleated in heavy air. and a good tiller extension is a must.

I think you have covered everything that could be a problem on a DS1. Check all the hull fittings to make sure they are secured properly. And definitely replace the floatation. Your boat will be 50 pounds lighter.

I like Interlux products for painting fiberglass although there are a lot of good yacht paints out there. I like Brightside and their two part product Perfection. For brightwork, I use Minwax Yachtsman Urethane, which works well as long as I keep my woodwork covered when not sailing. If I was not covering the wood, I would use a good marine varnish such as Epithane.

Not sure where to get a logo. I know it has been discussed on this forum.

[GreenLake]

What Roger said.

I'd like to add that I didn't know what I wanted until I sailed the boat some. And I've gone back on some ideas that looked good but didn't make the difference I thought they would. Highly personal stuff, that. And some depends on sailing conditions.
Check out the latest posts in the "Rigging section" of this forum, for example.

Someone there made a nice priority ranking from safety via sailability to cosmetics. Worth taking into consideration, if your aim is sailing the boat, not just restoring her.

For the woodwork, there's one option that divides people, which is to seal the wood with epoxy before varnishing. I tried it on thwarts and coamings and it's astounding how much it reduces the cracking of the varnish (because the sealed wood doesn't breathe any more). I used a PU varnish for scratch resistance and I'm about 4-5 seasons in and may need to touch up the varnish on some corners and the top edge of the coamings. That's the longest it's lasted (boat is covered when not sailed). Downside is, whenever the epoxy fails, it's a bear to redo... Opposite school would oil everything, trading short-lived protection against ease of re-application and touch-up. Not a bad choice if you're the type that runs around your boat with a brush a lot. But once you do it, you're kind of committed to that plan..The in-between, which is to say the various varnish options, at least in my experience, all required regular complete restoration from the wood up.

As far North as you are, I would think, the damage to any varnish from moisture cycling in storage might exceed the deterioration from sun exposure.

[jeadstx]

If any parts need replacing specific to the Day Sailer, check out D&R Marine and Cape Cod Shipbuilding (current builder of the Day Sailer).

John

[bgreywolf]

Thank you for the warm welcome!
Here's a picture from when I first brought the boat home. Still haven't come up with a name (nor done any work on it, aside from a careful wrapping to keep it clean and dry 'til I can work on it).

A hinged tabernackle sounds like an excellent idea; does the hinge remove so the mast can be stowed without removing the lower section? That would also save the roof of the cabin (mine has already been repaired where the mast apparently got away at one point).

I'll probably use the same (or similar) to current colors, but I'm not really "restoring" for accuracy so much as building it up to be a fun daysailer to last until I decide what I *really* want (although I'm hoping what I *really* want will be this boat with a little overhauling and a few touches and tweaks).

Rebuilding the trailer is on the short list too. Nothing "wrong" with it but there's a lot that needs to be set right.

I'm off to peruse the rigging forum!
Cheers!
Ben

[GreenLake]

No rush with naming your boat. Get it right. Took me forever

There are people who swear by keel-stepped masts.

Mine came with a curious contraption that a clever PO had thought up. It gives me the pivot point that a mast hinge provides, but the mast remains keel-stepped. I've written it up and mentioned it occasionally, so searching for sleeve should find some reference to it. (I like it so much that I've since restored it).

Doing the trailer work first is an eminently sensible thing to do - nothing worse than having a bearing disintegrate on you or a bunk come loose during transport. The first happened to me during the first season I had the boat. Luckily less than a 1/4 mile from home, and after briefly locking, the wheel consented to turn on the remnants without coming off, so I made it back.

Mine had a swimming pool green top; thankfully a PO decided to cover it with red paint (see my gallery). Wish I knew which modern paint matches what he used, because it's survived many seasons beyond it's notional life span. I kept the white hull, but eventually repainted it the same color. Since you sail in northern latitudes, you don't have to go for a light colored deck, I doubt it would get too hot, so you can follow your taste.

Have we mentioned getting new sails? Have we mentioned getting a reef point or two? New sails are going to just make the boat more enjoyable, and getting them with reef-points means that you can depower to where you don't have to struggle in building winds - especially if you single hand a lot.

[kokko]

We are all envying the red barn in the background. It looks like the perfect place for repairs over the winter

[bgreywolf]

I envy the red barn too. It's my neighbor's.
I've got a dirt driveway and a 100-year-old-shed that is listing at about 10 degrees port aft (not safe for storage, let alone work... going to be removed in spring).

The Daysailer is going to be renovated in a 10x20 portable shelter. That will distract me from the renovation of my old 1850s farmhouse (10 rooms, 2 of them heated...!)
Ben

[kokko]

Do post your hull number to the list. It will help you date it. Did you get the mahogany floor boards?

[kokko]

We should put together a punch list for all new ds owners. Maybe move it over to misc

[bgreywolf]

I got the floorboards, not sure what the wood is. I might make a matching-height floor for the cuddy to allow stretching out (and to keep stored items off the deck).

I don't have a hull number yet, hopefully it's attached but I haven't searched for it yet. I have to look over the sails to see if they have reef points; the fabric looks quite good and they've been flat-stored indooors since the mid-90s, then rolled up and bagged for the sale.

The boat has the molded seats and transom "box" for the outboard. It's definitely an O'day. There is no HIN molded into the transom. The covers for the storage compartment forward are missing (if they were ever there). The centerboard lowers with a bronze handle (or should lower; haven't tested it on the trailer...). What other indicators of approximate production date should I be looking for in my photos of the boat? It's going to be a couple weeks before I can see it again, and I'm getting impatient, lol!

Lastly--I tried to go through the Daysailer spreadsheet. The headers are missing so I don't know what each column represents...

Thanks again, and I am looking forward to getting this in the water in spring (and maybe meeting some of the Northeastern DS contingent!).

[GreenLake]

Some kind of Mahogany was used for much of the wood on the early DSs.

Forward bulkhead covers that you are missing were just flat lids, held in place by a bungee each, attached to the inside of the hull, with a grip to lift them. Easy to "replicate" from some plywood (marine, if you can get it, then epoxy sealed and spray-painted to match). No hinges or anything.

No HIN, would mean pre-1971, perhaps your coamings, the rear one, has set of holes from rivets for a missing builder's plate?

If the sails have sail numbers, those might have the number. Also, state registration papers, might have been filled in with that at the time. Mine was, the number being possibly correct even, though the year was mistaken (just took the year predating the universal HIN).

Hope nobody destroyed the spreadsheet...

[bgreywolf]

It's just the headers that were missing from the spreadsheet, I think. I was mostly hoping to see what the important changes were over the years, so if I couldn't find a hull number I could figure out the approximate build date.
There may be a build plate that I just didn't see--I was busier scooping leaves out (fresh fallen, the owner did clean it before he pulled it outside) and checking for cracks/soft spots in the fiberglass than looking for the details--as a non-power boat, I won't have to register it and the PO hadn't registered it in about 20 years so he didn't know where the papers were.
Also, the sail numbers...I noted there were numbers, but I didn't have the good sense to take a picture of them before we rolled the sails up and slid them into the bag. Again, new 10 years ago and used for a short season on a mid-sized lake (or so I was told, but they looked good).
Frankly, I wouldn't mind buying new sails if it came to it--more than 2/3 of the price of the boat was brand new bearings, wheels and tires on the trailer!
Ben
Greenlake--that's quite an impressive broadside! I also noticed Kokko's boat is named Truelove. I've been reading O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin novels and literally finished The Truelove last night (read the Hornblower books years ago). I guess they're pretty popular around these circles!

[GreenLake]

Thanks - and still the best novel with small boat action (but few cannons): "Riddle of the Sands", by Erskine Childers.

If the sails were new 10 years ago, does that mean the PO bought them new? Or just, that 10 years ago they were new. Matters for the sail numbers if it's a set that was bought "slightly used" from another boat.

In terms of sailing, being stored should be less detrimental than being used. Flogging appears to do the worst, then UV exposure, if left out and uncovered. If they still hold the shape and set well, delaying the purchase should be fine. Make all your initial mistakes, and all that. If you have a local sailmaker, you could have them looked at, and if good, have a set of reef points added (a bit over $100), if there aren't any.

At the minimum, unroll them and inspect them for now, not just to get the number, but to check the stitching or any tears and that all the battens are there. You should be able to see signs of use (or their absence) to corroborate the seller's story.

[bgreywolf]

I'm debating asking the PO for a fuller history of my boat.
My understanding from our discussion at time of purchase:
It was his first boat, in his teen years (so probably around late 60s to 1970?). Not sure if it was new/used then; I'd taken it to have been a new purchase but looking back he never said that.
He sailed it regularly for some years; then got several larger boats, both sail and power.
This boat (I should ask if he ever named it?) was in and out of storage; he used it to teach his kids to sail but none of them ever claimed it.
Kids are gone, other boats are used regularly. This boat was sailed "around 2004 or 5" and needed sails; so boat and trailer were minimally overhauled and brand new sails purchased.
At the end of that season, the sails were hung in the barn and the boat was put inside for storage.
Fast forward to this summer; barn needs to be cleared out for renovations and trailer doesn't even roll.
PO replaces trailer wheels and bearings, rolls it around front, sees the better part of a dozen boats in the yard and puts For Sale signs on several.
I bought it for a little more than the cost of the trailer repairs.
Ben