DS I from a friend, ?s

[downeast]

I am looking to get a DS1 from a friend, but it has a few oddities that concerned me that I'd like ask about here:

First I am sure it is a DS1, and it bears an O'day badge on the cuddy.

So, the rudder is made entirely of aluminum. It is a similar shape to the wood and fiberglass DSI rudders I am used to seeing, yet its made entirely from aluminum up to the tiller. I am assuming this came from another boat, but I'm not to sure about it.

Secondly, the mast has a tabernacle but the lower half that remains inside the cuddy appears to not be cut from the original mast as it is a differnt shape and color, as well as having a halyard runner groove (name?) This lower section is then stepped into a small block of wood that is caulked to the keel.

But aside from needing a coat of paint in cockpit and some varnish on the brightwork, the boat is in great condition. It has all the rigging and the sails are in great shape. So my question is this, are these issue anything to be concerned with or should I just pull the trigger on the boat?

Thanks,
downeast

[jdubes]

If you could take some pictures that would be very helpful. The stock DS rudder is very bulky so people have either bought or built aluminum replacement parts for the rudder.

http://daysailer.org/pdf/qtr_betterrudder_104.pdf

[GreenLake]

...the mast has a tabernacle but the lower half that remains inside the cuddy appears to not be cut from the original mast as it is a differnt shape and color, as well as having a halyard runner groove (name?) This lower section is then stepped into a small block of wood that is caulked to the keel.

The tabernacle effectively turns the lower mast part into a compression post. As long as that is strong enough to hold the compression loads, you are fine. A change in profile as such is not by itself problematic, because these two parts are now meachnically independent (because of the hinge).

At your leasure, you could replace the caulk by a bit of epoxy and glass, but if it's been sailed that way, I don't see an immediate issue.