Purchase of a DS1

[xraydude]

Hello all, I am currently looking to purchase a used Day Sailer and have a few questions. I must admit that I consider myself a "newbie" to sailing but have gathered quite a bit of knowledge from this forum. The few boats that I have seen thus far, DS1 70's vintage, seem to exhibit the same flaws, don't know if it's common on the DS or not. What I have noticed is the lower area of the transom, where the lower gudgeon attaches, seems to be rotted. Is this common on the DS? A few of the boats that are sitting on trailers have a concave area of fiberglass along the bottom around each of the trailer bunks Though the area did not seem "spongy", is it common for the hull to flex a bit around the bunks? And lastly, some of the DS1's centerboards do not retract completely into the trunk. Roughly 5"-6" of CB extends below the keel when in the up position. Normal? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

[GreenLake]

These are indeed common issues.

The CB is easy to fix. Usually the square hole into which the CB handle fits has worn. Many people have had good success with simply inserting a metal shim.

The transom does have a piece of (poorly) encapsulated wood. Removing that and replacing it by a piece of wood sealed in epoxy and glassed back in is a straightforward if slightly awkward repair. It does not involve the outside of the boat at all, so it's something that's tolerant of some beginner's mistakes.

The bunks on most trailers are not wide enough to adequately support the flat hull sections. So you will see what you described. A minor case may be addressed by some external fairing of the hull, some boats also have "stringers" on the floor that may be in questionable shape (same remarks apply as for the transom).

If you don't plan on racing competitively, moderate hull flexing and concave areas shouldn't prevent you from enjoying your boat. As you say, the majority of them show some signs of it, and people sail them happily.

However, especially if pronounced or if the laminate has weakened, the "cure" would be to strengthen the hull from the inside. That's a major undertaking (full restoration) but will result in boat with superior performance, even compared to what the same boat had when new. For details check this forum for an older thread in the "Repair" section, called "the Core project".

Armed with this information you should be able to decide whether you are willing to undertake some repair or restoration work yourself and how much of it. Depending on that your available choices broaden.

In summary, these boats are eminently repairable (the early DS1s are somewhat easier in that regard than the DSIIs) and it is even possible to restore them not only like new, but better than new. Some of the issues can be safely ignored for a season or two, while you get a feel for the boat and decide whether it's worth further efforts.

Good luck.

[xraydude]

Thanks for the reply GL. I have done fiberglass repair in the past on an old Bertram of mine so I will be doing all of the repair work my self. Funny that you should mention that the bunks on the trailers are too narrow, if I do get this boat, the bunks are in need of replacing, I'll just make sure that I use a wider PT piece of lumber. The wood floors are missing in all of the boats that I have seen, I would like to install some type of composite that closely resembles the original, but not add to much weight. Would you happen to know what type of wood was used on the older DS1s?

[GreenLake]

Some people swear by nearly full width bunks (that is, enough surface to support the entire flat area). If you have expertise in fiberglass, I would encourage you to retrofit substantial stringers along the floor (a full core project, I assume, is out of reach, if solely for the amount of effort it requires - it's not something I'll likely get around to, myself).

For the trim (coamings) O'Day used mahogany on my boat (sands pink), but the floorboards sand more towards a light yellow. If the answer isn't buried deep in the forum somewhere, I don't know. Also, some people have either posted plans, or posted offers to furnish plans. For the wood, I would pick something durable that can survive being "drowned" occasionally.

[K.C. Walker]

I agree with everything that Green Lake said, and I'm the one that did the Core Project. Years after doing the work I'm still very happy with the results but it was a big undertaking. The boat has been an absolute delight to sail. I think that it's likely that using stringers could get a soft boat an awful lot of the way there.

The floorboards and coaming for my boat is Philippine mahogany.

[xraydude]

Well the hunt still contiues for a DS1. Every boat I have checked out thus far exhbits varius flaws that I can deal with and repair, but there is one problem that I am not sure of. Many of the hulls have tiny gel coat blistering along the water line. The areas do not seem soft, but i am concerned. If it were you, would you concider buying a hull with tiny blisters just above the boot stripe?

Thanks

[K.C. Walker]

Tiny blisters above the boot stripe could be dealt with but then you would probably want to paint the top sides ( the hull sides). I would speculate that if you really started looking, you'd find blisters on the bottom as well.

I think blisters are like mice, where you see one there are at least 10 that you don't see. When I first bought my boat I thought the hull looked good. It was pretty shiny and original gelcoat. It had never had bottom paint on it. I fixed a few cracks after I got the boat home and started to wonder about the soft bottom. I still was not aware of any blisters. After the boat was in the water for a month I was swimming around it and scrubbing off the small amount of algae growth when I noticed blisters in the boot stripe. By the time I finished overhauling the bottom of my boat I had repaired lots of blisters. It's a pain, no doubt. However, if they are just on the bottom and the bottom is not soft it's not a terrible job. If you let the boat dry out after you pop all of the blisters (I used a countersink) it's relatively easy to fair out the countersink spots. Of course, you then need a barrier coat of epoxy to prevent future blistering. This repair has held up great even with the boat in the water for eight weeks at a time.

[xraydude]

Thanks K.C.