Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

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Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby HanksDad » Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:16 pm

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3995576740562209/

Looking at getting this. The price looks good.

Anything to specifically look out for? It's a Daysailer 1 isn't it? Open cubby?
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby tomodda » Wed Jun 30, 2021 5:55 pm

Yes, that's a DS1. Looks a lot like mine when I first brought her. The price is great (same as what I paid). Absent any obvious issues (holes in the hull), there's no reason not to buy it. You WILL discover problems, but everything is fixable. Get rid of the jumper stays first thing, though! Realize that $750 is just your "scratch" to get into the game. To give you a ballpark, I've poured about $5K into my boat in 4 years, although a lot of it was "nice to have," not "need to have." All I did in my first season was general cleaning, build new benches (I have the original style wooden benches), strip the old paint, and paint my bilges. And then I went sailing with a very ugly boat, but who cares? Everything else can wait.

Some practical tips: before you buy, make sure the previous owner has a good title to the trailer. Boat title is good too, of course, but getting a new trailer title is a true pain in the ass. Do some research on what papers you need in your state, don't expect the owner to know. Make sure the wheels spin well, depending how far you have to travel, you may want to repack the bearings before you start out. Again, do some research, don't expect the owner to know or care. When I bought mine, I had the wrong size trailer hitch ball, so I had to run to nearest auto parts store. Don't expect the lights to work, etc. In general, be ready for the "taking the boat home" adventure to take all day and then some. Figure out where you're going to keep the boat/trailer when you're not on the water.

That's really about it.

Good luck!

Tom
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby HanksDad » Thu Jul 01, 2021 6:34 am

Thanks,

Yeah the trailer issue is just becoming apparent. I’m in MA so bringing an out of state trailer back is a pain. It sounds like I need to get the title, then get a plate, then go back for the boat.
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby GreenLake » Thu Jul 01, 2021 12:11 pm

Definitely what Tom said.

My estimate is that I spend about 1K / year on sailing the DS, excluding costs of towing vehicle and excluding my reading habit (whether about sailing or maintenance). Also excluding tools etc. that are also used on other projects. But including life jackets, electric motors, regular sail replacement (5-8 years in my case), trailer parts, etc., etc., all averaged.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby HanksDad » Thu Jul 01, 2021 3:27 pm

Thanks, there's no title for the trailer so I'm going to give it a miss. If I was in NH and towing it a short distance I'd be more willing to take a risk.
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby tomodda » Thu Jul 01, 2021 6:31 pm

That's sad news! Because otherwise that boat looks good at a great price. But yes... Chasing after the title will drive you semi-insane, the cost savings aren't worth the added hassle.

Tom
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby GreenLake » Fri Jul 02, 2021 12:27 am

Another option is to simply source a suitable trailer (suitable in that you can adapt it to the boat) and then use that. A trailer of for a DS uses either all bunks or mixed rollers and bunks, like on this picture.

2798

To get a boat home, even a flat trailer would do. With some wide padded wedges to stabilize the boat and something like a bit of carpet to pad the keel line, it ought to be possible to secure the boat with straps. I haven't tried that yet, but I can't immediately see a reason why that can't work. It's not convenient to load/unload, but 2-3 guys should be enough to wrestle the boat on and off, 4 or more would make easy work of that task.

After that, you have all the leisure to find a suitable trailer.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby jalmeida51 » Fri Jul 02, 2021 9:11 am

I was told by a friend that lives in Ma. that trailers under a certain gross weight are not titled. Get a bill of sale for the trailer. and go to the D.M.V. tell them it is home built. Or call them or do what we do in Florida borrow a plate from a friend.

Best of luck, John
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby bilbo » Fri Jul 02, 2021 10:31 am

Just saw this and will concur titling and stuff can be a royal pain. We bought our boat from someone in Minnesota. The boat is registered through MN DNR. I am a ND resident, so I registered the boat through ND Game & Fish. Easy. MN require trailers to be titled and registered. I went to transfer the title and found that ND does not title trailers less than I believe 5k gross. I knew they didn't require registration but I thought they still titled them. I can get a special tag that counts as 'registration' in other states (like MN) so I can tow legally there, so that's what I do, but the title is still technically in limbo.

MN tracks title transfers from both buyer and seller, and I've been getting nastygrams threatening fines and such from them over the past 8 months or so because they require the title be transferred within X days of sale. The procedure there is the seller signs over the title and rips off a little stub and mails that in. I think it's so they can prove they aren't owners of the property in case something happens while the paperwork is in-between owners. I've tried reaching out to them through several channels to work it out and haven't gotten anywhere. It's even more complicated because of the COVID policies they have so I couldn't walk into an MN DMV and work it out. I think they're lifting some of that now so it may be time to try again. Incredibly frustrating.

I've also found that different agencies handle registrations in different states. I bought a snowmobile a while back and had nothing but issues trying to register that so I could legally use it on trails. In MN they are registered through DNR. Titles aren't really involved there. ND handles them through the DMV and treats them like cars, requiring a title. Getting a title for a vehicle that doesn't have one is a true pain. I tried for two years and got nowhere. I'd go to the DMV and they told me what I needed to do, so I'd do that and come back and that person would say that the previous person was wrong and I had to do something different. Eventually I just gave up.
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby Brianl289 » Fri Jul 02, 2021 11:42 am

At least here in Texas titling boats and trailers happens at two different agencies. Titling a trailer is very easy. Can go the home built route which is quick and cheap. Titling a boat is an absolute nightmare. I am at month 3 trying to get mine titled.
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby HanksDad » Sat Jul 03, 2021 4:16 pm

Thanks all, I’m going to leave it. I’ve heard horror stories about the home built route because the insurance want a VIN number, too many issues and we’ve 3 young kids. MassRMV are awful to deal with. We just moved states and it was much harder than it should have been.

He’s dropped it to 600 but I’m going to get a javelin I found cheap that I can sail for this year and next and swap that for a daysailer in a year or two. I just want something I can mess around with my 5-6 year old daughter on, and I’ve sailed javelins in the past. My wife’s a medical fellow so money frees up when she finally finishes next year but for now we’re penny pinching.
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Re: Buying An O'day Daysailer 1?

Postby tomodda » Sat Jul 03, 2021 5:13 pm

Javelin sounds perfect for "messing about in boats" with a young lady. Hopefully the start of a lifetime on the water, good on you for starting a father-daughter adventure together! Remember, keep it light, keep it fun.

Fair winds,

Tom
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