by SUNBIRD » Fri Jun 01, 2018 4:50 pm
Interesting to note that the original version of those install instructions from O'DAY list an additional pin in the parts list! I suspect that was to insert through the base of the mast to lock mast to original maststep in cuddy. Gee, it is interesting to find out that my 1979 DS II (#10201) was not the only one built with the mast step not lining up with the compression post (plastic pipe) under the cuddy floor! Mine had cracked sometime before I bought the boat In 1996 and I guess the previous owner had tried to fix it, however...he wasn't all that skilled in fiberglass repairs and so early in my ownership I was out for a glorious sail and suddenly heard a loud BANG! The rigging went slack at the same time and it did not take long to notice that the crack In the cuddy floor was now very obvious and the mast was causing a lot of flex! I made it back in, and after unstopping the mast (mine is still one-piece, no hinge yet) I removed the mast step and placed a 1/8" thick aluminum plate (about 6" x 9") between the mast step and the cuddy floor. That allowed me to finish that first season (short one, only in for a month). That Winter I cut an access panel in the cuddy floor and rebuilt the mast step area, starting by replacing the well rotted out 3/4" plywood under the mast step. I then added a 1/4" thick aluminum plate under the mast step to spread the load over a larger section of the cuddy floor. Nine years later, I finally rebuilt the area correctly by moving the compression pipe so that it is now directly under the mast step, and again replaced the plywood underneath (I didn't seal it well enough the first time and it rotted out again). My mast now stands slightly taller as I ended up raising the mast step area of the cuddy floor about 1/2" or more while fixing things.
Our Day Sailers (like most O'DAY Boats?) are beautifully built where you can see it, but hidden areas are not always quite so "perfect"!
- Attachments
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- The plate that I added between mast step and cuddy floor
- CB-rig_fwd blocks.jpg (140.6 KiB) Viewed 3141 times
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- My rebuilt mast step area-bilge
- rebuilt mast pipe1.JPG (71.93 KiB) Viewed 3141 times
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- I ncase anyone needs to cut into cuddy floor, this is the approximate location of the "deck beams" that support floor
- DS II under cuddy stringers.jpg (53.43 KiB) Viewed 3141 times
Rod Johnson, "SUNBIRD"
1979 DS II, # 10201