by jeadstx » Wed Jan 22, 2014 5:59 pm
K.C., Let's talk boats. I don't sail all the boats at this time. The Rhodes 19 and the Beetle Boat Swan are both being restored. The BB Swan was given to me a few years ago. When I get it done I want to sail it on Lady Bird Lake in downtown Austin. The ramp is 5 minutes from where I work, it would be good for after work in the summer. The BB Swan is a fiberglass copy of a Beetle Cat made by Carl Beetle of the Beetle family. The Beetle Boat Company was eventually bought by Marscot who built the early O'Day boats. Some features of the Swan are found in early O'Day boats. It has the same centerboard lever mechanism as the DS1. My boats reside in the back yard so storage is not a problem and I work on them as time (and weather) allow. I have no covered areas to work in. The DS2 I sail the most right now and I've done most of the things to it that I want to do. The Mariner I aquired in October, it was in the right place (not too far a drive), at the right time and price (a time when I had funds available). I learned to sail on a 1969 Mariner 2+2 when my dad bought it brand new. When I got the R19, I thought it was as close as I was going to get to ever getting a Mariner, although I always wanted a R19 too. The Mariner and R19 have the same hull.
I currently refer to the DS2, R19, and Mariner as the "O'Day Collection". My last order from D&R confused Rudy because I ordered a Mariner tiller and he wanted to make sure it wasn't for a R19 or DS2 which he knew I had. Although I have sailed my DS2 in the past Tx200's, I plan to sail the Mariner this year's event. I know the DS2 can do the 200 miles without a problem. I plan to do try to race the DS2 some more than just once a year. Currently I'm re-routing the halyards to the cockpit on the Mariner. with the whole discussion on another post about blistering, I crawled underneath the Mariner to see if I had blistering, some cleaning needed, no blisters.
As a comparison of the three O'Day boats, they have some similar parts. All three are centerboard boats, both the R19 and the Mariner where also produced as keel models. The boom on all three are exactly the same. The DS2 and Mariner use the same spreaders. All three use the same 5/8" jib tracks, except the R19 is mounted on top the cuddy cabin and the Mariner is mounted on the cabin top. The R19 and Mariner use the same 165 lb. iron CB with same UH/DH system, the Mariner has an additional 200 lbs. of ballast along the CB trunk (100 lbs. each side). The R19 has wood floor, decking in the stern and coamings like a DS1, except the flooring has ribs that are structural that need to be replaced every 15 years or so. My R19 is having the ribs replaced. Greenlake, I think the R19 cockpit is as long as a DS1, but maybe a little wider. The R19 and the Mariner LOA is 19'-2". The R19 has a tapered mast with internal halyards, and jumper stays. The minimum draft of the R19 and Mariner is 10", maximum draft is 4'-11". Those are a few comparisons.
John
1976 Day Sailer II, #8075 - Completed the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Texas 200
1952 Beetle Boat Swan Catboat
Early Rhodes 19
1973 Mariner 2+2, #2607 - Completed 2014, 2015 and 2016 Texas 200
1969 Day Sailer I, #3229
Fleet 135; Canyon Lake, Texas