Oday Owner Reviews

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Review of the Oday 23 by Joseph Orinko

Year built 1973  
Location of boat Erie, PA  
The boat is sailed on The Great Lakes  
How the boat is used Weekends and longer  
Normal wind strength 10-15 knots  
Average size of crew 2-4  
Liveaboard? No  
Owner bought the boat in 1985  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? Absolutely. I marval at out good luck in selecting this boat.  
Gear that's been added knotmeter, compass, swimladder, radio  
Structural or complex improvements Moved the gas in receptacle.  
The boat's best features strong, easy to sail, relatively fast, comfortable cockpit, trailerable,  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. We've had problems with the centerboard sticking. Recent haulout and fix showed the problem was a cast iron stub keep with the centerboard pin holes bored UN-true in the keel (the pin isn't in a perpendicular plane). Recent fix required an hour-glass shaped delrin rod, inducing some slop in the pivot.  
Sailing characterisitcs Boat rarely sails with more than 15 degrees heel. Deck sweeping genoa really moves the boat - especially on a beat. We recently trailered to 1000 islands for a week cruise - a great vacation, and except for size, a 36' would provide standup headroom in the cabin, we have been very satisfied with the 23 - hence 15 years resistence to 'foot-i-tis'  
Motoring characterisitcs Equipped with 6 hp outboard, the boat moves at hull speed most of the time. The 73 23 has a stern cutout for the motor - instead of a outboard bracket. The result seems like more noise is 'right there' in the cockpit. The result has been to become better sailors, anything to avoid the noise. The motor does do a fair job of moving the boat at 1 knot for trolling in Lake Erie.  
Liveability AT 23' x 8' - no one could live aboard this boat. But after a week cruising 1000 Islands, we regretted coming back to shore based living - that's the sign of a great vacation. We cruise as a couple - just 2, and the cubic capacity is sufficient for us. The 5 berth ad, for us means drop the table for a double (really a 1.3 = 42" wide) berth, and fill the V berth and quarterberth with stuff.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) [builder]  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Bought from an individual.  
Other comments Our 'Unicorn' is a 1973 Oday23 which we bought in July 1983. Our name had just come up for a 25 foot slip, and after discovering that the Cataline 25 we were looking at wouldn't fit (according to the rules of the state park, at that time), we found the ODay23 for sale in one of the 25 foot slips. We had a sailor friend check it out and we didn't find anything bad. After buying it, we discovered a deck leak and a sticking centerboard. A year later we found a little blistering, and that season put it in the water late after scraping, interlux 1000, interlux 2000 (blistering coatings), and 4 coats of ablative paint for the bottom. We also rebedded the forward stantion, and repainting the skid areas (light blue), thereby fixing the leak. We added a dark blue painted boot stripe and sheer stripe. The previous owner said if he was in the market for that size again, he'd be interested. Since then we have done very little to the boat, except enjoy it. With it's cast iron stub keel and 5' centerboard, it doesn't heel much, but its relatively fast for a cruiser on a beat or reach. Our typical usage was day sailing out of our marina slip on Presque Isle Bay and Lake Erie (Erie, PA). Trailering to the backyard kept winter storage costs to minimum. The family car was always capable of making the move (3 miles) out in spring, back home in fall. Sleeps 5 worked while the kids were very small. Now with all our gear, Sue & I are looking to trailer it places for 1 week vacations, living on board; seems to look ok for that. We highly recommend the boat. Now-a-days, 3500 lbs of boat and 800# 2 axle trailer require a substantial tow vehicle (we just got a used Explorer, with the factory tow package and the 4.0L V6, which is rated at 5000#). If you're "In the slip mode", any friend with a V8 pickup could easily move it back and forth. We've talked about moving up, but a number of years ago decided that until we could get over 30 ft, we didn't see much benefit for how we use the boat. I figure about 5 more years of trailering to exotic NE US sites, and we'll be ready to move up. When we do, I'm considering not selling the ODAY. The whole outfit is only worth about $5K, and for that little, we think we'll just let the kids use it, or let it set, until we want to move back down from the big boat (about a 32'). The centerboard sticking is the only problem we've decided to live with. Our solution is a 3/8" stainless rod 5' long, with which we push the board down thru the cable sheath. Seems like the more we move the board, the easier it gets. Some years it works fine; others it requires a dip over the side, with a mini crow-bar. This sounds like a common problem with ODays, and I'm guessing the problem is a leak into the centerboard balsa core, which swells, causing the stick. Other than the CB, the we're very happy with the boat. It's beefy, which is good for Lake Erie, and easy to handle. Read about our home sailing grounds at http://www.ncinter.net/~unicorn/picruise/ If you have any specific questions, send us a note. / JOE & SUE|| ODAY23 / ORINKO ||'UNICORN' /____________||_______======= | | unicorn@ncinter.net | | voice 814-456-6469 | | ______________________| | | | | ______| |_|  

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