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Review of the Oday 35 by David Lewis

Year built 1986  
Location of boat Noank, Connecticut  
The boat is sailed on Open ocean  
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 1994  
If the clock could be turned back, would owner buy again? I have generally been very pleased with the boat. Yes I would buy it again. My only Issues with the boat have been with leaking deck fittings, and I had to replace a headliner when a leak hidden by the liner ruined the wood that the headliner fabric was stapled to. Also the Bowmar lexan hatches have crazed and need replacing.  
Gear that's been added My Micrologic Loran fried so I replaced it with a Garmin 45 handheld unit, but I built a bracket for mounting that at the navigation station and I have the 12 volt adapter to wire it in but never connected it. It works fine without an antenna external to the cabin. I also added a whisker pole and a mast car for holding the whisker pole. The mast is made by Isomat and it took some searching to find the car but not too hard. Replaced the manual Groco head with an identical unit. The head installation was illegal as purchased so I added a macerator pump and re-installed the holding tank which had been removed. I also reconnected the deck pump out hose thru a y-valve for where pump out boats are available.  
Structural or complex improvements None, just routine repairs and replacements.  
The boat's best features She is fast, sails beautifuly, well appointed and very comfortable cruiser. The backs of the settees slide up and mount in groves giving very large settee berths in the main cabin. The v-berth is also very comfortable.  
Problem areas in terms of design, materials, maintenance, etc. The mainsheet turning blocks mounted through the deck behind the hatch are constantly under a tensile load which is varying, thus the bolts are stretching and relaxing constantly working the bedding compound. These screws started leaking and they are directly above a light fixture in the main cabin which in turn is mounted through a headliner. When they leaked it was not noticed for a long time and the deck core in that area rotted and had to be replaced. It would be a good idea to pull all those screws and epoxy seal all thru deck holes to waterproff them. I made a new headliner myself and epoxy coated the wood so any leaks will not be absorbed by the wood and hopefully will run off with the motion of the boat and be noticed more readily. The Universal 25M engine runs well, I had the screw for the alternator bracket break and i had to drill it out and retap the hole. I also put in a new fuel filtration system. Access to the engine is ok but access to the steering quadrant, fuel tank and the starboard vent hoses for the hatch decks for propane tanks etc, are poor. Plastic thru hull above the waterline for venting the lockers should be replaced with bronze through hulls and double clamped for when the boat heels.  
Sailing characterisitcs The boat is pretty stable and doesn't heel excessively for given conditions and sails. I try to keep the heel angle no further than 20 degrees before reefing anyway.  
Motoring characterisitcs The engine in my opinion is underpowered for the size of boat (21 HP). It cruises smoothly at 5.3 knots but over that it starts to labor. With a hull speed of 7.1 knots or so this slows down long trips under power considerably. I am considering a prop change to get a little more speed from the same RPM's but have not pursued it. Backing the boat the stern goes to port pretty severely so pulling out of a tight slip I tend to just push her out by hand to get some way and get the rudder working and not use the engine at all.  
Liveability Outstanding!!! A little larger holding tank would be nice (approx. 15 gals?). A propane two burner stove and oven is great for cooking. I've never used the oven and doubt the last owners did either. I'd rather have that space for storage. Cabinets and lockers are adequate, lots of storage space. Good navigation station. Boat has a dodger which I recommend and roller furling also recommended. The swim platform is the best invention yet. I scuba dive and it is invaluable for that.  
The owner's experience in dealing with Hunter (if any) [builder]  
The owner's experience with the boat dealer or broker, if any Bought thru a broker and no problems with the experience.  
Other comments  

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