Conference unifix::sailing

    O'Day has made a serie of daysailers with cuddy cabins for years.
    The strike me as reasonable boats.   I am not sure if you require
    a centerboard or not (I assume you do), but the combination of
    under 20', centerboard (shallow draft) and roomy cuddy cabin (for
    a port-a-pottie) is pretty rare.  Most boats in this size with a
    cuddy have room for lunch and thats about it.  When the builders
    go to fixed keels they also seem more willing to add depth to the
    hull and room to the cabin.
    
    Anyway check out some O'Day's (the Daysailers go back some 20 years
    I think, so there should be a selection - even in your area).
    
    Walt

     The O'Day series of daysailers are good sailing boats and seem
    to be built well but i don't think any of them (17' or so) have
    enough room in the cuddy for a head. Someone on the lake i live
    on has an old Venture (built by MacGregor i believe). This boat
    is 17' to 19' and has plenty of room in the cabin to suit your
    needs. I see these advertised for sale in the local want-ads
    and they seem to be very inexpensive.
    
       good luck,
    
           rich 

    I sailed O'Days 14' Javelin and 17' Daysailor series and I would
    recommend them to anyone.    Neither will have the room below you
    desire.  In fact, both will only have stowage up front for anchors,
    life jackets, etc.  Sounds like you are in the 22 to 25 foot range
    if thats a requirement.
    
    Rick
    
    * One benefit to those of us here in New England is that O'Day is
      located right in Fall River and parts are relatively easy to get.

    

    Sounds like you are looking for a boat like my previous one. I had
    a Com-Pac Yacht 16. It has a very small cabin with 2 bunks. If you
    are not too tall you can sit up in the cabin. A porta-potti works
    fine. With the hatchboard in place you have good privacy. With the
    hatch open your head may stick out of the hatch a bit on a porta-potti.
    
    It has a shoal draft keel, draws 18" has 450# of ballast. Displacement
    is 1100 #. It trailers very nicely. There are several other similar
    boats in this class which are sometimes referred to as "micro-Cruisers"
    West Wight Potter is another. I believe that is a 15' centerboarder.
    It has a very small enclosed cabin also. We moved up to the 20'
    Com-Pac 19-II so that our family of 4 could overnight. Send me mail
    or call if you are interested in more details.
    
    Bill
    

    I had similar requirements when looking for a boat three years ago
    and settled on a Chrysler 22'.  It was used (better value) with
    a 3hp outboard, porta-potti, swing keel, and several sails.  The
    cabin had a table (which dropped down to make berth), stowage
    compartments for sails, anchor, etc. and a comfortable v-berth.
    The was "trailerable" (if you had a half ton pick-up), but we kept
    it permanently slipped.  
    
    Based on your requirements I would recommend a 20-24' swing keel
    boat.  Go to the used market first, looking at popular marinias
    on the lake you prefer.  I got mine for $7500, used to for a year
    and sold it for $8000.

If it's important to you, you should understand that O'Day no longer makes 
class approved Day Sailers. To buy a new, Day Sailer Association approved Day 
Sailer you must buy it from Precision Boat Works.

The O'Day company annoyed the class association in the mid-70s when they
stopped producing the DS I in favor of the DS II. The class licensed another
manufacturer to make the DS I, but also approved the DS II. The decision was
later regretted. The DS II was never competitive and its double hull collected
water. Last year O'Day replaced the DS II with a DS III, the modification having
been made without class approval as required by their contract with the class
association. The DS III included a hull shape change which the class obviously
could not accept. The result is that O'Day is no longer licensed to
manufacture real Day Sailers. O'Day 17s (the USYRU name for the redesigned boat)
are not eligible for membership in the Day Sailer Class association.

My opinion of O'Day as a sailboat manufacturer is that they know how to design
and build good enough boats, but they haven't the foggiest what a class
standard is or, if they do know, they don't care. The Day Sailer is not the 
only boat they've treated this way.

Now back to the original topic. I owned and raced a Day Sailer for 6 years. I
loved the boat and I think it is the best 17 footer available, but I cannot
recommend it for single-handed sailing. You can sail it alone with just the
main, but the boat never felt right sailing it that way. 


- Bob

    I just sold a 20' O'day that had head, 4 bunks, sink and stove.
    O'day no longer makes the 20' but they do make a 19' that is about
    the same.  The only problem is that it gose about 2000 lb with motor
    and gas.  Not easy to move around with out help.
    
    The Venture (spelling?) is smaller and lighter but has a swing keel
    (about 400 lb's) bounce it off a rock in a lake maybe less than
    fun.
    
    Down south, you did say Alabama there is a boat mfg called American.
    You might check into them, I know they use to make a 17' (did not
    have room in the cuddy for a head) however they did make a 20'.
    
    Good luck, and happy hunting
    
    Tom
    
    

In reply to .7, I have an "American Fiberglass Corp." 18' daysailer.  
Unfortunately, AFC got bought by another outfit and said outfit stopped making 
the AFC molds soon after.  The 18' model name was/is Discoverer and is similar 
to an O'Day DS-I.  Not enough room in the cuddy for a porta-potty.  The boat 
handles well, though I like a higher freeboard - things can get relatively 
wet.  The centerboard extends to provide a 4'6" draft, but comes up to give an 
8" trailering draft.  With no ballast though, winds over 15 knots get 
interesting.

A general note - I would suggest looking for a decent reefing system in 
whatever boat you decide on.  The roller reefing on the AFC causes one to 
'lose' the main-sheet block on the boom so the sheet angle to the boom end 
makes for interesting tacks!


Happy hunting!
Carl

    Pat, I finally figured this VAXNOTES out today and saw your message.
    Jim has several small daysailers in Mobile that you could see
    tomorrow!!  He has an AMF ZUMA 13' never owned, Force 5, Compac
    16, Venture 22, and others.  You'll have to come sailing with us
    now that we know about this common interest...remember Thursday
    night races during the summer...Karen

    Thanks Karen!  I'm going to call Jim for details and maybe make
    a trip down there next week to see what he has.
    
    I have found a boat right here in Birmingham that SEEMS to be
    appropriate, but it's a manufacturer I don't know a thing about.
    Maybe someone can help -- who knows something about Rankin?  It's
    supposedly made somewhere in South Carolina and is fairly popular
    in Florida.  Anyone ever heard of it?

    					(^:	Positive Pat	^:)

    Renken is made in Charleston SC.   They used to build nothing but
    small power boats and had a reputation in Charleston at the time
    I lived there ('68-'77) as a cheap boat in every sense of the word.
    Sometimes things change, more often they dont.
    
    Walt

RE: .9
    
    Thanks, Karen!  You were right, Jim DID have a fantastic selection
    to choose from, and he ended up finding me the PERFECT boat!
    
RE: .*
    
    Well, folks, I finally went 'n did it!  Bought a Spindrift 19', a
    centerboard boat.  It has literally every feature I mentioned in .0!
    Haven't picked it up yet, hope to next weekend if the motor comes in.
    I've never sailed a centerboard boat in my life -- never even sailed IN
    one!  This is going to be a new adventure for me. 
    
    Thank you all for your advice and help, both in this conference,
    on the phone, and over VAXmail.  The contacts I've made in this
    conference kept me from making at least one costly mistake, and
    provided lots and lots of information that helped me decide what
    to buy.
    
    							Pat

    Well, here it is 4 years later and I'm adding to my (now) wife's
    original note.  She did indeed buy the 19' Spindrift, and it has been a
    wonderful boat.  But now, with an 11-week old, and only one income in
    the family, we've decided to sell her this spring.  The boat, that is,
    not my wife...  :^)
    
    I know there's a book that gives values for boats similar to Blue Book
    values for cars.  I was just wondering if someone would look up the
    value of our Spindrift for us, to help us arrive at a selling price for
    it.  It's a 1982 Spindrift Mariner, bought new in 1986 and currently in
    excellent shape.  I'd appreciate the information if one of you would
    take the time to look it up.  Thanks in advance...
    
    Steve

    My 1989 Winter/spring BUC book shows a retail low of $3,900 to
    a retail high of $4,550. 75% of those numbers will give an approxmate
    wholesale range.
    
    
    Scott

    
    Where are the BUC books sold?
    
       /Jim
    

    RE: .-2
    
    Thanks!  That information will certainly help us arrive at a selling
    price.
    
    Steve

    re:.15
    I got mine thru the mail. They are located in florida and have an 800
    number. 1-800-327-6929  ( price = $65.00)
    
    Scott