DaySailer.org Forum

Hello fellow DaySailers,
I just acquired a 1969 Daysailer and have prior experience with oday's as I had a fixed keel javelin and enjoyed that boat with exception of "dragging in the sand".
The boat is in decent shape and I noticed something that has my curiosity which I'm sure someone out there can help me with.
The boat does not have the teak "bench" or what i would think to be a stiffener bewtween the port and starboard seats, is this an option?
I would think the teak bench would be there to help support the centerboard trunk from sideloads but without enough information, it is difficult to ascertain the requirement of this section.
That sails are in sad shape and I will be looking for a spinnaker.
Definately want a boom tent and cockpit cover.
the mast has a slight bend toward the port side above the tabernacle which I believe could be straightened with adequate patience and inginuity.
I'll post pictures when I get it home.

Pete North Branch,Mn.

You definitely need to replace the thwarts if they are missing. (The seat benches would have indentations for them, that's how you can tell whether they used to be there). You can make replacements out of any rot-resistent wood (mahogany, not teak, was the factory choice) or you could get fancy and create a foam sandwich with glass. (The latter may or may not be class legal, Bob Damon would know, but I've seen photos of boats done that way. Not having anything is definitely neither class legal, nor wise, on a DS1).

Good luck and welcome to the forum!

Pulled the boat home and yes, the thwarts are there although they will need attention like the rest of the boat.
I am excited to start working on the boat and hope to have it upside down within a wekk to start examining and repairing the little scratched and dings in the hull.
There appears to be no floorboard like my Javelin had, so that will be a project.
A friend of mine said he sailed on a friends old DaySailer and the rudder was either Teak or Mahogony, I haven't looked at mine close enough but I know its white. If I find out theres a possibility of beautiful wood covered by paint, that will be a priority to get that wood back as I love the look of natural wood with a few coats of epoxy for strength.
Any trouble areas I should look at on this model boat while its upside down?

Thanks Pete

The stock rudder is some fiberglass monstrosity with steel (not stainless) reinforcement in it. Mine actually did weep some rust from cracks.

After your first season of sailing (where you fix everything else that has to be fixed to be able to sail at all) you can spend the winter building a nice new rudder. I did one from plywood, but you could use something nicer looking and cover it transparently with epoxy and glass - just note that it will be just a tad harder to get a fair shape when you can't use fairing compound.

I didn't realize that the rudder had steel reinforcement. That explains SOME of the weight in that sucker.

Reinforcement in the rudder blade definately explains it weight. I don't think the original rudder head had reinforcement. My fiberglass rudder head was found to have several voids in it after the it got cracked during the Texas 200 in 2011. The blade seems to be very solid however.

John

Voids in the rudder head wouldn't surprise me.

K.C. Walker wrote:I didn't realize that the rudder had steel reinforcement. That explains SOME of the weight in that sucker.

The one I build myself has the opposite problem, it's buoyant and latently in danger of floating off the pintles. The weight of the tiller helps, but I added two separate gizmos to hold down the rudder. An L-shaped stopper on a single bolt that must be rotated out of the way for the rudder to come up and a springy blade that must be pushed in.

GreenLake wrote:The one I build myself has the opposite problem, it's buoyant and latently in danger of floating off the pintles. The weight of the tiller helps, but I added two separate gizmos to hold down the rudder. An L-shaped stopper on a single bolt that must be rotated out of the way for the rudder to come up and a springy blade that must be pushed in.

I like it, belt & suspenders! I've got the little L bracket one and have wondered if I capsized whether it would really do the trick.

The spring is IMHO better for capsize, because gravity would work against you with the L bracket. The bracket is stronger, when it works, that's why I'm keeping both.

My upper pintle has a hole drilled thru it so that I can put a locking pin in to keep the rudder in place.

John

That would be quite disheartening to witness your rudder slowly drifting to the bottom of the lake.
I'm a fond believer in safety backups for 'just in case" scenarios.
Just removed the boat from trailer and have it suspended between trees using large nylon tow straps and wooden blocks, hoping to get the centerboard out within the next week to clean, fair and paint.
The boat is actually in pretty good shape for its age, I'm excited to make a splash by July if all goes well.