Anyone sail an Oday '27 (1975 or so)?

[JonnyQuest]

I recently bought one and it appears that no one seems to have copies of the old owners manuals, only sales brochures.

For me this purchase is a return to sailing after around 20 years--had to be a bit larger than when I was younger since the family has expanded, so I'm not familiar with boats that have such fancy things as plumbing and water tanks!

Anyone know where to fill the water tank? I know the wife and kids will take more kindly to my mad pursuits if the potty actually works!

[nightowle]

Hi Jonny,

I have had a '75 O'Day 27 for almost 4 years now and have done a fair amount of work on the boat as well as the A-4 engine. There should be a 16 gallon water tank located under your V berth with the fill hole just under the mattresses. There was never an outside fill tube on this model. Hope this helps.

Congtratulations on a great boat!

Raji

[JonnyQuest]

Thanks for the info Raji--woulda taken quite a while to find it on my own! Is the water pretty much just for head flushing and hand washing? I have read on these posts that in general water tastes bad from onboard tanks and many people lug as much bottled water on board as needed for the weekend. How does that jibe with your experience?

[sailingdog]

The fresh water on a sailboat is for washing and such... It can be used for things like drinking and cooking, but generally most people use bottled water for that. I'd point out that if it smells, you probably should shock treat the water system per Peggie Hall's directions.

The head is generally flushed using raw water (sea or lake water) via a through-hull and seacock that feed the head's intake line.

[deniseO30]

Johnny you have a great boat! D & R marine dot com is your single best source of help, parts and information talk to Rudy.

[JonnyQuest]

Thanks for the contact, denise. I'll give him a call to figure out the water systems onboard. I know the head was flushing when I bought it, and I had a rebuild kit installed on it too. But the seacock to allow inboard/outboard discharge was frozen, so the shipyard bypassed it and routed flush water solely to the onboard holding tank. I don't yet know whether the flush water is coming from a throughhull connection or not, but at least I know what to be looking for now.

Haven't tried drikning the water yet--maybe I'll just go ahead and shock the system first to be safe!

Thanks for the system description, SailingDog!

One more followup question, other than these boards, is there a good source for info on this specific model? I could have a million questions, and not sure if this is the right place to post repeated questions (a different Sailnet forum, or this one?) Books, catalogs, etc.

[deniseO30]

Don't think I'd ever drink tank water. Eck.

[ccollins0601]

Also check out I Heart O'Days - Model Information - O'Day 27

[JonnyQuest]

Thanks for the short answer about driking the water, Denise. And that's OK with me...we have a battery powered blender for Margaritas!

[nightowle]

Jonny,

You can sign up on Odayowners.com It's a great resource and has reference info on each model. I used bleach at first in my tank, but at the time only had hand pump faucets. Last year, I upgraded the boat with an electric fresh water pump and replaced all the lines so that they'd be clean. I used Sani brew which is used for cleaning beer brewing lines. Only a few drops are needed and doesn't create any taste, although I flushed it out of the tank after letting it work. I do like having bottled water to drink, but use my tank water for making tea or coffee with no issues now that I know it's clean and pure. I have a porta potti aboard and really like it. No smells (using the proper enzymes) and so easy to take care of.

Anyway, I'd really like to know how you came to name the boat Jonny Quest. It was one of my favorite shows as a kid!

Brad (aka Raji )