oday widgeon question?

[DeanArt]

I just aquired a 1974 oday widgeon and I noticed that other widgeons have two storage compartments under the deck. Mine does not. Iwould like to cut compartments into mine, but I do not know if mine is this way for additional structural integrity of for emergency floatation purposes. Does anyone know about this matter?

[xsboats]

A lot of the O'Day daysailors[Widgeon,Ospray,Daysailor,etc] have a removeable bulkhead above the bow floatation tank. Most have a cutout in this bulkhead to access forward of it for storage. The floatation tank has a drain at the bottom for water and also has styrofoam inside it.They also have two hanging storage shelves located under the foredeck ,one on each side. If your Widgeon does not any of these storage areas, I would check to see if there is a removeable bulkhead that you can cut in access holes but I would not cut into the floatation tank.If you do, you will need to seal in the styrofoam and will probably be reducing the floatation of the boat.It would be better to locate and install the side storage shelves or fabricate your own version of them. Check the O'Day owner's website,as you may see pictures of other owners' solutions to this or be able to buy the shelves secondhand. I have owned an Ospray, Daysailor, and Daysailor ll and only the D.S.ll did not have these shelves. If you cannot find them for the Widgeon, maybe the ones for the other models will work. Mine were all the same size.