O'Day 23 Bluewater Sailable ?

[kmacdonald]

It's the captain and crew that makes the difference----not the boat. If you need the marginal advantage a blue water boat might have then by all means go for it.

[Don C L]

This captain wouldn't choose that boat in the first place. It really wasn't built with that kind of use in mind.

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by kmacdonald

It's the captain and crew that makes the difference----not the boat. If you need the marginal advantage a blue water boat might have then by all means go for it.

Sorry, but this kind of advice is irresponsible at the least, perhaps even callous. Any boat that size with a center board would hardly be a blue water boat when the crap hits the fan. Coastal, maybe, but not blue water

[denverd0n]

Okay, first off, this is a revival of a six year old thread. I don't think the OP cares anymore.

Second, the subject line says "bluewater," but if you actually read the first post he was talking about going up the ditch from Florida to Maryland. That's just barely "coastal cruising." Not even CLOSE to "bluewater."

Third, the O'Day 23 would be fine, if maybe a bit uncomfortable, for the trip, but it would make WAAAAAY more sense to just trailer a boat like that.

[apparition]

Originally Posted by goat

Apparition hasn't posted since 2011. Might be worth checking into his/her whereabouts before heading offshore in such a craft. Granted, I'm no pro on the O'Day boats.

While it's interesting how this thread has been revived, it's not really a surprise. The O'day 23 was and still is a very popular trailerable sailboat - for good reason. I generally don't post unless I have FACTS to present. Opinions are great. Like rear ends, everybody's got one. My post with regard to the O'day 23 is based on published specifications and actual experience (I have owned a 23-2 for years).

With respect to "blue water" sailboats, very, very few commercially offered pleasure boats have what it takes to stand up to serious offshore weather exposure. That doesn't mean decks, cockpits, hatches, windows, and hardware can't be modified to handle rough conditions. While out of the box, an O'day 23 was not built to be a circumnavigating vessel, smaller craft have been modified and used to cross oceans. My original point, which I still stand by, is that there is a negligible difference between the "bluewater" capabilities of an Oday 23 and similarly sized production vessels like the Cals. And I agree with most of the previous posts - the level of safety achieved with any vessel is highly dependent on the skills/judgment of the captain.

[apparition]

I regularly sail Buzzards Bay, Nantucket Sound, and make trips to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket with the O'day 23 (see attached). I also have a Paceship 23 which is more "trailerable" and only draws about 18 inches with the board up. I like using that one for actual trailering to a destination and sailing as the setup is a little easier with less draft and a lighter mast to step. The only trailering I do with the Oday is from my driveway to the harbor where it's moored. I also have owned a Morgan 30 for many years which also has a shallow draft (3ft) with the board up - convenient when navigating shoal waters around the Cape and Islands...