O'day 22' sail boat = lots of lead step into my adventure

[mdxdm]

As I have stated months ago, I could not find lead locally in any form. So after some searching I learned that the keels on some sailboats are made of lead. I was able to pick up a free sailboat and give it a go. For anyone that is going to attempt to do this please learn from my mistakes.

I found the boat on craigslist, struck a deal and then had to figure out how to get it home. Let’s just say this has been a very odd and enjoyable adventure. I have never laughed and shook my head so much asi did on this journey.

To get the boat home I had one of many options, I would have to load it on a trailer at a boat ramp somewhere that much I knew so I modified a small boat trailer to "work" with a sail boat HUGE MISTAKE!!! After I finished the trailer I did not have much faith in it so I towed the sailboat to a ramp about 5 miles from my house. All I Can say is thank God it broke while I was at the ramp.

My brother holding on to the boat due to the fact he was laughing so hard.




So after this epic failure, I shoved the Boat back in the water and did what I originally thought I should do, use a car trailer. To put on perspective I fought my modified trailer for about 2 hours at the ramp trying to get the keel centered once it finally broke. I had it on the car trailer and home in about 30 min.



On to the funny of this epic adventure. ...As you can see the outboard motor mount on the sailboat is broken. I was blessed enough to have some good friends and family along for this trip. We set out on Jet Ski’s to pick up the boat and tow it to my local ramp. The sailboat came with an outboard motor, never have I laughed as hard as I did when it broke off the mount and went spinning into the river. (Yes it was running and full throttle at the time) Now I have something to hold against one of my best friends for the rest of our lives.

Once I got this boat home I began cutting it up in small sections to take to the local landfill



Top off with my littlest helper.


Got family to help chop it up




Here I am cutting away at the keel


And here is what all the work was for. About 600 lbs. of lead.





Was it worth it? YES
Will I do it again? YES


Thanks for looking

[Y-T71]

Ha! What a great story/adventure!

I admire you for keeping your sense of humor!

While obviously not entirely true, I've often thought: good or bad, a person can ALWAYS learn from an experience so if you get to laugh a little because of it in the meantime then that's a little added bonus!

[Rooster59]

Where there's a will, there's a way!

[fryboy]

i've always said that life without humor would be umm... humorless sadly out here on the flat ocean of the plains sailboats are few and far between :P ( think of it as it was once - a veritable sea of grass ! tho these days it's a sea of wheat ) umm if you do it again a video of something like the motor ripping off would be priceless !! ( yeah i know hindsight is always so clear [darn it ] ) good luck with the casting and thanks for sharing a grin !!

[mdxdm]

Ha! What a great story/adventure!

I admire you for keeping your sense of humor!

While obviously not entirely true, I've often thought: good or bad, a person can ALWAYS learn from an experience so if you get to laugh a little because of it in the meantime then that's a little added bonus!

I've learned that you have to laugh at life. About to start cutting lead into manageable sections

[Ad Astra]

Nicely done. So that's what a keel looks like ... hmmmm.


AA

[mdxdm]

i've always said that life without humor would be umm... humorless sadly out here on the flat ocean of the plains sailboats are few and far between :P ( think of it as it was once - a veritable sea of grass ! tho these days it's a sea of wheat ) umm if you do it again a video of something like the motor ripping off would be priceless !! ( yeah i know hindsight is always so clear [darn it ] ) good luck with the casting and thanks for sharing a grin !!

That was the only thing I got mad at was I did not record the adventure. Imagine a 5 year olds look shattering some china in a fancy store and you have what my 30 year old buddy looked like. Its was priceless

[TrapperXX]

Congrats, hard work paid off nice for you.
so how did you verify that particular keel was indeed lead? I'm sure you had to know certain before all that work.

[mdxdm]

Congrats, hard work paid off nice for you.
so how did you verify that particular keel was indeed lead? I'm sure you had to know certain before all that work.

Lots of research, I walked away from easier hauls due to uncertainty but I was able to find an original owners manual that stated it had 600 lbs of encapsulated lead as ballast.

[flounderman]

You could have cut the keel off and glassed the opening and had a useable outboard boat with a little modification.

[mdxdm]

You could have cut the keel off and glassed the opening and had a useable outboard boat with a little modification.

True and that did cross my mind but not what I was after. B.O.A.T - bring out another thousand.

[mdxdm]

You could have cut the keel off and glassed the opening and had a useable outboard boat with a little modification.

True and that did cross my mind but not what I was after. B.O.A.T - bring out another thousand.

[383]

Awesome story, congrats on your success! I used to be a boater, so believe me I can appreciate your experience.

Wish I could find a free sailboat, but in SW Ohio they are pretty rare.

[Bigslug]

We casters really ARE a special segment of the Y-chromosome set.

The typical male sees a sailing ship as the ultimate representation of freedom, financial success, chick magnet, or a symbol of a special era of mankind's history and independent spirit.

We look at the same vessel and immediately start calculating how many 429421's it will yield.

[mikeym1a]

i've always said that life without humor would be umm... humorless sadly out here on the flat ocean of the plains sailboats are few and far between :P ( think of it as it was once - a veritable sea of grass ! tho these days it's a sea of wheat ) umm if you do it again a video of something like the motor ripping off would be priceless !! ( yeah i know hindsight is always so clear [darn it ] ) good luck with the casting and thanks for sharing a grin !!

That's why the big Connestoga Wagons were referred to as 'Prairie Schooners'

[nwellons]

That was an excellent story with great photos. Thanks for posting and letting us see what it was like.

[mdxdm]

Here is the next chapter in this story.... decided before my back knew what hit it I would slice up the keel.

[mdxdm]

That was an excellent story with great photos. Thanks for posting and letting us see what it was like.

no problem. I hope i am able to help someone in some way. I am not fraid to admit my faults and hope people will laugh as hard as i did at them.

[383]

Curious how you got the boat for free. Was it no longer seaworthy?

[Larry D.]

Thanks for the great thread.

We actually have small sailboats here in Arizona. More than you might think. I'm sure there are a few in similar shape out there.