I sailed my Westerly Centaur from British Columbia to Mexico last year after dropping the keels and replacing the original factory sealant with polysylfide caulking (a product by a company called Boat Life Life Calk) and the keels leaked when any significant lateral force was applied so rough weather. I hope you leave that filler on and report back how it holds up with the inevitable flexing. I'm thinking of doing the filling like you've done as the leaks allow water to collect under the cabin sole and slosh around. I also had my rudder tube leak after it struck the seabed while drying out at an anchorage. I highly recommend re-sealing your rudder tube if it's sealant is of an unknown age and adding access hatches in the cockpit sole and floor in the aft locker to give access to these areas in case of emergency. When I get back to my boat I think I will fiberglass in partitions around the rudder tube so that a leak can't sink the boat. That relatively minor leak required me to bail every two hours around the clock until I installed an electric bilge pump. Also recommend adding access hatches to the cabin sole in case emergency repairs are required. Thanks for sharing this and stay safe!
Wow!!! Thanks for your comments. Really appreciated!!!! I am defiantly going to look into adding additional sealant inside after your comments on the flexing of the keels. When I had the boat inspected the guy said he could see a few crystals around one of the bolts potentially sea water. I guess its much easier now while the boat is out of the water to look at this now. Thanks for taking your time to comment. I am going to be keeping the boat on a drying mooring so I will update on how the filler holds out.
Surveyor is right, those joints will crack, filler is exactly that, just filler, it doesn't perform as a structural component. The boat next to you (presuming it's not a Centaur) would have been made like that, i.e they are called encapsulated keels and are made with the hull as a whole component. I also watched your video on insurance. The best insurance for an old boat is good maintenance and skills as a skipper. That is why the insurance want the day skipper qualification. Think about it, car insurance ask how many years have you held a drivers licence? What I can say is insurance companies in the UK do NOT like boats in the water all year around on moorings, and that perfectly makes sense when you see how bad our tidal ranges are plus bad weather. So? Even with fully comprehensive insurance you still need to do the fundamentals, which for all year mooring at minimum is this: 1. Good mooring bridles with antichafe hoses through fairleads and cleats AND inspected regularly. 2. If anchoring a good double bridle snubber and snubber hook. 3. Plenty of decent calibrated anchor chain (8mm chain 50m minimum) 4. Decent anchor (Lewmar Delta is a good one for a Centaur and an original Delta not a fake) 5. Two Proper load rated shackles and not an anchor swivel with the shackles tightened up by adjustable wrench and secured by mousing wire. 6. The actual mooring if laying your own needs to be of a decent setup using appropriate sinkers, buoys, shackles, chain etc. 7. An automatic bilge pump connected directly to the battery with the wiring carefully clipped off and an appropriate inline fuse close to the battery. 8. Minimise your fire risks, so: a) always isolate your batteries when leaving the boat unattended, secure wiring, appropriate size wiring and fusing. b) always turn gas off when not in use (whether you are aboard or not). 9. Always close ALL seacocks when not in use, regardless of if you and aboard or not. Just remember to turn seacock on for the engine coolant when you want to use the engine and close it at the end of the journey. All other sea cocks off unless actually using them. 10. Common sense, use common sense and don't rely on what other boat owners do in a yard, there's plenty out there who have had boats for decades and still clueless. 11. Always err on the side of caution, always check lines for cafe and wear. DO NOT underestimate how quickly an unprotected line can chafe through! In one tide you can easily lose a brand new 18mm line from chafe (especially through bow rollers). Hence why mooring bridles and snubbers need chafe protection and regular checking. For an old Centaur you need either a permanently wet mooring or a very well protected drying mooring, slamming on those keels is not good for the hull or keel joint. There is the Westerly owners association and two Facebook groups, one specific for Centaurs. Enjoy ⛵👍
I sailed my Westerly Centaur from British Columbia to Mexico last year after dropping the keels and replacing the original factory sealant with polysylfide caulking (a product by a company called Boat Life Life Calk) and the keels leaked when any significant lateral force was applied so rough weather. I hope you leave that filler on and report back how it holds up with the inevitable flexing. I'm thinking of doing the filling like you've done as the leaks allow water to collect under the cabin sole and slosh around. I also had my rudder tube leak after it struck the seabed while drying out at an anchorage. I highly recommend re-sealing your rudder tube if it's sealant is of an unknown age and adding access hatches in the cockpit sole and floor in the aft locker to give access to these areas in case of emergency. When I get back to my boat I think I will fiberglass in partitions around the rudder tube so that a leak can't sink the boat. That relatively minor leak required me to bail every two hours around the clock until I installed an electric bilge pump. Also recommend adding access hatches to the cabin sole in case emergency repairs are required. Thanks for sharing this and stay safe!
Wow!!! Thanks for your comments. Really appreciated!!!! I am defiantly going to look into adding additional sealant inside after your comments on the flexing of the keels. When I had the boat inspected the guy said he could see a few crystals around one of the bolts potentially sea water. I guess its much easier now while the boat is out of the water to look at this now. Thanks for taking your time to comment. I am going to be keeping the boat on a drying mooring so I will update on how the filler holds out.
@@LIAmMyJourneyOh well I hope it works out fine on that drying mooring.
Surveyor is right, those joints will crack, filler is exactly that, just filler, it doesn't perform as a structural component. The boat next to you (presuming it's not a Centaur) would have been made like that, i.e they are called encapsulated keels and are made with the hull as a whole component.
I also watched your video on insurance. The best insurance for an old boat is good maintenance and skills as a skipper. That is why the insurance want the day skipper qualification. Think about it, car insurance ask how many years have you held a drivers licence?
What I can say is insurance companies in the UK do NOT like boats in the water all year around on moorings, and that perfectly makes sense when you see how bad our tidal ranges are plus bad weather.
So? Even with fully comprehensive insurance you still need to do the fundamentals, which for all year mooring at minimum is this:
1. Good mooring bridles with antichafe hoses through fairleads and cleats AND inspected regularly.
2. If anchoring a good double bridle snubber and snubber hook.
3. Plenty of decent calibrated anchor chain (8mm chain 50m minimum)
4. Decent anchor (Lewmar Delta is a good one for a Centaur and an original Delta not a fake)
5. Two Proper load rated shackles and not an anchor swivel with the shackles tightened up by adjustable wrench and secured by mousing wire.
6. The actual mooring if laying your own needs to be of a decent setup using appropriate sinkers, buoys, shackles, chain etc.
7. An automatic bilge pump connected directly to the battery with the wiring carefully clipped off and an appropriate inline fuse close to the battery.
8. Minimise your fire risks, so: a) always isolate your batteries when leaving the boat unattended, secure wiring, appropriate size wiring and fusing. b) always turn gas off when not in use (whether you are aboard or not).
9. Always close ALL seacocks when not in use, regardless of if you and aboard or not. Just remember to turn seacock on for the engine coolant when you want to use the engine and close it at the end of the journey. All other sea cocks off unless actually using them.
10. Common sense, use common sense and don't rely on what other boat owners do in a yard, there's plenty out there who have had boats for decades and still clueless.
11. Always err on the side of caution, always check lines for cafe and wear. DO NOT underestimate how quickly an unprotected line can chafe through! In one tide you can easily lose a brand new 18mm line from chafe (especially through bow rollers). Hence why mooring bridles and snubbers need chafe protection and regular checking.
For an old Centaur you need either a permanently wet mooring or a very well protected drying mooring, slamming on those keels is not good for the hull or keel joint.
There is the Westerly owners association and two Facebook groups, one specific for Centaurs.
Enjoy ⛵👍