Centaur Keel diagnosis - part 2

[Blueboatman]

Excellent rhetoric aside, when a centaur can 'walk' off a pair of wood sleepers and the ensuing jolt is enough to collapse a whole bilge stub , I am out!
But then I went to sea habitually in wooden boats that others wouldn't ' ave. hey ho.

 

[Searush]

the B layout Centaur with the squidgy foredeck has not had the keels re-enforced

it has been on a pontoon for the past ten years

it does not leak when at rest

it dribbles a bit when it is being sailed in rough conditions

"less than a bucket a week"

your analysis gratefully received

D

Less than a bucket a week could mean a bathfull a week, given our inclination to massage the truth, but even that's only 5-10 mins pumping every couple of days.

I wonder where the water is coming from? It could be window leaks, stanchion leaks, hatch leaks, condensation, sea-cocks, stern gland or engine coolant. I'd be checking for signs of each, some are annoying, others risk the spongy deck syndrome & sea-cock failure could be a killer if you don't have a few wooden bungs & a mallet handy.

I would not expect a Centaur sitting on the hard to be damaging its keels if they were in reasonable condition. The flexing on a drying mooring has to be more stressful & they were designed to cope with that. My 7 ton Pentland has been bounced a couple of times over the 25 years I have sailed her, she has also hit rocks & wrecks once or twice, there is no sign whatsoever of any weakness in the stub keels or keel bolt weepage. Maybe they will fall off tomorrow, but I doubt it.

Good luck, but I would expect the engine, sails, rigging and spars to suffer far more from neglect than the hull or keels. But please let us know what you find.

 

[erbster]

.. the difference between an adventure and a holiday is that at some stage on an adventure you have to wish you were not on it....

+1

 

[VicS]

. My 7 ton Pentland has been bounced a couple of times over the 25 years I have sailed her, she has also hit rocks & wrecks once or twice, there is no sign whatsoever of any weakness in the stub keels or keel bolt weepage. Maybe they will fall off tomorrow, but I doubt it.

The Pentland and Berwick seem to be more strongly built around the keel area. Very strong throughout in fact. Less deep keel stubs than Centaur ones I am sure and IIRC some webs where there are not in the Centaur.

Ceratainly the Berwick I used to crew has been well bounced. The normal mooring has always been at Dell Quay where there is just a thin layer of mud over a hard bottom and we were once trapped in Barfleur for best part of a week by strong NE winds. The swell running along the wall really bounced the boat on a hard bottom every time it took to the ground and when it refloated. That was quite scary.
Rudder I think must be different to yours because that has suffered some damage over the years.

It seem to be the flexing caused when Centaurs dry in to deep mud that causes their problems.