The Dinorwic Centaur
- Thread starter dylanwinter
- Start date
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
show me the advert for a Centaur with a reliable engine for £3,500 and I will be delighted to go look at it with my cheque book in my pocket
D
saltylegs
Well-Known Member
Pardon me for being picky but 2 thirds of 10K is 6.6K (roughly)
rogerball0
N/A
Well here you go then:
http://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/boat/used/264/
no more excuses now mate
rog
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
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TSB240
Well-Known Member
I am sure the Dinorwic boat is just a small example of old boat wont die syndrome....
This one has not been sailed sinced 2005.
Owners of such boats seem to walk rather than dispose of their pride and joy at a realistic value...
The cost of storage debt in this one example shows that its easier to disinherit yourself than give it away to a worthy cause.
This example in a small welsh yard is probably being repeated all over the country and in more expensive storage locations.
Space to a property developer is worth money... Also a row of tired old wrecks pulls down the customer appeal of his new dock and does not match with a new broom sweeping clean.
If it does not sell on Feb the 28th it will be cut up and scrapped.
This one has not been sailed sinced 2005.
Owners of such boats seem to walk rather than dispose of their pride and joy at a realistic value...
The cost of storage debt in this one example shows that its easier to disinherit yourself than give it away to a worthy cause.
This example in a small welsh yard is probably being repeated all over the country and in more expensive storage locations.
Space to a property developer is worth money... Also a row of tired old wrecks pulls down the customer appeal of his new dock and does not match with a new broom sweeping clean.
If it does not sell on Feb the 28th it will be cut up and scrapped.
rogerball0
N/A
Dylan you're looking for a boat that doesn't exist, good luck in your search without end.
roger
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
time will tell
we shall see
if it is plan B or C then so be it
Plan A has two months to run yet
D
we shall see
if it is plan B or C then so be it
Plan A has two months to run yet
D
Iain C
Well-Known Member
...and the other one is dry?
Searush
Well-Known Member
No, but it is likely to be significantly cheaper.
dylanwinter
Well-Known Member
bidding
I shall be dropping out of the bidding long before 3.5k
although I hope to find the "Impossible Dream" long before then
D
I shall be dropping out of the bidding long before 3.5k
although I hope to find the "Impossible Dream" long before then
D
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Norman_E
Well-Known Member
I think I would drop out at about £3.50!
yachtorion
Well-Known Member
Think I might be going against the consensus but I think that boat *could* be an ideal match for what Dylan needs.
The interior is ruined, but so what he's happy camping and it's actually amazing what a strip out of unnecessary microwaves, a good clean and a few coats of paint will do once it's dry.
If the GRP structure is good.... and it is a Westerly... then so as long as the keel bolts, bulkheads and tabbing are ok, along with the rig, chainplates, thru-hulls seacocks etc then it probably needs very little to make it suitable for Dylan's needs. And there is a good chance that most of those are fine. The engine/electrics/plumbing are a write-off but that also fits in "well" with Dylan's plan. Thinking about it even most of the seacocks will end up being blanked off. With plentiful West's Epoxy and much good will available much is possible even on an old wreck.
As for the smell... well it might never go completely but over the period of this winter the resin smell from the outboard well will probably be just as noticable anyway....
On the plus side there are signs this boat has been loved and well maintained for at least some of it's life - such as that head lining.
Dylan as long as you personally (or someone suitably qualified) check you are happy with the items listed above - even though it may mean a journey - I think this could be your boat, and for not a lot of money
This boat is on it's way to the scrap heap because it would take too much time, money and effort to turn it back into a typical fully functional family cruising boat with the electrical/water/heads/gas/engine systems and accommodation standards that demands in comparison to one that hasn't been wrecked. So given that, why shouldn't it get one last chance to sail Scotland as the great outboard experiment first?
At the end of it all why not let YBW use it as another crash test boat and we'll find out how tough the old ones really were built!
How about "K T Well"?
The interior is ruined, but so what he's happy camping and it's actually amazing what a strip out of unnecessary microwaves, a good clean and a few coats of paint will do once it's dry.
If the GRP structure is good.... and it is a Westerly... then so as long as the keel bolts, bulkheads and tabbing are ok, along with the rig, chainplates, thru-hulls seacocks etc then it probably needs very little to make it suitable for Dylan's needs. And there is a good chance that most of those are fine. The engine/electrics/plumbing are a write-off but that also fits in "well" with Dylan's plan. Thinking about it even most of the seacocks will end up being blanked off. With plentiful West's Epoxy and much good will available much is possible even on an old wreck.
As for the smell... well it might never go completely but over the period of this winter the resin smell from the outboard well will probably be just as noticable anyway....
On the plus side there are signs this boat has been loved and well maintained for at least some of it's life - such as that head lining.
Dylan as long as you personally (or someone suitably qualified) check you are happy with the items listed above - even though it may mean a journey - I think this could be your boat, and for not a lot of money
This boat is on it's way to the scrap heap because it would take too much time, money and effort to turn it back into a typical fully functional family cruising boat with the electrical/water/heads/gas/engine systems and accommodation standards that demands in comparison to one that hasn't been wrecked. So given that, why shouldn't it get one last chance to sail Scotland as the great outboard experiment first?
At the end of it all why not let YBW use it as another crash test boat and we'll find out how tough the old ones really were built!
How about "K T Well"?
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prv
Well-Known Member
I kind of agree, but the main bulkhead will be the key. Everything else is either potentially ok, or not necessary for Dylan's plan. Talk upthread about osmosis treatment or rebuilding freshwater taps misses the point so widely it's funny.
Pete
yachtorion
Well-Known Member
Even the main bulkhead is just a bit of ply.... I speak with ignorance here (not knowing the Centaur well) but with West's on-board would it be too terrible to fit a functioning replacement good enough for the purpose, even if that was just doubling the old with some of B&Qs finest?
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AngusMcDoon
Well-Known Member
Basically, if the main bulkhead needs replacing in a boat like this, it is scrap. It would be like picking up a rusted out 70's car for buttons with all the sills and under-body rusted out with an unrepairable engine and saying "steel plate is quite cheap". Given its state this boat would be a complete waste of time, money and effort even if free and the bulkhead was ok, but it would provide entertaining films seeing Dylan try.
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2nd_apprentice
Well-Known Member
Good luck with epoxy work over the winter! Or is Dylan planning for 2015/16?
Iliade
Well-Known Member
I'd hazard that I'd need a day to remove and tidy up around the old bulkhead, a day to make and epoxy a new one and another day to fit it. Access is pretty good once the cooler box is removed (A layout) It would take several months to clean up the glass dust afterwards though, and don't ask how I know that... (Once lost a keel while liveaboard. Not Westerly. Someone had previously knocked it off on the Charpentiers and repaired it with white chopped strand body filler! I did tell myself that next time 'd get a survey... Amusingly, at the time I considered replacing that boat with one of those new Bavs...)
I'd also hazard that the original bulkhead may still be fine. They used good quality marine ply on these old beasties. IIRC later ones had formica-faced ply which suggests maybe lesser substrate? (Edit: my pretty early one is Formica-on-ply. Looking at the job today I would concur with what I wrote here)
I'd finally hazard that one could probably remove the main bulkhead and the boat would hold up just fine, not that I intend trying. Mine has a s/s mast compression strut to do the real work of keeping the boat in shape.
Following a catastrophic gearbox failure I had seawater, engine oil and diesel up to about six inches over the sole in my current Centaur. After the initial cleanup I found flooding her first with a detergent mix (gallon of cheap washing up liquid and water) to just below the sole while going for a sail then repeating the exercise with a similar quantity of biological washing powder and water did for the remaining grime and smell surprisingly effectively, dealing with all the inaccessible surfaces. The boat now does not smell strongly of diesel nor of laundry...
I'd also hazard that the original bulkhead may still be fine. They used good quality marine ply on these old beasties. IIRC later ones had formica-faced ply which suggests maybe lesser substrate? (Edit: my pretty early one is Formica-on-ply. Looking at the job today I would concur with what I wrote here)
I'd finally hazard that one could probably remove the main bulkhead and the boat would hold up just fine, not that I intend trying. Mine has a s/s mast compression strut to do the real work of keeping the boat in shape.
Following a catastrophic gearbox failure I had seawater, engine oil and diesel up to about six inches over the sole in my current Centaur. After the initial cleanup I found flooding her first with a detergent mix (gallon of cheap washing up liquid and water) to just below the sole while going for a sail then repeating the exercise with a similar quantity of biological washing powder and water did for the remaining grime and smell surprisingly effectively, dealing with all the inaccessible surfaces. The boat now does not smell strongly of diesel nor of laundry...
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Swanrad2
Well-Known Member
I have never done it but I have seen videos of main bulkhead replacement - it didn't seem too much of a nightmare? If the bottom was squishy for a short run trip could he not remove the heads and the hanging locker and double up on the bulkhead bolting through above the rot.
I have also always heard stories of engines 'underwater for years' getting new diesel and running like a dream - maybe slightly overstated, but I bet this would be worth a coupe of hundred quid on e bay.
The bilges are Not easily accessible on the the Centaur unless to cut out the cabin sole - need doing to get rid of the smell.
Strip it out, jetwash it down and £600-£800 ish to transport I would guess. Seems doable to me as well.....
vyv_cox
Well-Known Member
Many years ago I acquired a pre-war MG saloon with a 6-cylinder engine that was rusted solid. I did manage to free the rings that were rusted to the bores and get it running again. However, it took months of work to achieve it. Bukh engines are particularly tedious to work on and a similar exercise would be equally long, I think.