Westerly Pageant Keels

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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www.keepturningleft.co.uk
I have an internet contact in America who bought an old westerly Pageant and did it up rather nicely

he will be reading this thread so be nice about the paint job

bloody-nora-2-300x199.jpg


more snaps here

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/bloody-nora-westerly-pageant/

this is what he says

"We just got back from 2 weeks on the north channel of Lake Huron. The boat did fine for the most part and we enjoyed the trip even though the weather was not as good as we have had there before.

When we got home and were unpacking and cleaning out the boat, we noticed some water seepage had occurred around the keel bolts (rust stained) on the starboard keel. I’m guessing that the trailer movement during the trip finally did in the old bedding caulk. I doubt if they have ever been dropped or rebedded in the 40 years the boat has been in existence, but I guess the time has come to bite that bullet and do the job. I’ve located a yard near us that has done keels before...but never a Westerly. They have agreed to take the job on and have both a travel-lift and a big fork lift.

Any tips on how to proceed would be very welcome. Since the boat is a ‘71 vintage, I’m guessing that the bolts are probably Whitworth? If we find that the bolts are compromised, any ideas about how to remove them from the keel? I guess if we had to, I could get a machine shop to make any new ones with a Whitworth thread, but I hope I don’t have that expense. I’m planning on using 3m 5200 sealant to re-bed them in. It’s very tough stuff and remains somewhat flexible when it’s fully cured. "

any advice for this man
 
Certainly on the Centaur, the keel bolts are waterproofed in a very traditional manner, with hemp and never-setting goo. They can be re-caulked from inside without dropping the keels.

I'd certainly go that route first, then if it still leaked, consider dropping the keels.

Also n.b. that my keel bolts weeped for a few months when she was first re-floated after an indeterminate time ashore. They stopped on their own.
 
A couple of years ago I had a keel re-seated on my boat to cure a weeping keel bolt. It was done by Glasson Marina in Lancashire. They lifted the boat in a travel hoist and then used the slings to rotate the boat until the keel concerned was vertical (or nearly so) and resting on a trolley. Then they undid the nuts inside the boat and lifted the boat off the keel. re-fitting was the reverse of this process. To get the studs out of the keel two nuts were tightened against each other so that they and the stud turned as one, the studs came out quite easily. Hope this helps the gentleman with the Pageant. I've attached a couple of photos.

View attachment 44652View attachment 44653
 
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davidpbo said:
I wonder what the keels weigh? I suppose they might be 100kgs (220lbs) plus so maybe yes especially as it is not a straight lift.
Click to expand...

A fair bit more i think. I had a Pageant many years ago and if I remember correctly she displaced close to 2 tons. At least 30% ballast, maybe a lot more, so kneels at least 600 lbs each, maybe close to 800?
 
We had a Centaur owner rebed his keels in the sailing club yard. Basically he stood her on some blocks to gain enough height and built frames to take the load when each keel was released. An inclined plane was constructed inside the keels so that when the bolts were undone they slid down to the ground. Everything scraped clean, new mastic applied and a hydraulic jack pusjhed the keel back upinto place.

Rob.

P.S. Love the paint job, but imagine describing it to the emergency services as you're sinking!
 
rob2 said:
We had a Centaur owner rebed his keels in the sailing club yard. Basically he stood her on some blocks to gain enough height and built frames to take the load when each keel was released. An inclined plane was constructed inside the keels so that when the bolts were undone they slid down to the ground. Everything scraped clean, new mastic applied and a hydraulic jack pusjhed the keel back upinto place.

Rob.

P.S. Love the paint job, but imagine describing it to the emergency services as you're sinking!
Click to expand...

there is a lady hidden in the paintwork - and some other things too
 
charles_reed said:
Actually 1050 lbs each. Quite a high ballast ratio for a Laurent Giles design @ nearly 50%.
Click to expand...

Well she was a pretty stiff little boat so that explains it. Much under rated for sailing quality in my experience. Had an interesting trip from Conwy to IOM once which coincided with the 3 peaks race. It blew up pretty rough and we listened to the race yachts retiring one after another. We plodded on deep reefed but obviously making a bit of leeway. Instead of Port St Mary we dropped anchor in the lee of the cliffs some distance north. I was trying to establish our exact position when a plane took off overhead providing a great fix on the end of Ronaldsway Airport!

Maybe doesn't say much for my navigation but the boat never gave us a moment's concern.
 
rjp said:
Well she was a pretty stiff little boat so that explains it. Much under rated for sailing quality in my experience. Had an interesting trip from Conwy to IOM once which coincided with the 3 peaks race. It blew up pretty rough and we listened to the race yachts retiring one after another. We plodded on deep reefed but obviously making a bit of leeway. Instead of Port St Mary we dropped anchor in the lee of the cliffs some distance north. I was trying to establish our exact position when a plane took off overhead providing a great fix on the end of Ronaldsway Airport!

Maybe doesn't say much for my navigation but the boat never gave us a moment's concern.
Click to expand...

Tides can push you some way off course on that trip if navigating with paper & pencil. Predicting the tidal current is not that accurate & the high speeds there can make any errors quite significant.
 
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