I was hoping to get out for a decent session on Sparrow yesterday.. 13:30'ish high tide, sunny weather, all boded well for an excellent day out, but unfortunately it was not to be.... no wind... been a right binary summer this year in the UK - either blowing a hooley or flat calm; raining cats and dogs grey or sunny.... in between days are few and far between seemingly 
Either way, not having been on Sparrow for a few weeks a visit was in order - we've had some rough days, and a fair amount of rain, so I wanted to check we she was all OK, and dry...
Turned up at the slipway and was getting the tender out, when a little old lady came hurtling down the slip way (not literally I hasten to add - just moving fast) - 70 if she was a day but I have poor ability to estimate these things - told me she had come down from London that morning by train, was a fellow club member, that her husband was on a business trip, and that she was worried her Centaur was sinking, and could I give her a lift to the boat...
No worries I said - I'll give you a lift out but I'm only going out for 15 minutes is that OK? "Yes" she said "lovely", and leapt in the tender...
Either way, gave her a lift out to her boat, dropped her off (and was most impressed at how she went up the back of her boat... quicker than I could have done it!) went over to Sparrow to check all was OK (she was, bilges bone dry), dropped off replacement stores (Diet Pepsi) and new VHF antenna (to be fitted later), lounged a bit and then went over to collect her....
Two of the guys on the boat next to hers were getting ready to go, and they reckoned she'd shifted 13 buckets at least....
Anyway - she said enough was enough, climbed in to the tender and we headed for home - offered her a lift to the station, but she said she'd brought sandwiches so was going to make a day of it....!
....bloody brilliant - I hope I have half that energy and "get up and go" when I'm her age...!!
Ah the Achilles heel of the Westerly, leaking keels. I'd love a Centaur or most other Bilge Keel Westerlies for that matter but maintaining the keels means dragging them out of the water every few years at least to re-bed the keels and repaint them. An option I don't have as it'd cost a fortune to put it in a marina yard to get the work done. A Westerly Nomad sank at Eastney last year I assume due to the same issue.
ReplyDeleteLast Weekend was one of those weekends for chilling because sailing wasn't on the agenda thanks to the lack of wind. You're right about the weather this year though, it's been pretty variable. Nowhere near as good as last year.
Mark - I reckon you're right about the keels, the boat settles in mud twice a day which has to put a strain on them, though she did mention that they'd spent a grand recently having them re-bedded... I also wondered stern gland, but she said that was new too... she thought it was rudder. For me,I reckon it would be worth putting it in a marina for a week or so and see if she still takes on water having been afloat for the whole time - would rule out the gland/rudder if she's dry and firmly point to the keels; if she still takes on water it might point to one of the other two...
DeleteAnd here's me presuming that most UK bilge keelers have the keels molded into the glass layup of the hull not bolted on externally - shows how much I know. I have always loved bilge keelers, my favourite is Maurice Griffiths Lone Gull 2.
ReplyDeleteI must say that I would never have considered the strain on keel bolts of yachts grounding twice a day, but now that I think about it, there must be a huge effect in more exposed anchorages during that short period when a yacht is not fully afloat and hitting the mud during a huge blow?
Hi Alden - no not all of them are as brill as a Hurley.. :o) Centaur keels are a known issue - a lot of them were reinforced post production with some cross braces... this one is in our anchorage and the mud is hugely gloopy, but even so the outward pressure on the keels of a large yacht settling on splayed keels doesn't bear thinking about......
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