Westerly Owners Association

My experience is much the same as the foregoing. I do have 5 X 110 AH batteries though! I use a very old Aerogen wind generator and 2 old 20W solar panels. Between them they keep things topped up when Im away. Have to run the engine at odd tmes when on board if weather is hot and fridge, chartplotte...

Yes, I've done this job. The engine-rooms on the Oceanranger, Corsair, and Sealord, were all the same (cloned). Ive worked on VP to Beta replacements on all three. The standard concertina flattened S shape Vetus one works very well. It goes hard down on starboard floor behind engine (down to you lef...

.......and don't forget, if you want to keep any Sikaflex, or similar products, wrap nozzle in clingfilm and stick whole tube in the Freezer. Keeps for months, and a lot cheaper than buying new each time!

One minor point. I may be wrong, but I understand that the Dubois designed boats (Corsair onwards) have a solid rudder. ie they are not simply foam filled casings. They are 2 solid halves bonded together over some very substantial steel-work. Large mole-hill type lumps are quite comon with this cons...

XW Rigging in Gosport used to have a lot of old bits and pieces and foils for Rotastays. Give them a ring or email: 17 Haslar Marina, GOSPORT, PO12 1NU Paul Cochrane Tel: 02392 513 553 Mob: 07805 849 419 Email: info@xwrigging.co.uk Ive also got 4 or 5 long lengths of old Rotastay foil in my store. I...

No sure which engine you have. If its the VP 2003 then all the current modern standards like the Beta will fit through quite small holes. Modern diesels tend to be more compact than their predecessors. I replaced a VP2003 with a Beta 38 and it was almost a direct swop onto the same footprint. Even t...

Reference your rigging. I'm a yacht surveyor so I've got the odd view on this subject. Youl'll be glad to know I don't go with the pessimistic (change everything at great expense now) party line though....we've got to be much more pragmatic and realistic than that. Rigging 'goes' for many reasons......

You havent said whether the QUADRANT is stiff with the cables removed (you have said the wheel is stiff with cables removed). If stiff with cables attached, the problem may well be the cables and their conduits, rather than the bearings. The lower bearing is known to swell and stick as a result of c...

Yes, I have an additional forestay. Just below normal forestay. It goes to a chain-plate on the fore-deck which is bolted through to a heavily stainless steel reinforced anchor locker bulkhead. Its a few feet in from the bow. I use it for a number of smaller hank on sails I have as reserves.....and ...

For what its worth, I replaced the mast post on the earlier version (the tall mast storm 33 OD, essentially the same) some years ago. Table comes apart more easily than you think. I replaced the post with a thick walled HD polished S/S tube with bigger top and bottom plates. The shiny post looked th...

The Oceanranger uses the same rig. No relation to the Fulmar Rig. It's a stiff mast with fixed double spreaders directly across the beam. As a matter of interest, and within reason, the spreaders are reversible within each pair, although over time, pin wear may make the various holes differ slightly...

£200 seems a bit steep for a normal AF job or are you including the haul out cost in that? Its always worth hauling out as often as you can afford to anyway, so its probably not fair to lump this with the AF costs. I would have thought you should get away with under £100 for a basic DIY antifoul (...

Hi, I have done this job, although it was about 4 years back. Turned out to be surprisingly easy. I did baulk at doing the injector sleeves myself though so, once I got the head off, I got RK marine at Bursledon to do that bit for me. As for getting the head off, its just a steady plod. Just progres...

Agree the forgoing. When I had a Storm we had the liferaft on the cabin roof, and this always seemed to be a sensible place. On my current boat. an Oceanranger, I moved it from the stern rails to the aft cabin roof where it is quick to get at from the cockpit. Traditionally, if you want to maintain ...

...and thank you, for your 'thank you'! Happy and warm sailing!