CS36T- Westerbeke & offshore

[maine50]

Looking at the CS36T as a possible downsize candidate. Very few seem to have newer/replaced engines. They came with Westerbeke 30 or 33's. Has anybody used a CS36T for offshore trips and any experience with maintaining the westerbeke's. with the V-Drive. Thanks- Maine50

[GordMay]

See
CS 36 Traditional ~ by John Kretschmer
➥ CS 36 Traditional

And ➥ http://www.closereach.com/csoa/sailingtodaycs36.pdf

[robert sailor]

Yes we have sailed a CS36 Traditional offshore. Canada to Mexico Wonderful boat and I can't say enough good things about it but make sure that anchor locker is completely sealed from the rest of the boat as it has a very shallow bilge. The CS36T is really well built and has none of the cheaper liners seen in todays construction. It also has a partial skeg rudder which is a nice feature in my mind. I did lots of homework before buying ours and if I wanted to go back to a 35-36 foot boat I would choose a Pretorian 35 or a CS 36T and I still would lean towards the 36T. The boat is quick offshore and made passage times closer to a 40 footer although I should tell you its really much closer to a 37 even though its called a 36. Do make sure you have it surveyed very well if you do decide to buy.
I had zero problems with the V drive and I owned the boat for 4 years and put a lot of miles on it. The next owner has also put lots of miles and no problem with the V Drive. The 30 has a British diesel that was used in taxi cabs and I bought all my spares from Britain at less than half of what WB wanted. The 33 I think is a Mitsubishi block and they had some problems with it. There is an excellent owners group and I think it was located in Vancouver. Good luck in your search. Robert

[robert sailor]

Sorry I posted to soon, Canada to Mexico to Hawaii back to Canada. R

[sardinebreath]

I had looked at the CS 40 for a while but read somewhere that the keel mount was very narrow for that size boat resulting in a much weaker attachment than what you'd get with more widely spaced keel bolts. I don't know if this is actually true (or if the CS 36 would be designed similarly), so take this unverified piece of internet info for what it might be worth.

[CS Cruiser]

Many CS36T have circumnavigated, and plenty offshore.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by sardinebreath

I had looked at the CS 40 for a while but read somewhere that the keel mount was very narrow for that size boat resulting in a much weaker attachment than what you'd get with more widely spaced keel bolts. I don't know if this is actually true (or if the CS 36 would be designed similarly), so take this unverified piece of internet info for what it might be worth.

Two different designers Ray Wall for the CS36T used to be the chief designer at Camper Nicholson in England and quite conservative. Boat does better offshore than around the cans.
Tony Castro drew the CS40, lovely boat but a very different pedigree than the 36T. Like most of Castros designs speed was first and foremost although the CS yard made sure all the boats were well built..I still prefer the boat Wall designed for offshore.

[Crew of Turning]

In addition to all the good info on the CS36T already posted, there is a current blog online "CS TA Time" out of Hawkestone Ontario. Currently moving north from St Martin having travelled from home base to Grenada. Only blogged issue was a bearing failure in the vdrive. Repair handled by skipper in Turks.

[boatpoker]

Send a pm to Mainesail. one of the most knowledgeable people in the business and he has a CS36T kitted out to perfection. He also has some of the best "how to" pages on the web under the name "Compass Marine".

[Cheechako]

I always liked the look of the CS36. I would guess it may be a bit "busy" in a seaway with the short fin keel and the IOR bustle.
For offshore you will want to remove and inspect/rebuild the rudder and the keel attachments. Is that actually a partial skeg forward of the rudder (actually attached to the rudder somehow?) or just a protective 'fairing"?
I'm not so sure about a shallow bilge for an offshore boat...

[boatpoker]

I've surveyed 32, CS26T's and find their partial skeg mount rudder to be much stronger than any production boat with a typical hung spade. The other nice thing about the rudder is that it was built as a hollow unit without that problematic, so called "closed cell" foam that all the other builders used at the time.

[boatpoker]

forgot the photo .........

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

forgot the photo .........

Ahh... there you go... I like that. Boy... that's a barn door rudder!

[zboss]

Hi, not sure how relevant but you question seemed to be about the westerbeke's. I have just done quite a bit of work on my W46. The most difficult piece for me to source was the rear oil seal. The rest of the parts seem to be readily available, but not necessarily cheap. Despite what people say, I have not had much luck sourcing parts from tractor, forklift, and other non-marine versions because Westerbeke tweaked the engines quite a bit.

I cannot speak about the v drive as I have a straight transmission, but its probably the Hurth V drive of the same trans I have. If you need anything other than replacing the seals, its better just to get a new replacement hurth. Make sure its oversized (probably bigger than the one you currently have), as manufacturers seem to undersize the hurths for "continuous" use in the marine area.

With that said, its not a very difficult engine to work with given enough room. They are work horses.

When we did the calculation of how much it would cost in engine replacement fees I'm not sure we would have come out ahead. The standard replacement these days for a Westerbeke is a Beta Marine. Your engine is small enough that an outright replacement might be affordable, but maybe not necessary.

[CS Cruiser]

W30 Westerbeke engines came with a Paragon transmission & Walter V drive,
I'm not too familiar with the W33 version other than than there was a run of them that were prone to cylinder walls have a cracking issue.
W30's were British Leyland blocks marinised by Westerbeke, heavily used in english taxis and canal boats as well.
W33 were Mitsubishi based blocks I beleive, I think the cracking cyclinder walls issue was sorted out, but not sure of which years were the culprit..

W30 link,
http://www.westerbeke.com/advanced%20specs/w30.pdf
W33 link, http://www.westerbeke.com/advanced%2...ales%20lit.pdf