Kylix 29

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NormC
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu August 17th, 2017, 6:12 pm

Kylix 29

Post by NormC »

Hello to all,
I am the new owner of Kylix 29 (originally Mirenbe, later re-named to Jemima) built in 1980 and mentioned and pictured on this website. To the best of my knowledge there is one more Kylix 29 built at the same yard (Bure Marine) lunched one year later, presently also for sale. ??
After 37 years she is still in very good shape structurally with original interior layout and original Sabb engine. She has been on the hard for the last two years and she is in need of a good paint job, renew- not replace, the teak deck .....and all the "get to know you stuff".
Now I have to confess, I bought her because I think she suits my needs and style and I like wood and her character and agree with MG"s philosophy... However, she, being my first boat, needless to say wooden boat, and presents a challenge, to say at least. I would like to get her to up to the standards so I can enjoy her on rivers or seas and keep her in shape for others to enjoy her after me, and for that I need all the help I can get from this forum. I am not sure if I am at the right board but I feel that an introduction is in order,anyway.
So, what's my plan with her and what all the help I am asking is about?
First of all, she sits just few inches above the ground so I have to lift her up at least 2 - 2,5 feel ?? in order to service the keel,(how high should I go to get the thing out ?), lower her mast and build a shed over her so I can work on her over the winter ( North Devon).
Secondly, strip her to the bare wood, check and recheck the seams, paint then move above the water line and do the same. The deck doesn't seem to leak but it has to be cleaned and re caulked. All deck fittings re bedded and port holes as well..... The only rot I found so far is at the corner of the loco cab roof, so nothing major.
Then, of course, the interior but that is a story for next time.
Although everything about is doable and need just time and lots of elbow grease when you get into details of what technique and products to use - that's where I am getting lost and in desperate need of help.
I came to the UK just because of the boat. Settle down, got a job to pay for the repair and the storage... For me, as an outsider, it is hard to start all this without any support of friends or family, no tools or technical support so I am grateful for this forum and moral support I hope to get.
If there is somebody out there with knowledge of wooden boat restoration and maintenance and would be willing to take me on as to advice and supervise this project through e-mails or this forum, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks to all, stay strong and fair wind,
Norm
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Eventide Owners Group
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Re: Kylix 29

Post by Eventide Owners Group »

Welcome to the forum Norman.

I do hope others come forward to give their three pennes worth as well.

To take a keel bolt or two out, assuming they have removable nuts inside the boat and are designed to be driven out, means either digging holes in the ground under the bolt heads, so they can be driven out, or raising the whole boat on an extreemly strong structure, normally something like railway sleepers. As this can be daunting and dangerous the hole digging is often prefered.

Some boat yards have gids where a boat can be sat just whilst keel bolts are extracted, examined and replaced... but they of course charge and would want to do the job for you too! (at a price.!!)

With both the Eventides I have had, my earlier 24 and my present 26 (stretched to just over 27...) I raised the boats off their keels as I extracted the bolts by first sitting the boat on a bed of railway sleeper sized hardwoods lumps and then as the bolts were tapped out, raised the boat even further by jacking them up on their bilge plates, jacks fitted inside the roots of the bilge plates.

The bottoms of the bilge keels and the bow and stern were supported with additional timbers as she rose. It must be super safe...

I arranged them so I could then work on the ballast keels and in both cases I added addition ballast in the form of cast iron and concrete filled steel boxes coated in epoxy and fastened atop the original keels. These were then refastened in place with longer bolts, so the boat had to be high enough to enable the longer bolts to be fitted. With my later boat I cheated slightly as the cast iron keel had been drilled and threaded to take long bolts with 4 inches of thread screwed into the cast iron. Most moden boats use this mehod.

Be sure not to be tempted into using the wrong material though. Never stainless.

Bronze or Monel with a lead keel, galvanised iron or steel with a cast iron keel.

I used galvanised steel bolts and have withdrawn a bolt or two every 5 years to check and so far, 27 years later, every bolt has been like new and simply been regreased and replaced.

Never use stainless as a fastener underwater, they can rot twice as fast as cast iron!

As for room above the boat, many are limited to what a local authority will permit, height wise! If you are in a commercial yard they you will be able to put higher covers up, but they must be very strong and able to withstand real heavy storms.

I made mine out of a framework of old scaffold planks on edge, with a complete ridged frame over my boat every 5 ft or so, There were high enough so I could kneel on deck to work, no more. I fastened the frames to one another with criss crossed timbers and then the frames were also roped together with 8mm rope every 5ft as well. The whole lot was covered with heavy lorry tarpaulins on the top and the sides, translucent plastic that could be raised to allow light and air. I added more and more side panels as the first ones rotted with the sunshine but the extra layers worked like double glazing to keep it warmer inside in the winter, so warm that by using simple heaters I could epoxy most of the year.

That last frame lasted 7 years, as I built her.

With a traditional wooden boat the shorter time ashore and dried out the better, as planking will shrink and you may make more leaks than your are trying to solve!

Get paint off and timber cleaned and prepared, then repainted as quickly as you can!

Finally Norman, to all restorers we offer a free page on the builders and restorers section of the site, on the provis that you regularly send in updates with photos and texts. you will note if you go to that page that the boats that eventually get back to the water all restored are the ones where the owners do send in regular updates. Maybe it is just because others can see their progress or lack of it, that spurs them on!

More power to the elbow Norman.

John
Owner builder of Eventide, Fiddler's Green
Web site Coordinator
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