Folkboat Repair

[LakeErieSailor]

I've come into possession of a Folkboat, built in the late 1960s or early 1970s. According to the former owner, she was built by Abbott Boats, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. Neither he nor I have been able to find a builder's plate. The boat's name is "Misty Isles", and she's been sitting on the hard in the Monroe, Michigan area since about 1989. Any infortmation about Abbott-built Folkboats would be invaluable. I understand that there were quite a few of these on the Canadian side of Lakes Huron, Erie and Ontario, so I'd particularly like to hear from any Canadian forumites.

Planking is 5/8" mahogany on oak frames, and is fastened to the frames and at the plank laps with bronze machine screws, with nuts on the interior of the boat.
Planking is in good shape with the exception of a few rot pockets at plank joints. All the rest of the timber is in apparently sound condition, with some checking in the stem and stern posts and the keel, to be expected after sitting in the weather for so long. She was covered in the winter, and the former owner had the good sense to open the bilge pump exhaust outlet, allowing any water to drain.

What concerns me is that her shape may have distorted over the years. The plank ends of the first four or five planks, at the transom, from the sheer down, end about a 1/4" short of the transom's aft face. Is this something to worry about, or could it be due to just having been dried out for so long? Does anyone have any suggestions for measuring hull symmetry?

Also, she does not sit exactly square on the ballast; a little off to the right for about the last 2 - 3' aft, again, about 1/4" or so.

My main concern, though, is the keel bolts. There are six in all, with pockets in the ballast, but only the rear three have nuts in the ballast. In the front four pockets there are only holes, which leads me to believe that the bolts are threaded into these holes from the interior of the boat. I've read several of the threads in the forum regarding removing Folkboat keel bolts, but any constructive advice is more than welcome. I should add that the boat has never been in salt water, so corrosion is probably not as serious than if it had been.

The boat is powered by a Sea Twin engine from Ballantine Industries, which I understand is actually a Kermath. It's a flathead, magneto-ignited (Wico magneto), with a Tillotson side-draft carb. The engine is mounted to drive an off-set prop, i.e., through the starboard side of the boat. I have reason to believe that the boat originally was engineless; floors and frames were partially cut to allow the shaft to pass. I want to mount the engine fore-and aft, driving through the sternpost (see Folkboat restoration at the Woodwind Yachts site). Again, any information about the engine, in particular its weight, would be appreciated.

[Jay Greer]

First, let me state that without seeing the boat, it is difficult to give an accurate
advise to you. If there is a surveyor in your area, you would be wise to have him give you a unbiased opinion of the boat's condition.
If a boat is blocked up out of plumb and without correct support, it can distort out of shape. The place to begin is to strike a center line under the hull on the shop floor and hang a few plumb bobs from the centers of the stem, fore foot and stern post.a Using a spirt level on flat areas of the deck, hatch frames and other known flats will give an indication of plumb as well as will the bobs, especially if one is hung from the center line of the transom crown. A transit or lazer can be used as well. Once the boat is plumb you should be able to sight the midship section by eye and see if both sides come close to matching. Marking the stations with the aid of transit or lazer will allow you to measure heights from deck and plank laps to see if both sides match. If your planking is badly distorted, the only solution is to either live with it or replace it. If the hull is torqued it might be sprung back in shape with cross spalls and uprights to the floor using wedges under the uprights. More than likely the off center section of the keel is a result of shrinkage of the wood. This may correct itelf once the boat is again wet. The soft butts you mention may be cured with penetrating epoxy. But I would have to see the wood in order to really give an honest opinion. Replacing lap strake planking can be a bit involved. So, if you can avoid same, you are better off. I would recommend that you avoid an on center prop as the blade is not always biting clean water and the process of drilling can be a hassel for accuratly doing it if one is not familiar with this type of work. Most likely your keel bolts are ok since this is a fresh water boat.
Your surveyor should be able to tell by the sound when he hits them with a hammer. A slight take up like an eighth to a quarter turn, if any, would be a good idea All that I have mentioned are things that have worked for me on restoration jobs. Each boat is unique. Thus requiring a bit of Kentucky Windage and creative thinking. Again, a knowledgable surveyor is highly recommended.
Jay

[LakeErieSailor]

Hey, Jay

Thanks for the prompt and comprehensive reply; spot-on, as usual.

Let me give you a little background on the boat. She was a freebie, and, yes, I know that free boats are usually the most expensive one. For that reason, I'm not ready to engage the services of a marine surveyor just yet.

I'm in the process of gutting the cockpit and will be removing the engine, so that I can see the structure below. It's pretty oily down there, so I don't have much worry about rot. However, the floors are pretty crudely done, and I want to replace at least the through-bolted floors with ones similar to the Woodwind Yachts (www.woodwindyachts.com) of Ontario, Canada, made in their restoration of the Folkboat "Tjockis." The photographic history of the whole restoration is on their website. Not that I claim to have the level of skill of their workers, but I do have time, lots of it, 'cause I'm retired.

I'm going to try to set the boat plumb, as you suggested, and check out one side relative to the other. I'm also going to hang some pictures out there on Winkflash, or similar medium, so that you can see what I'm talking about.

The boat's not in a shop (don't I wish!); she's on her cradle in my brother-in-law's back yard. I only had to move her a quarter of a mile or so; the move is a story in itself.

[Jay Greer]

Certainly the rebuild done by Wood Wind Yachts is impressive! However, I still prefer a off center prop set to the port side. A folding prop such as a Gori Folding
prop will be much more efficient and produce much less drag than a prop set in an aperture. I know this to be a fact as I reciently installed one on my H28 "Bright Star".
Jay

[Varna]

Jay's advice as always is excellent and informative. A few years back I worked alot on a west coast Folkboat which was on its last legs. We removed the deck and house which were rotted badly in order to reframe and refloor etc. Only the backbone was in good condition.
What I can add here which I found useful along with the N F class association plans was I set up a string fore and aft through the interior from the stem C/L to the Transom C/L and measured P-S sides at various stations on diagnals and w/l's to note variances in section shape-since you are removing the cockpit to rebuild this may be helpful to get a better picture of section symetry.
Although the 45 degree rake of the transom makes an outboard an unnatural choice their is a Folkboat accesorys maker and F/G Folkboat builder in Denmark that fab's a nice SS bracket that deck mounts on a track set up to lower or bring up on the aft deck. While an aperture prop seems attractive the net loss of clean flow at a critical area of the rudder seems to have most people see it as a non-plus on the relatively small Folkbaot. Most Folkboaters prefer the pure clean flow of the non apperture and as Jay states if you must have in I/B engine for 12V electricity or something better to go to the offset feathering prop and not add a ton of drag and eddy making at the center of the rudder effect. Fwiw.