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Handsome, easily-driven boat for community rowing, or
perhaps to convert to electric drive.
Length : 30 feet 0 inches (9.14 metres)
Beam : 6 feet 3 inches (1.90 metres)
Weight : 1.08 tons (1100 kg) dry and empty.
Crew: 6 (or 7) rowing, plus coxswain to steer.
Zuluka is a fast and graceful wooden boat. She is a
rowing gig, designed for auxiliary sail, in good condition, built in the 1930s,
recently restored and good for another 20 or 50 years. NOTE: She weighs more
than a ton.
The gig is on a fully roadworthy, braked, double-axle
trailer, which is included in the sale. The trailer is bunked and makes an
excellent cradle for winter storage.
She is believed to be an Admiralty design, built to high
standards by a Royal Navy shipyard, probably for use as an RN captain’s or port
admiral’s sports car.
The hull construction is similar to “double diagonal” RNLI
lifeboats. The outer layer is carvel, probably teak. The diagonal interior
layer is probably Honduras mahogany. Total hull thickness is 16mm. Trim is
Canadian rock elm, fittings are mainly bronze.
Included in the sale:
ROWING GEAR
– Full set of oars in nearly-new condition.
– Set of bronze Admiralty-pattern rowlocks.
– Admiralty pattern rudder
– Original gratings, floorboards.
SAILING GEAR
Masts and sails are not included.
– Galvanised steel drop keel / centreplate (28.5kg) is
present, housed in a standard centreboard case.
– New, high-aspect aerofoil kick-up rudder with oak stock,
laminated mahogany blade and epoxy coating
She sails like a big dinghy, not like a yacht. The original
rig was two unstayed wooden masts for two dipping lugsails with a surface area
of about 237 sq ft (22 m2). Several of these gigs were re-rigged with a pair of
14-foot dinghy rigs, which is more convenient.
MOTORING
A lifting bracket for a 10hp outboard is included. I’m
selling a matching Yamaha 9.9 separately on eBay.
This is a slim hull, easily driven up to her hull
speed,
By GPS I found that the Yamaha 9.9 moved her at 3.5 knots on
tickover, at 6.3 knots just above tickover, and at 7.5 knots WOT.
OTHER
I’ll include a PVC tarpaulin as a winter cover, heavy-duty
bow roller, set of warps, outboard bracket, Patay manual pump and a few other
things if you want them.
NOT INCLUDED:
I think the only missing items from the Admiralty spec are
the oarsman’s “stretchers” (i.e. Admiralty pattern footrests). These slide into
adjustable brackets to suit the length of the oarsman’s leg. The brackets are
included, and stretchers are just planks of wood.
The passenger seating in the sternsheets was removed during
restoration and not refitted (because it was held in by a lot of big copper
nails, it wasn’t possible to get it out in one piece). The originals are
included in the sale, to use as patterns for making replacements.
CONDITION:
Good condition.
In a recent restoration, the hull was stripped back to bare
wood inside and treated throughout with low toxicity wood preservative
(monoethylene glycol plus borax) recommended by US Navy for historic boats. Six
months later, the dry interior was painted with the professional version of
Dulux Weathershield (a 3-component system said to provide “8 year weathering
durability”).
The hull was already epoxy sheathed outside, and the few
areas that had detached from the teak outer layer were redone. All wood exposed
during this process was sound.
At the start of the restoration, part of the transom,
the adjoining quarter knee and a small adjoining area of side planking were
replaced with mahogany. Soft parts of three or four oak ribs were removed. Some
galvanic softening of the wood around the lifting eyes was noted. I wouldn’t
lift her by those lifting eyes. However she has plenty of reserve strength.
I fitted three transverse bulkheads (beneath the thwarts)
dividing the hull into four watertight areas. If you’re rowing with a full
crew, you may want to remove two of these. There’s a micro-leak somewhere
around the centreboard case that lets in about 15 litres a day into one of
these four areas. I wasn’t able to trace it because, when I had her afloat (the
Hebrides, March to May), the whole boat was lined with 75mm of closed-cell
foam.
TRAILER
I’ve towed her 1300 miles this year. A year ago the trailer
had two new Al-Ko 1300kg braked axles, 5 new wheels, 4 new tyres, a Knott
overrun tow hitch and new stand-on wheel arches. The trailer is old and has
some perforating rust, but I added two new longitudinal members and four
transverse members in galvanised steel. It was repainted a year ago with grey
tractor paint, and should be good for another 10 years of safe road use.
PAYMENT AND COLLECTION
Payment MUST be made in cash on collection, within ten days
of the end of the auction, please.
Current Price: £2250.00
This Classic Boat – 30ft Rowing Gig, Auxiliary Sail, Community Rowing/electric Drive boat is located in Folkestone, CT18 8DX and is being sold on eBay by sailinggig.