The Optimist kit from CKD Boats cc

These have been good sellers,they cost more than say a Dixi Dinghy due to the strict class rules but at least you have the fun in building your own race boat and its still less expensive than buying a GRP option .

 

Dry assembly and in the builders jig,that can be used a number of times if your a club,saving cost on the rest of the fleet.

 Note the two temporary bulkheads,they need to stay in place untill you have fitted the inner and outer side rails.Removal now will mean the boat will close up and not measure correctly.The bulkheads are part of the kit we supply,as is the rudder and dagger board.

Hi Roy,

Good progress so far and quite pleasing to see it out of the jig. Please see attached photographs.

I have almost completed the teak/epoxy fillets.  Not the prettiest of jobs but I hope that I can neaten this up with a more appropriate filler before painting.

 As always, I welcome your comments.

Best regards,

Stuart.

The graded teak wood dust is now kept for none slip deck finishes and

we now supply 3M micro balloons and fused silica to use as a fillet and filler paste.Being white and very light they are easier to handle and also to sand smooth.

R McB

Douglas Fir clears

Also known by the name of Oregon Pine,it has become scarce over the past decade,the last stock we had sold out and we were not able to replace the same close grained quality.We decided to take it from our stock offering but today its back and we can offer decent quality,suitable for mast making,even for domestic floors,we can supply it cut to size and T&G machined.

Here Mike is packing the last load of stock,it went out with one of our boat kits.

Note the stacked packs,that is Superform bending plys,in stock today!

R McB

Alloy Lavranos design used in the Survivor series

With our move to include alloy CNC kit packs,one designer tells me his alloy design was used in a Survivor TV series.The Lavranos design office has plans for alloy craft as large as 20 meters,others can be drawn to special order.

The nesting unsinkable dory was also used for the TV Survivor program, as a passenger boat, Camera platform, transporter workboat etc.  The 11m 

38 kt rescue boat was launched last year.

Regards,

Angelo

Superform Bending ply ex stock

Available in mixed pack lots,trade or retail,trade buyers will be expected to have commitment and buy in bulk.A Retail guide price is an indication only,prices are bound to change with the built in cost factors such as transports to your point of sales outlets.

Think quality,not down to how low a price you can buy,genuine Superform is made in a CE controled factory,so you can use it for exports with confidence,not so other boards.

How to use Superform bending plys is open to the designer and individual craftsman.

It can be bent in more than one plane when your using a mould,its also water proof!

Contact me for prices,retail or trade.

South Africa and surounding countries.

R McB

An alloy yacht kit by Angelo Lavranos

We have had a look at the fact that kit sets as a sheet alloy CNC pack is possible,its not a move away from ply and epoxy but an additional material that should find its own attractions. Angelo has many alloy boats on his files,power and sail,so give us a call if there is another type of alloy craft your looking for.

9.9 METER “KITSET” ALUMINIUM  OCEAN CRUISER                         DESIGNED BY ANGELO LAVRANOS

 This little boat has evolved from our smallest  metal  cruiser “Seashirl”, in which she shares the same overall size and arrangement but  differs in that she is hard chine, and as such fully a “kitset” CNC cut boat. This includes all stringers and frames, so no extrusions are needed.   Any professional fabricator can assemble this boat quickly and easily.  It is the low cost way into a fully  capable  metal  ocean cruising boat. She has the displacement and  volume to be as comfortable as  a “production”  36 or 38.

 LOA                               9.990  meters

DWL                             9.240  meters
BEAM                           3.24   meters
DRAFT                        1.72  meters
DISPL                          6000  Kg
FRESH  WATER          240 lit
DIESEL                        200 lit
ENGINE                      27 HP Yanmar

Dixi Dinghy stuff

Its a nice size to build for an adult or two children,more than that and the larger Argie 10 comes in to focus

Jim who built his Dixi Dinghy from one of our kits,added the frames with holes,this is normally a closed box and floatation area.

A Dixi Dinghy tows really well,is that sun rise or sun set?

R McB

Wharram Tiki 30 and its Dixi Dinghy tender

The Tiki 30 is a kit of materials this far,we have yet to CNC cut the bulkhead frames but can offer that on request.The Wharram Tiki 38 is CNC ready,it includes much of the hull panels too.

Picture supplied by Jim,who owns the Tiki 30,he used our Dixi Dinghy kit as a training exercise for the pupils he works with in Mozambique.

The Dixi Dinghy is of course one of our regular dinghy kits,its the smaller version of the Argie 10 and Argie 15.

The Dixi Dinghy is as much boat as we can get from just two sheets of 6mm ply,thats a clever use of materials,there is just about no waste at all.The 6mm ply is a five veneer construction,so very strong.

Kommetjie Optimist build is fun

A kit we supplied to an Optimist dinghy kit is now under construction in Kommetjie,a suburb of Cape Town.

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the supply of AR-600 epoxy.

I have just glued the mast thwart pieces together and also glued the bow and stern doublers into place.

Temporary and centre bulkheads have been dry fitted and once the resin has dried, I will bevel and dry fit mast bulkhead and mast thwart into position.

So far all is going well, and lots of fun!

Note the ply floor stringers,you need to fix them in before the bulkheads,this info is all in our detailed 14 page builders guide we supply with each Optimist kit we sell.

Please see photos attached.

Regards,

Stuart

Note,this is not Stuarts build,its our own,I have included the picture so that the builders jig required can be fully viewed.

Roy

Dixi dinghy kit to Maputo

One of the many countries we have exported to is Mozambique,Jim wanted a small tender so suit the Wharram Tiki 30 catamaran they already had.The idea in the kit was education,a hands on lesson for pupils while Jim did the build.

Check the assembled Dixi dinghy shell at the back of the room.

Hi Roy,


I'm sorry for the long delay in communications with you, but I still enjoy reading your blog from time to time. I haven't been back to Cape Town since buying the Dixy dingy from you, but I thought I should at least send you a report and some photos. I am very pleased with our new tender! The construction went well with our 3 teen campers learning by my side. The usufulness of the dixy dingy design has exceeded my expectations. I feel fortunate I made the right choice. We don't plan to build another one right away but I think I will it will be the same design when we decide to do another boat-building project with our youth.

Lots of joy in this picture!

The Dixi Dinghy looks to be a right sized boat to the Wharram 30,we have supplied materials to the Wharram Tiki 30 builds a number of times,we also have the Wharram Tiki 38 on file as just about a fully cut kit set.

Our camps continue well, providing an effective tool for working with the Maputo youth, specifically the "priviledged" class who we have targeted. We plan to add to our (not-for-profit) youth program this year. We are researching the viability of starting a business to offer corporate team-building programs to Maputo larger companies.

Cruising along behind the Wharram Tiki 30,our now built up Dixi Dinghy kit looks just fine.

Attached are some recent photos of our trusty tender serving her yacht Wharram 30 Sonho.

Jim

Diesel Duck 38 traditional build

At a kit price around R120,000,thats about U$15,000 right now,this is still one heck of a kit package,we supply all the frames pre made,you need to pay George for his plans too.

The bottom line with this build is commitment,do you have what it takes,can you build it,I did. Miss Pickles was built around ten years back,with its International Paints protecting it,the finish is still tops.

How hard can this be?

R McB

http://dieselducks.com/Duck38study.html this is the link for the Diesel Duck

When asked last week to survey a yacht,I was questioned if I was able to do such a job,qualified was one word mentioned? Boat survey is one of the tasks I get from time to time,its rare not to cover the survey fee (not cheap)remember your paying for what has been learned over many years of working on and building boats,three transatlantics and thousands of sea miles,I always find some item of interest,one was no oil on the dipstick in an engine,what money did that save?

Left click the pictures to view full size and see more detail.

Hauled 18 months later after she was a bit knocked about on the marina in False Bay,no sign of leaks anyplace.

False Bay Yacht Club.

A very traditional boat on the inside but clad with two layers of ply and epoxy,we turned her into a more modern build.
Launched Miss Pickles weighed six tons,she then needed five tons of internal ballast.



The size of the laminated timber keel means we make it in sections,then removed it to the actual building shed for assembly.

Laying a keel in parts in the workshops.

Oppikat,a great small cat for you to build

News just in from yacht designer Dudley Dix:

Years ago Neels Lund of Nebe Boats commissioned a catamaran intended for children to sail. He was going to make moulds then build it as a GRP production boat. I designed the Oppikat for Neels but his company closed its doors before he even started building the moulds.

Over the years since then we have sold a few sets of plans for it but I have never received any photos of completed boats until recently. Frank Nagel in Berlin, Germany, has completed one for his children and has started to send me sailing photos.

Frank's newly completed Oppikat

Frank has two sons. Johnny is 7 and sails with Frank aboard for safety. Vincent is 11 and weighs 33kg. He sails their Oppikat by himself in breezes up to Force 3. Frank says that he also sails it himself with both sons aboard in up to Force 7. The 120kg total weight is a bit much for the little 9ft cat but it is good to know that she can take it.

Words and pictures are from the www.dixdesign.com web site and Dudleys own blog,many thanks.

R McB

The cruises of Ocean Cloud,a short history.

Gulliver of Knysna by name was no more,she sailed on as Ocean Cloud,a name change and a hull line colour change too.I had seen her being launched at the RCYC,in many ways a sister ship to French Connection,one of the better Endurance 37 ever seen.

Gulliver of Knysna was on a trip from Knysna to Cape Town,four days into that trip she was rolled over just past the Cape Point light seen in the picture above,the next light house was Slangkop,its was right there she was rolled in the black of night.

This was not as I found and bought her,she was well out to sea and in the surf at low tide,I took the view she could be saved if I could get a crane?

The story of the sea resucue of Gullivers four male crew was well writen about,the painting of the rescue is to be found in Station Eights club room.

A week later she was mine,I had the job to repair the rather (very) large hole on the port side,it was closed one week later,then the refit started.

Fifty one weeks after she was taken from the rocks,we re launched the boat and named her Ocean Cloud.We used our marina berth at Cape Towns RCYC and sailed of a year or so later on a day like this.

Brasil was exciting,so was Fernando Noranja,Lorna climbed Pico with friends,we were at anchor not far from the bays below.

Next was Brasils Athol das Rocas,a wonderfull over night stop on a coral island in the middle of the South Atlantic,there are no persons living on the isalnd.

Our stop at Venzuelas Mochima is a highlight of my cruising life,its one of those places we are supposed to visit,we did!

This picture says it all,there is hardly need for words,we are at the end of a days cruise,the bay is Punta Pargo and our last nights stay in Venezuela before and eventual and eventfull trip to Tinidads Port of Spain the following day.

How hard can this be?

R McB

Gulliver of Knysna

Note: This tale had a happy ending thanks to those who serve Hout Bays Station 8 NSRI,they are still doing this on a daily basis,24/7 and 365 days of the year,my thanks to you all.

Gulliver of Knysna lived on to sail once more,I launched her again fifty one (51) weeks later and in our own Hout Bay Harbour,her new name is Ocean Cloud,she is in False Bay at FBYC last I saw.(december 2010)

With friends I took her to Salvador,Bahia, Brasil,thats Notty,Sam his daughter and a mutual friend of us all,John Holmes,that was a brilliant cruise,highly memorable and we still have the VHS tape to proove it.

Later and with my family aboard,we cruised north as far as Tobago,then on to Venezuela,finally leaving the boat in Trinidads TTYA for some eight months. After which Sam (simone) and Nigel, sailed back to Cape Town with the boat.


The decision to buy a wreck of a yacht on the rocks at Slangkop was a decision made on the spot, when I took a gamble I could save the boat if a crane could be found,it started with me paying for the boat where she lay,which was far out in the surf,then looking for my friend Ronnie,who ran a crane hire company,I found him at the 19th hole at Green Points Metropolitan Golf Club,with help from Ronnie finding Dennis Gentry and Tandem Rigging,the rest just happened but it was never easy.

Party time!


With a ladder set up it was great to be able to walk around Gullivers teak decks,it had been a long week but success was ours.


Now in Hout Bay and after the crane had off loaded Gulliver,the crew came too by our request,while we were working Jean my wife had prepared some party food and drinks as a way of saying thank you.

Left click any picture to view full screen size.

Loaded,its time to head home for Hout Bay and across Chapmans Peak Drive coastal road,that was an adventure all of its own,with cars coming from the city and our rig needing the full width of the road most of the time.

Gulliver goes skywards to be loaded on to a low bed trailer which had already been loaded with an Endurance 37 cradle I knew about in Cape Town harbour.

The crew,what a great bunch of guys,they worked around the clock to save what was now my boat.

Dennis Gentry,CEO of Tandem Rigging facing the camera.

The view of the scene from a road high up on the hill.

The first Endurance 37 we had built and owned,sailed back from Brasil, had been sold some months before this event took place,it was a very bad north wester, when one dark night, Gulliver of Knysna on passage from Knysna to Cape Town, got too close to the shore and was turned over by a breaking wave,the story of an amazing NSRI Station 8 rescue of the yachts four crew, is well documented in a story I wrote and had published in Duckworths Magazine (on line),the pictures are scanned from by now old prints and negs, were taken with a Canon FT 35mm camera and a 1.4 x 50mm lens
R McBride pics.





A few days after she went aground,we got a rough terrain crane large enough to haul her free of the rocks,then it was another but larger crane to load her with a boom long enough to lift her off the same rocks,it took the best part of a working week,Dennis from Tandem Rigging told me later,it was the only job he made any money on that year,I have say he and his crew who camped on site to work with the tides, sure earned their pay!The boat was by this stage a bare hull and deck unit,the boat had been stripped by Charles, who had bought her in the surf from the insurance company,I in turn bought the wreck from Charles.