The South African Boat Building industry guide

Just out this week,trade and boat buyers,send your address for a free copy.

OCC youth sailing Bursary offer

Please left click on the above image,it will then open full size.

This has to be one of the best sailing offers I have yet to see,its a way of introducing younger people to true Blue Water Sailing,open to anyone who has the will to qualify,its a great way to start ocean sailing!

Sergeys Didi Mini Transat in New York

This is the fourth Didi mini transat launched that was built from one of our kits.We also have one that sailed from South Africa to England,another went to Spain but I think by ship,we have one in Simonstown,South Africa too.Others may be sailing but we have not been told yet,for sure we are seeing more and more sailing each year.

This boat was the second built by the owner to this design,the first he built from plans,then chose our fully prepared kit for his second boat,we shipped in two stages,stage one was the boat kit,then the following year,the sails,keel,deck stantions,push and pulpit,rudders and foil,steering and tiller.We have done a number of our kits in this manner,it gives the builder time to get on with the boat,then as he or she works along,decide what is required to complete the boat,it helps with the cash flow as well of course!

Didi 26 trailer sailer as a kit boat

Fourteen days after the start,this is where I was at,thats 14 working days and after I had the building stocks built in place,each day was never a full eight hours,as it was still up to me to reply to mails and enquiries,so only six to seven hours a day really?




You can see how the bulkheads are set in place,its not difficult at all,we cut the stringer slots as you can see,no easy task when your doing your own lofting and setting out,I would like to think this is one of the reasons our CNC cut kits have been so acceptable.


It will take you less than a day to prepare all these CNC cut bulkheads and the same again to set them up,so in practice within two days of starting,your moving on to the stringer fitting,followed by fitting the first hull panel,its really that fast with our kits.

We have sold these kits to clients in Johannesburg,RSA,Hawaai and Virginia,USA,the last one started as a kit order,then the client suggested we build the kit for him as well,so we sent the finished hull and deck unit to him,pre primed in white epoxy base coat in a 40ft container,its a close fit but we managed.

Dave and Wendys Didi Mini Transat build in Arizona

Note the Deck Stantions and Pushpit Bars,we supplied those,plus the keels Lead Ballast moulds to Dave and Wendy too.Check out their dedicated web site www.dandwboatworks.com



Turn over time,probably party time too.



Dave and Wendy campain a J22 right now,thats it on the left,just look how much larger the rig is on the Didi mini transat,which is one foot shorter!

Dave and Wendy bought one of our Dix Design Mini Transat kits a few years back,Dave works as an air frame engineer and it shows in his attention to detail in his build process,with many of his own details added in to the designers design,the use of Carbon Fibre being noticable in the Cant Keel box and Chain Plates areas.Dave tells me that not only does he have work on the project between his normal shift work but also keep an eye on local tempratures,as plus 40c is normal where he lives in the USA.

Yanmar Marine Diesel Engine,8hp single cylinder fits!

Looking from astern at the Yanmar engine subframe installation

Yanmar YM10 diesel fits a Didi Mini Transat

The Yanmars GRP Subframe fits perfectly!


We have sold Dix Design Didi Mini Transats to many countries,only one has fitted an inboard diesel motor that I am aware of it,this is Sergeys engine,in the boat he built from one of our kits in New York,as you can see its a tight fit but by using a opening waterproof hatch in the cockpit above,the Yanmar diesel,with a Z drive dropped right in!

Fluid Film really works,only U$22,thats just R180! a litre

A Harken Furler top gear,protected with one application.


The offer to stock and retail Fuid Film came at a time when having just rebuilt an alloy mast I was ultra aware of what corrosion can do,in the case of the mast just worked on it was not a factor in a big way but I had relised that given the high cost of such items,it was worth plenty to stop the natural degrade given the normal mix of disimilar metals such as alloy and stainless steel.

OCC Port Officers Flag

Port Officers Burgee as presented by Erik G.E.J Vischer ,Vice Commodore of the Ocean Cruising Club

Some years back a good friend,Ken Pollard of the yacht Fast Forward asked me if I would take over his post as the port officer for our local waters,this I accepted and for the past few years I have suported OCC members as they passed through the Cape on their sailing adventures.

Didi mini transat kit build

Click on this image for a magnificent full size photo,check out the attention to detail on the paint works where the Teal side paints join the roll over to the decks,its really the way to do this job.

CKD Boats very first kit ever cut is now being readied for launch.


Every company has a start,some morph from doing what what happening before,in many ways so did we,timber and boat works,mast building and new boat builds at times too.Then came a phone call from a local yacht designer,Dudley Dix www.dixdesign.com would I like to supply a set of CNC cut bulkheads to one of his new designs and for Malcolm who had requested the design,I was into a new direction of course and soon we cut a Didi 26 ,then two more Didi Mini Transats,then another,followed by designs from others and a name change from Commercial Lumber cc to CKD Boats cc,due in the main to timber sales being fast taken over by plywood and CNC kit related sales,it has not changed since then.

I.O.C Member

The original certificate as issued in 1968,by which time I had emigrated to Cape Town,South Africa.



While I was made a member of the British Institute of Certified Carpenters in the late sixties,the change of name saw me become a member of the IOC in 2006.



Our Aims

We aim to:

promote and enchance the role and status of skilled craftsmen and women everywhere;
encourage the highest standards of carpentry and joinery work; and
maintain the best traditions of our historic craft.
We provide an invaluable range of support and services including:

Technical and practical information and advice
Respected qualifications from Foundation through to Fellowship level
Specialist service for members
Master Certificate Scheme

The above is an extract from the Institutes web site,based in Great Britain,many members such as myself moved to other parts of the globe but the membership continues.When I was doing my London City of Guilds trade test (forth year) in Carpentry and Joinery,I was invited to sit for The institute of Certified Carpenters Guild exam at a later date,as with the city of guilds exam I was able to graduate to the Carpenters Guild as well.