MV Nahlin,a 300 ft long steam boat

Go on,fill your screen with this amazing picture, left click on it to view full size!
MV Nahlin,
Seen here in Whangaroa, New Zealand circa 1930? She is now under reconstruction at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg,Germany,my thanks to John Julian for both the picture and information.

Some weeks back I posted two pictures I took of the most famous sailing boat of all (to me anyway) this was the Atlantic,which set a transatlantic crossing record under sail that stood for so long it seemed the record would never be broken? Due to the power of the world wide web yesterday I recieved a telephone call from one John Julian,a yachting journalist working in New Zealand.John is doing a story about the Atlantic,the old and I suspect the new one that has recently been launched in Holland,it is said to be an exact copy of the hull dimensions,excepting the use of modern build methods and materials means the new boat will be far faster than the original Atlantic?

John wanted permission to use my pictures taken back in 1977,this was a nice request to grant,imagine my pictures taken thirty two (32) years back will soon be in print,I was fortunate to be shown that hulk that day (thanks Charlie) and I wonder if any reader of this blog ever saw her before she was eventually cut up for scrap?

Thanks to John for this stiring picture of a motor yacht now bing restored in Germany.

A song of the sixties, Come Away Melinda

Folk singer Judy Collins,she once sang in Durban I believe.


Being a teenager in the sixties made me a target for the folk songs of that time,there was Peter,Paul and Mary,Julie Felix,Pete Seger,The Spinners (i saw them all) and many others including one Judy Collins,a lady who can sing and play like few others can,this was one of her recorded songs and while it may be some four decades on does give us food for thought with some world nations again brandishing threats of nuclear weapons.

COME AWAY, MELINDA
(Fred Hellerman and Fran Minkoff)

"Mommy, mommy, come and look and see what I have found
A little way away from here while digging in the ground."
"Come away, Melinda. Come in and close the door.
It's nothing but a picture book they had before the war."

"Mommy, mommy, come and see. Oh, mommy, come and look.
There's four or five Melinda girls inside this picture book."
"Come away, Melinda. Come in and close the door.
There were lots of little girls like you before they had the war."

"Mommy, mommy, come and see. Oh, mommy, hurry do.
There's someone grown up and tall who doesn't look like you."
"Come away, Melinda. Come in and close the door.
Your father was a man like that before they had the war."

"Mommy, mommy, come and see. Such things I've never seen.
There's happy faces all around and all the ground is green."
"Come away, Melinda. Come in and close the door.
That's just the way it used to be before they had the war."

"Mommy, mommy come and see and tell me if you can,
Why can't it be the way it was before the war began?"
"Come away, Melinda. Come in and close the door.
The answer lies in yesterday before they had the war."

Recorded by Judy Collins, Tim Rose, Harry Belafonte, The Weavers
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How to build our Optimist kit in pictures

This has been one of our best selling kits,it took a lot of development time but they go together easy enough,we supply a fourteen page builders guide with each kit,this was writen up by Janet and Nigel after building a kit themselves,they CNC cut the boats now and really do have a hands on understanding of the entire process.

Optimist sail for sale

We have a very nice clean used North Sails Opimist sail that needs a new owner,it has been measured and is stamped as such,you can have it at half price of a new one,so just R785 or U$99,we can ship any place.

Davids Didi mini cruise building

We shipped out three Didi Mini Transats in March,one went to Freemantle,Australia,David the customer and also the builder has just sent some progress pictures of what he has constructed so far.

Thin water Ausi designed yacht takes on Loch Ness

Plans and a kit available from CKD Boats,we can ship world wide.

This is a nice story about one of Micheal Storers designs,designed in Australia but built in Holland,the boat was third in a Scotish regatta it entered.

A goat island skiff came 3rd in the prestigious Caledonian RAID event in Scotland, sailed by a builder from Holland.


Having sailed GISwerk only five times prior to our departure from the Netherlands for Scotland 2 weeks ago, the Scottish lochs and canals have truly shown us what a capable boat the GIS is.

On Loch Ness we were confronted with fairly strong winds (with gusts above 20 knots and a short steep 4 ft swell) which GISwerk handled beautifully and without much problem under full sail downwind. Probably not a very sensible thing but it definitely made for a most exciting and fast surf and gained us a first place in the leg!

In the rowing legs we ended a constant third, in the sailing legs we got in 1st – 5th. The winds are very unpredictable on the Scottish lochs: a force 2 can easily become a force 6 but might over a few minutes time dwindle to force naught. Some experience in “reading” the Scottish weather would be very helpful (one day in particular we had difficulties forecasting the winds resulting in tying in an unnecessary reef causing a big delay in finishing) as would be a few more days sailing the boat before entering an event such as Raid Caledonia.

We ended a tied second (out of five boats) in class 2 and overall ended a shared third place out of 9 competing boats.

What matters most however is that we had a blast, got to know the boat fairly well sailing and rowing the boat in a lot of different conditions, met some lovely people during the event and enjoyed the fine music, food and drinks the organisation had arranged for.

JOOST