More on the wooden boats of Hout Bay

It goes without saying,that Hout Bays existance was always to do with fishing,thats why the harbour was built.Hout Bay is the closest harbour to Cape Point about an hour away under motor? Cape Point and its ocean offshore, is a wonderfull fishing ground and supports many fishing boat crews.Hout Bays fleet have in the past all been made from wood but this is changing now,the boats are smaller,around 50 feet long and moulded in GRP but we still have thirty to fifty timber built boats using the harbour at anyone time,its the busiest fishing harbour in the Western Cape.

Ians New Zealand Cape Cutter 19 kit build continues

Ians Cape Cutter 19 build pictures,he will soon be laying the decks then fitting out.


This is a nice shot of the cockpit.


Ian has chosen white to finish his hull,thats a good choice,dark colours can bring their own problems on a wood/epoxy build,its a heat build up thing.


Ian has now finished the cockpit,it takes more time due to the various shapes and corners,its a nice cockpit though.


A view of the boats foredeck.


Looking down at the outboard well,the motor is raised when sailing,a 5hp outboard is all the boat needs?

Some pictures from Ian on South Island,New Zealand have just come in,we like to get our customers to send progress reports and pictures,its good blog stuff and helps us keep in touch with our clients.

Ian was telling me he is not as fast as he could be but progress is being made,I suggested he never stop to consider what he was attempting to do,he may stop forever and never get finished? Ians reply came in with the following Chinese probverb.

Fear not to move slowly -Fear only not to move,as Ian comments,they have a point!

Note,Ians was the very last Cape Cutter 19 kit that was allowed,its a licence thing,so we now offer its 10% larger sister the Cape Henry 21,we can do the Cape Charles 32 as well.

Flicka 20,more pictures

What a great little boat this is,we have already done a quote for a wood/epoxy hull kit and a regular customer is asking about a set of mouldings as well,prices on the hull kit have been done,it will be a week or two before we cost the GRP hull,deck and interior moulds though.

USS GUAM aircraft carrier

Left click the top picture to fill your PC screen and see all the details!




The top picture jumped off the page at me! I think we are expected to really see the yacht in front but my interest is also in aircraft carriers due to my own visit to the USS 66 America.

The yacht in front is named Larry,the occasion is the D Day commemoration in 1994,the picture is by Beken of Cowes,they still take great pictures!There is so much to look at in this picture,check those guys standing on the side decks of the carrier,they do not have guard rails by the way.Many thanks to Classic Boat magazine for the use of their October 2000 issue 148 front cover.

The USS Guam did forty years of service,she went into service in 1965,she was taken out of service eventally and then sunk by US 67 JFK of the coast of Florida as a target exercise.

Flicka 20 GRP moulds to arrive

These pictures are of 'sister ships' we wish to thank the respective owners for use of their boats picture.




We will soon be able to offer the Flicka 20 as a set of GRP molds,we can offer a hull and deck set and also the boats interior moulds,possibly CNC cut bulkheads too,so a good package.At this time we have no costings on labour or materials but we would like to know your interest? shipping world wide is not a problem.

For those who want to self build a Flicka 20,we have access to the boats lines drawings,so we can now CNC cut the hull shape and supply as a kit,the hull would best be suited to a strip plank and epoxy construction,we can supply all CNC stations,strip plank and epoxy as a complete kit.

We have measured a GRP Flicka 20 hull in our local boat yard,the hulls surface area,including the transom,is about 24 square meters,give or take a meter either way.A kit based on strip planked and epoxy build will cost U$5500,this gets you the hull former sections all CNC precut and the hull skin coves (15mm x 30mm sections)transom plys,keel and stem back bone timbers with epoxy,the decks will add to this but its not a lot of area extra.

Grandmother named Slack

A good friend of mine from the North West of England,thats the Manchester area, has sent me this picture of his grandmother,he asks where we may think she came from originaly,as she does not apear to be English,she may be Polish,Turkish,even from Lebanon? at the time of the picture she was thirty seven years (37) old.Can anyone recognise a family resemblance to this striking beauty?

Roy

CKD Boats cc Working Hours

This is a subject of some discussion,so I thought I need to lay down the rules,its kind of flexible and runs 24/7 some days but then when I feel like it 0/0 its up to me.The truth is we get very many emails thanking me for a quick reply,this makes me think that some companies dont give a toss and just never reply,is this true? I have one email out to a company in the USA now,I told them I want to buy their product,guess what,its three days later and I have had no reply! Basically I open the doors at 8am, always close by 3pm but 2pm on a friday,please phone me on 021 510 7206 or email kits@comlumber.com if you wish to make a personal call?

Roy

Working hours

As posted on a Liverpool,England calling card from Mersey Auto Parts.

We are open most days about 9 or 10,occasionally as early as 7 but some days as late as 12 or 1.

We close at 5.30 or 6 occasionally about 4 or 5 but sometimes as late as 11 or 12.

Some days or afternoons we are not here at all,and lately Ive been here just about all the time,except when I am someplace else but I should be here then too!

Deep Water,the rule of ten?

gradually rotting away on the shore in Cayman Brac for many years.



I watched a film last night named Deep Water (thank you SABC TV)The story line is well known to those who have interest in sailing,it also goes back some forty one (41) years.While I knew the basics of the story I did not know enough of it,what came out in this film,its more a documentary,was amazing,it is well worth watching even if it can be depressing at times?

Donald Crowhurst
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Donald Crowhurst, pictured just before setting out in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race in 1968.Donald Crowhurst (1932–1969) was a British businessman and amateur sailor who died while competing in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, a single-handed, round-the-world yacht race. Crowhurst had entered the race in hopes of winning a cash prize from the Sunday Times to aid his failing business. Instead, he encountered difficulty early in the voyage, and secretly abandoned the race while reporting false positions, in an attempt to appear to complete a circumnavigation without actually circling the world. Evidence found after his disappearance indicates that this attempt ended in insanity and suicide.

The Rule of Ten?

Well it crossed my mind that ten starters sailed off.

Donald Crowhurst was the last to leave in October 1968,the tenth month of the year.

Of the ten starters only one finished the course,Robin Knox Johnston,so 10%.

Of the starters only one man died,Donald Crowhurst,so 10%

Roy,

The Dixi Rollar mast raising,its a traditional thing!

Its done! thank you Steve and Renata for a very interesting afternoon,the glass of beer was nice too! all of what you see took less than an hour from start to finish,who needs a crane>


This was the view when we looked up and is what is holding the mast in place,later the dead eyes Steve hand made will be laced into position and the two lifting halyards will be released.


Its nearly there.


Still trying.


The three men trying very hard.


The three deck men getting to grips with the mast and the fact that the halyard lift was still a little short of what was needed,man power took over at this point,I would bet they are a little stiff today?


Steve doing a temporary tie off to the forestay.


Nearly vertical,man power takes over now as most the halyards lift has been done.


Check out the position of the blocks,in this case they would have worked better a half meter higher?


The three boats with Resound leaning over quite a bit.


Stepping back a little and next to the Dix designed Flying Cloud,it puts the lift into full perspective.


Going Up!


The starboard side boat,Resounds crew winching at the same time to keep the mast central.


The crew on the port side boat,thats Athol from yacht Perazim winching with Steves wife Renata tailing the winch just out of sight.


Lifting lines at the spreaders.


Spreaders and blocks,all hand made by Steve himself.


Feline help,its not even Dixi Rollars cat!


Harvey helping out,he is here from Tortola where his own boat is tied up ashore for the hurricane season,June to soon October its over?


Going up.


The mast head.


Steve,the master mind behind the whole opperation.


Resounds crew.


The block set up at Resounds mast head.


We are indeed fortunate to have a band of fellow HBYC members on our local marina,there are normally enough around to help with the odd job you need assitance with from time to time.In the past year there have been a number of masts raised in the traditional manner,Anna Woolfs and Nick Taylors come to mind.

In this case Renata and Steve were about to re step the solid wood mast on their boats deck,to do this is easy with a suitable crane but they cost money,so Steve organised a few friends,parked his steel self built Roberts Spray between two suitable yachts with large enough masts and set up the blocks and control lines to haul his mast to a vertical position,the pictures tell the story.