This cruising life,Salvador,Bahia,Brasil

Left click to view an enlarged picture.

With friends and their yachts sailing off right now to Brasil,this is a good time to post a picture I took,its in 1977,we are with the crew of two other boats,one is the Eckhoffs,Donella,the other is a family from Durban but I do not recall their family name or the name of the boat,it was about 36ft long and a pale blue.Dennis off Brer Terrapin is standing up and suggesting our plan of action for an evening ashore and a beach braai.The camera was my Canon FT with a 1.4 x 50mm lens.

Pirates,Somalia

Actually,its no laughing matter but maybe some of the world powers are a joke?
Left click to read the words.

Vampire Jets

We have a second order to supply Hendrick with our Resolution 816 epoxy and 205 cure agent,while the plane may fly,its construction is wood being in plywood made from birch,so when we think of it,planes and yachts are very similar,they both fly in one way or another!

The Vampire Jet designed by de Havilland, Hatfield. Some 1500 were built at English Electric Preston in the 1940's.

Design and development

Interior layout of the Vampire FB Mk2The Vampire was considered to be a largely experimental design due to its unorthodox arrangement and the use of a single engine, unlike the Gloster Meteor which was always specified for production. The low-powered early British jet engines meant that only twin-engine aircraft designs were considered practical; but as more powerful engines were developed, particularly Frank Halford's H.1 (later known as the Goblin), a single-engined jet fighter became more viable. De Havilland were approached to produce an airframe for the H.1, and their first design, the DH.99, was an all-metal, twin-boom, tricycle undercarriage aircraft armed with four cannons. The use of a twin boom (similar to that of the Lockheed P-38) kept the jet pipe short which avoided the power loss of a long pipe that would have been needed in a conventional fuselage. The DH.99 was modified to a mixed wood and metal construction in light of Ministry of Aircraft Production recommendations, and the design was renumbered to DH.100 by November 1941.[2]

Under specification E.6/41 for two prototypes, design work on the DH.100 began at the de Havilland works at Hatfield in mid-1942, two years after the Meteor.[3]

The Moth hydrofoil

We have been asked to develop a Moth hydrofoil kit,whats a Moth says I,checking on the web I see its nothing new but they can be expensive,exciting too I bet.We have asked one of our team of designers to give the idea some thought,its a possible thing,so watch this space,as the kit will not be expensive,there is so little boat!

Flying Cloud,a Dix Design Dix 43

How big is a big boat,there probably is no answer to that but the 45ft american yacht that used this cradle before this boat, sure looked a whole lot larger than this Dix 43!We have boats on our kits offerings to 55ft but size is not an issue really.
Left click the picture to view full size,the camera was a Canon G11 set on auto.

This was not a boat built from a kit,it was hand lofted and hand built,the hull took me six weeks working eight hours a day to build.It was the learning curve on Dudleys radius chine construction start though,so in some ways the beginnning of what became to be known as CKD Boats cc.We can offer CNC cut bulkheads on this design,also the very similar shaped Dix 38 and 45.

SSB Radio ground plates

The issue on a boat of a decent SSB ground plate always causes discussion,I can only advise what has worked on my own boats and worked very well,the basics are a decent radio of course,then a copper foil to ground it with (not a wire) you then link up to various things that will help the cause,steel tanks and the engine are a good start.In my case I have always had a copper plate with a large slab anode fastened to it,not so neat but it works very well and as the engine is connected to the anode,I have never ever had any worry with corrosion in the engine,so its working two ways in my case.I have just added an upgrade in a dynaplate,thats the bright yellow slab next to the anode you can see,its a mass of bronze balls sintered together to make a connected mass,but not solid,you can blow air through it,the size you see is said to equall five (5) square meters of ground plane,I should have a very good set up now!

Inside the boat,one of two mounting bolts on the dynaplate,the brass shim foil goes to the anode stud which is out of sight under the pipe work,the anode stud already has a 3" (75mm) copper foil ground strip in place.Why the brass strip? I have run out of copper but have brass shim stock,its the same thickness so I used that.

The copper plate is about 550mm x 550mm,it will get some growth on it but not much.

Insulation,Alububble sheeting

I had recently removed the boats head liners to do some other work,so I used the chance to spray them with a twin pack satin clear laquer,a decision to install thermal insualation was taken too.What type and where from was a small problem,the aft cabin has 20mm polyurethane foam sheeting,it works well but does require cutting and makes a bit of a mess,it also needs a full coating of contact glue,so a lot of work. A chance conversation on the subject with Andre,one of our valued customers, had him deliver 4m2 of Alububble insulation to me to try out,he had bought an entire roll for his Sadler 32 new boat fit out.

Using this product is a great experiance,its easy to use,cuts with a Stanley knife,makes no mess and requires just a narrow application of contact glue around the edges only.Being just 3mm thick I was able to use the headliner as my template,cut and glue,then screw back in place,what a nice product,recomended!

With all head liners back in place and most of the teakwood trims screwed back as well we are nearly finished,I sense a nicer audio sound from those two Pioneer radio speakers too.

Left click any picture to view full size on your screen

We can make these hatch trims to order,either just the corners and you make your own frame,or completed and ready to fit,we stock round air vent trim rings in teak wood too.

Look closely,you can just see the edge of the insulation material on top of the plywood headliner,the air space is an important part of why it works by the way,always install with the silver foil upwards.

The silver side up,this panel is glued and ready to install.
Warning,if using contact glues or similar,always have lots of ventilation available,with no naked flame or smoking allowed.




Technical and Thermal Benefits of Alububble
Clean, strong, light and flexible


Odourless, non-carcinogenic, non-toxic, non-allergic


Vermin and insect resistant, inert, waterproof, excellent tear resistance


Irritant free - no loose fibres to irritate skin, eyes, nose or lungs


Energy efficient, insulation & vapour barrier in one


Heat stabilized for durability & effective in temperature range of – 20 C° to 80 C°


Quick and easy to install


Extremely cost effective


Alububble has been tested for fire resistance and classification in accordance wit SANS 10177


Special lengths on request


UV Protected


Choice of Colour