Tididi progresses

Andrew arrived at CKD Boats when he required 6mm plys to laminate his hull skin with,we discussed the end use and did an upgrade to BS1088 marine grade in ockume veneers,plus the 816 epoxy system we stock.Progress was good and late last year Andrew had a hull turning party,seems it was a good one reading his blog and he wont have to look for crew either.

From Andrews blog:

To all those who follow my blog, I have not fallen off the edge of the world, although my world did change quite drastically when we turned the boat because on the same day I also met the most amazing lady. Jay has changed my life totally and although the boat building has not stopped altogether, I have to admit it has slowed down quite substantially. This is not however of great concern as this was always going to be a long term project and now that I have someone special to share it with, it just makes it all that much more worthwhile. Things are going to remain slow over the next few months as Jay and I are going on a cruise in the Baltic and a road trip through the South West of England during September.

In the interim though there has been some progress on Tididi in that most of the interior temporary timber has been removed, all the interior joints have been filled and the cockpit frames and aft side deck beams installed.

The moons a balloon

Thats also the name of a book by the actor David Niven,its a great read about his career if you can find a copy.In 1971, he published his autobiography, The Moon's a Balloon, which was well-received, selling over five million copies
The picture was from the Hout Bay YC marina,the camera a Canon G11,from an auto setting to a part zoom,then max zoom.

KD860 building shed

This is a great structure to work in,space to move around and a good safe store and general workshop in that large container behind.

We are about to ship out the materials to a KD860 sailing catamaran that Andrea will soon be working on in Pretoria,the building shed was started some while back,its now being fitted with its walls and will be ready when the delivery arrives.

Turning one of our boat kits

Its always a big day when you get to the stage when its time to turn your boat hull over.With enough care and thought you could do the job on your own but with enough friends its much more fun and a good excuse for a party afterwards!

This boat is in Freemantle,Australia,David built it on his own from one of our Didi Mini Cruise kits,which has a drop keel,check out the keel box in the center of the boat,we supplied the kit,drop keel and 400 kgs of hot pour cast lead ballast.

New Zealands Cape Cutter 19 is pro painted

This is a fine build of a Cape Cutter 19 from one of our kits,Ian has progressed well and will soon be rigging her out,we supplied the mast and spars too.

Ian and I discussed the painting of his boat some while back,my feeling is that while paint application by brush and a roller is accepatble to some,the end result will actually degrade the boats looks and devalue it to some extent?

Hi Roy,


After all the coating and sanding, sanding, sandING, I decided the little boat deserved a really nice final coating as a treat. I was put onto a professional guy who has started his own little business locally and he liked the boat so decided to do the paint job for a reduced rate. And since I had done the hard yards previously, the cost was most reasonable. The guy is an artist and the boat looks like a fibreglass finish - I am really chuffed. You guys were right with your advice of 'keep on sanding.'

A friend helped me raise the garage door (easier said than done) and cut an aperture above it, because when the mast tabernacle is fixed in place she won't quite fit into the garage given the height of the trailer. So now we need to dynabolt a fitting my mate welded up onto the shed floor to enable us to winch the boat up inside where she will live and where I shall then proceed to put the fittings on and prepare the spars.

Cheers,

Ian

Hout Bays winter fog

Winter in the Cape has all sorts of weather,sun,rain and fog in a single day is more than possible,seen here was a thick fog in the bay,the harbour entrance will be hard to find,especially as the red leading light does not work,its been out of order at least six weeks and the harbour officials do nothing about it.We can host a FIFA World Cup event costing billions but not service our harbour lights it seems.