Tip Toe below

Ian has sent me some pics,of the inside of his Cape Cutter 19,its a nice size boat and well finished inside and out,my reply to Ian is below.

Hello Ian,


Look very neat and tidy,lots of space for a 19ft boat too,I remember sitting inside Zest,boat number one at RCYC,there were four of us inside all wondering about the large amount of usable space,the Cape Henry 21 is 10% larger but has 30% more volume!

Regards

Roy

Wilhelms hull turning on his Navigator

Assembly of the boats frame works.

Hull turning using webing and block & tackle.

Following up with  Ian In New Zealand doing his Cape Cutter 19 launch,we next get a visit from a Cape Town resident,Wilhelm, we cut his John Welsford designed Navigator kit for him around four years back,Wilhelm has just turned his hull over and at last he can see the  boat properly.He needs to lay the plywood decks,fit the side seats and he too will soon be sailing! We can sell you the plans and the kit if required.

Ians Cape Cutter 19 ' Tip Toe' launching in New Zealand

This is a great moment to witness and for Ian and Paula to see happen at last,I say at last but its not taken so long,three years is not a very long time when the job has been fitted in with Ians busy life.Made in South Africa and built in New Zealand,with the Cape Cutter 19 designer now living in the USA,this is truly an international design,we sent one to Mike in Australia too.

Hi Roy,


Big day for me on Tuesday the 9th of November, I launched Tiptoe after three years of building and three days before turning 60. The last few days were something of a mad flurry to complete rigging jobs. She came off her trailer eagerly, floated beautifully on her marks, and received champagne and blessings like the little lady she is. The first thing I did was to leap aboard and test the swinging keel down then up and had a little whoop when that all went smoothly. I started the outboard and motored out and then set genoa and main in a perfect breeze and had the unparalleled delight of that first sail - nothing to beat it - and I was thrilled at the way this gorgeous wee boat performed in a 12 knot breeze.

The only problem I had was that I had not realised that two screw holes from fixing floor bearers to the keel casing had in fact penetrated the casing and had not (foolishly on the part of the builder!!) been properly filled, resulting in a constant trickle of water into the bilge. So, any guys building out there should be warned, take care to see that all holes are properly filled before the big day!

Anyhow, the occasion was a thrill and Tiptoe came back onto her trailer a treat and I have now sorted the little bits and pieces needed to go sailing my new boat again sometime soon.

Cheers,

Ian

Ian & Paula Allen ian.allen@xtra.co.nz

The Gables info@thegables.co.nz

Web Site www.thegables.co.nz

Tel / Fax 64 3 5736772

Sailing to Athol Das Rocas,Brasil with a chart dated 1963.

There simply is no other way,excepting a long range helicopter,depending on who you listen to,the island is off limits,at one time a caretaker was in place,what the situation is in November 2010 I have no idea,anyone with local information and factual news is welcome to advise me.

We sailed down from Fernando Isle,this is open to tourists and an air strip exists with flights to Brasils mainland,I assume Forteleza on the north east coast of the mainland,the island has spectacular diving and at least one hotel

Jean and our dinghy,its a Duckling in GRP in Cape Town,we can offer a similar shaped dinghy as a new design and in a kit ,it will be designed by Dudley Dix in cold molded ply and epoxy.The boat is a good load carrier,it rows and sails well too,at that time we had no outboard and you can see the kind of distances I had to row!

The girls enjoy a walk on the coral sand,its really a coral beach,not sand,thats a major storm you can see in the background,we were on our way back  to the boat by then.

Jean enjoys the warm and clear waters,she is in the opening to the  north of the isaland,thats our Endurance 37,Ocean Cloud at anchor in the background.

The birds follow you everywhere,there are very few trees or landing places on the island,so landing on your head looks like a good idea?

Rocas is amazing,its alive with fish in the lagoon,also lots of sand crawlers and if you look close enough plenty of scorpions,the rats that the British Admiralty Pilot book mentions we did not see.The lagoon can be entered by small boats,like rubber ducks on both the south and the north side,the anchorage is on the north side and in the lee of the island,beware if you arrive at high tide,a long shelf exists just off the sandy beach,if you look down into the crystle clear water you will see long strips of sand,anchor in those,we were the last of five to arrive on the day,all such spots were taken and we had to anchor opposite the lagoons northern opening,this then gave us a flood tide when the tide turned,its was ok but I recomend being behind the beach and the shelf,which dries at low tide.

Battery issues at Varta Batteries

I was at a battery wholesaler last week, some very interesting information is labled in their 'Usage Instructions' booklet on  their Varta Hobby (deep cycle) range batteries, some was news to me, it may be to you too?

A battery with   a  50% charge will not freeze, while a fully discharged battery may, a fully charged battery can take as much a minus 70c without freezing.

When a battery reads 12.3volts or lower it needs charging, a battery with less than 12.6 volts should not be installed.

When removing a battery, take off the negative wire first and when refitting a battery, fit the positive  wire before the negative wire.

Batteries should charge around 14.4 volts ( all my life I thought it was 13.8 volts)

Jump Starting with cables,the two batteries should be of a similar size.

A Varta 'Hobby' Deep Cycle battery,note the terminals can be round posts or threaded.

Roy

Note, five years later and these batteries are still charging to 14.33 volts!

Either the 60 watt solar panel or the Aerogen 4 are the only charging systems unless the Perkins 4108 diesel engine is running.