Saturday 6 November 2010

Port Owen Yacht Club

This is a nice quiet part of the country ,the village will be busy when the fishing boats are running and when the rooibos tea and wine grapes are are harvesting but otherwise a nice peacfull place to have your boat,which is away from all the rush anyway.I may just try it myself and let you know what I find?

Friday 5 November 2010

Shipping our kits world wide,is it expensive?

Well you tell me,another customer from Switzerland tells me he has purchased a set of plans for the new Dudley Dix Didi Mini Transat Mk3,can we supply a kit price and how much is the shipping to Switzerland?


The kit price was easy,its on file at R54,452 ,which is  around U$7778 this is  the whole materials list,epoxies included but what will shipping cost on the materials,CNC works and epoxies?we have a price today  from  Annette at our forwarders,at R4450 only,thats just U$635 its very reasonable on a port to port basis,the customer would collect at the receiving depot for that price.

Andre makes his Saddler 32 rudder

We sorted out the basic CNC profiles for Andre,he then shaped the plys untill he had the correct shape and will now epoxy and glass the rudder off using materials we supplied.

Mail from Andre:

Howzit, here's a couple of snaps of my rudder in progress. The laminated ply looks great - an idea for furniture, something like a table top, nicely varnished?


Cheers

Andre

Thursday 4 November 2010

Nick Franklin,inventor and designer of the Aries Wind Vane.

I was looking for a parts list on the web site for my own Aries vane gear,when I noted that the picture of Nicks smiling face now had some dates added,it was a record of his life being 1943 to 2010,such a shock and loss for us all.Not quite believing what I was seeing I made contact with Helen,Nicks daughter for her confirmation,her reply is below.

Farewell Nick,your passing will never be forgotton,Roy McBride.


Nick Franklin 1943 - 2010.




Always there in the sound of the sea and the cry of the gull.


http://www.ariesvane.com/index.html


Dear Roy, I actually meant to write to you to let you know that my Father had died at the end of May and had put the thought to one side to do later.

He was motoring out in his dingy to meet his grandson, Nick was so proud as Ari had just completed his first single handed crossing from Portugal to Falmouth in 3 days.

It would seem that he suffered a heart attack and drowned, by the time someone noticed the empty dingy puttering along and started searching it was of course to late.

He was 67 and I don't think there are many people who could have packed as much into a life as Nick managed to do. He widened the horizons for thousands of sailors and conducted his business honestly with great integrity unlike so many as you describe.

At his funeral the fishermen of Portloe all said that he was one of their own because without him, his shed with his lathe none of them would have had servicable boats. Somehow that seems to sum my Dad up.

Best wishes, fair winds and good sailing, Helen

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Hillman Imp lightened flywheels

In this case the weight saving was an Impresive 2kgs,thats about a 25% reduction.

Just in stock and about to be sent for dynamic ballancing due to the fact that with removal of so much metal off the standard flywheel,most of the factory balance holes have been removed on the lathe.Lightening a flywheel gives an engine a faster throttle response,it also allows the engine to slow down too,plus it saves weight overall,recomended for any sports engines.

We will use one of these on the 998cc engine build we have on,the other will go into an engine being fitted with Hepolites Powermax pistons to a plus 60 thou,over bore,this is the maximum an Imp engine can go to with out relining,it will raise the cubic capacity from 875cc to 916cc,its only about 4.75% extra but it all helps!

Our new offering a power canoe with a trolling motor

A new plan about to come out on Duckworks - it will be here in the next few days


www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/storer/index. htm

Sunday 31 October 2010

A Series Drogue made in Cape Town

To read why you need a series drogue when sailing offshore,read a true tale dramatised in a short story in this from Duckworths Magazine. http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/howto/parachutes/index.htm

Made to order,prices range from R8000 to R12,000 about U$1150 to U$1730  contact Anna direct on 076 7987328 or for overseas enquiries kits@comlumber.com we can arrange shipping world wide.
If your heading offshore you would do very well to order one of Anna Woolfs hand made Series Drogues,each is made to suit a boats size and made by a person who has used them herself,who better to make one for you. A Drogue Above The Rest,this is top quality,do not confuse Annas drogue with other cheaper products,we do see some similar products that at first glance look the same,please look closer and compare  the hand work and splicing of Annas work,some do not splice at all.