Saturday 2 March 2013

Will's i550 is in Sailing magazine.

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Will Goodlet


My build is in the local SA Sailing magazine…looking forward to getting my copy!



Will is building hull # 001 for South Africa, CKD Boats cc supplied him a CNC cut plywood kit. A second set of plans has been bought recently, so the class is growing already.

Roy.



http://471.sailspace.org/wp/  Check Will's progress at the link.

Monday, 4th March 2013, my own copy has just arrived. Will has writen a nice story and tells us just how easy this design is to build yourself.

Yacht Jenal in port

Two mates on the classic William Garden designed yacht named Jenal (ex Perazim)

The days work is just about complete, what a great time for a break and a natter.


The place is the HBYC marina, the guys are John in the blue and Jenal's owner Athol in the dark top.

Looks like fun to me!

Roy

Friday 1 March 2013

Roys 1967 Singer Chamois in the HBYC car park

Seen here and not that many meters from what was the original HBYC car park is a Singer Chamois, based on the Hillman Imp, this more up market car outsold all other Imp varients.


Now some forty seven years old and about to see 100,000 miles on the odometer, thats 160,000 kms near enough. The engine is still at the standard 875cc size, it was rebuilt a few years back, uses no oil or waters and runs very well.

Thats how it should be!

Roy

Imp 50 a magic number

The picture will say whats required, fifty years of the Hillman Imp is quite a happening!


My first car and at the age of 17 was a Mk1 Hillman Imp.


Roy

Anchor warp stowage

How much is too much, this will depend on the size of boat and also the stowage space you have?

Cleaning out a locker where I had some deep water anchor lines stowed, I saw that the space taken and the mess of the coil could be better used if I made a decent job of the way I coiled the line up?


I thought to air the line out, then lay it along the marina walk way to measure it. The line when laid the length of the walkway was around 55 meters in length. It was last used in a deep water anchorage in Venezuela but also in St Helena and Brasil, such a line comes into its own when its too deep for your anchor chain.

I was about to start coiling it up using my hand, when Athol from yacht Jenal suggested a drum to roll it around? Great idea but I had no such thing, next moment Athol was off to his boat and on returning hands me a suitable drum!

I  was pleased to try and really did have my doubts that a line 55 meters long and 16mm in diameter will coil around such a small diameter coil? As it turned out I could get another 5 meters on it quite easily. Of course rolling up was a mission and really a dedicated drum with a center spindle is required. In this case I am just happy to be able to stow the line properly coiled and ready for its next use.

Great things happen on the Hout Bay marina!

Roy


 

Note, the anchor used with this line was a genuine forged 10kg Bruce with an 8 meter length of 10mm short link chain, this I found was easy to handle and set and stayed set with no bothers at all. The boat in question was a loaded Endurance 37, so about 10 tons in all?

Thursday 28 February 2013

Dix Design DS15 kit set boat

This is the prototype of a new design design by Dudley Dix Yacht Design , the DS15. It’s a 4.5 meter hybrid dinghy/mini sportboat.




She’s constructed from 6mm okoume marine ply and Sitka spruce for stringers and rails, dyed with sapphire blue dye and clear coated with system three silver tip resin, deck ply will be dyed bright red, so nobody notices the the bloodshed of competition, custom sails by Jerry Latell @ US Sails Deltaville. Spars 50 year old, Sitka spruce hand carved to a tapered air foil.



220 lbs total mass.

Planing 5.6 knots.

6 ft beam .

Hull Draws 3.5″

Daggerboard Draft 4 ft

See Her in person finished at the Mystic Seaport Woodenboat Show late in June.







Gulliver at Slangkop, a crew remembers

A mail came in from Claude yesterday, my first such ever from one of the four who were on the boat that night.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2008/09/gulliver-of-knysna-sea-rescue-by.html

Open the link to read more on this story, which happened around twenty four years ago.


The original painting as used on the NSRI news magazine hangs on a wall at Station Eight, Hout Bay. Awards were given for the bravery of the NSRI crews actions on this really foul weather night.

Hi Roy,

I came across your article about Gulliver stranding at Kommetjie, and well remember that night.
How the NSRI made it out there is a damned wonder.The waves were sky high and we could not see
the NSRI craft until they were within 50 metres, and it was wild. They did as you say, have to stand off
and we got into the life raft and were pulled towards the rescue boat. They had difficulty starting the
motors again after that wave struck, and the skipper was injured. I was cold and already quite calm,
but if I had been part of the rescue team I would have thought twice about going out on that night.
Brave thing to do and I am always thankful to them. I have crossed many oceans since then and rode
many a storm in small boats, but that one I always remember clearly. The members of the NSRI who put
us up in their homes made us feel at home.  I am still suprised that I am not linked more securely
to those members of the NSRI, because I owe them a life

regards

Claude



We really do all have a lot to say thank you to the NSRI.

Roy

Claude, I have tried a number of times to reply to you by email, each time my reply bounces, please contact me.

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Rodriguez film wins an Oscar

A story that is so strange that it must be true, so writes Andrea Nagel in her Film Revue, the Times Friday August 31st 2012.



1971 and I was by then an SA resident, the music over the radio often included songs from Cold Fact, a record made by Rodriguez and I believe in the USA? the album sold just 6 copies in the USA but when it was pirated and released in the RSA, some 500,000 copies were sold!



Taken from the Sunday Times (?) and dated September 2nd 2012. 
Why my interest in this man? Well about three years back I made contact with Stephen Segerman of Mabu Vinyl, Rheede St,Cape Town. I was trying to find a drive belt for my old Yamaha turntable, Stephen told me where to try and I have been playing my records ever since!

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2010/11/zebu-vinylrheede-streetgardenscape-town.html


The shop that Stephen runs has large pictures of Rodriguez on the walls, some of them show the man at the shop, so they are more than passing friends, what I did not know was the story behind finding Rodriguez after so many years.


The story was so good that they made a film about the man and his discovery, that film won an Oscar on Sunday night, February 24th 2012!

Roy

Now I need the mans records of course.


Rodriguez wearing a Mabu Vinyl tee shirt.

Stephen in his record store.


Rodriguez now has an Academy Award to his name after ‘Searching For The Sugarman’ won Best Documentary in Hollywood.


Rodriguez: Photo Ros O'Gorman

‘Searching For The Sugarman’ was a British-Swedish documentary telling the story of Rodriguez’s incredible success in South Africa in the 70s and 80 even though not only was Rodriguez unaware of this fame but how the South Africans also thought he was dead.

Bluesfest director Peter Noble said, “After being the first country in the world to realise his greatness – AND to continue to bring him back for his fans over recent years – it is incredible to see Rodriguezfinally getting his dues after working in obscurity for so long – Welcome back Sugarman

Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, Searching for Sugar Man tells about the obscure Detroit singer and made a near-sweep of documentary awards since its premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.


"Thanks to one of the greatest singers ever, Rodriguez," Bendjelloul said during a brief on-stage speech.

The film tells the story of how for years it was thought that the 1970s singer-songwriter known as Rodriguez had either committed suicide, or faded into obscurity. But through the searches of music lovers Stephen 'Sugar' Segerman and Craig Bartholomew Strydom from South Africa, where he unexpectedly achieved a startling level of fame, he was discovered to be very much alive, living and working as a construction worker in Michigan, having never achieved recognition in the US or anywhere else in the world.

Rodriguez himself was not at the Oscars, having just completed a tour of South Africa

Tuesday 26 February 2013

How to loose excess weight while you eat

Seems this program works.

My friend was complaining about putting on weight as he became older, now seventy he has things under control!


Then a picture of the diet I've invented to replace breakfast every day.



It consists of a half cup of Swiss style Meusli at the bottom of the bowl with the fruit you see on top which can be first either a chopped apple, a chopped pear, or a chopped banana with 2 plums, 2 kiwi fruits a hand full of dried cranberries and 12 white grapes. Over that I pour about a cup full of the Organic Yogurt you see by the bowl. That keeps me going till 13:30 when I then have a fresh farm egg of two slices of buttered whole grain toasted bread.

For dinner we have a normal beef, lamb, chicken or fish dish with some green veg, a green salad and either roast, chips or baked spuds and a John Smith beer.

Just before going to bed I have 4 digestive biscuits and some dark Belgium Chocolate with Hazel nuts and a pot of tea.

I can't believe with all that food I am still losing weight and down from just below 12-stone to just below 10-stone in around two months so that diet works without any major exercise apart from walking to the shops every day.

I have never been down to that weight since I was about 20 apart from when we got back from Rio in 1985.

Notty.


You could post this link to people on how to know that they are buying whole grain bread or flour. It tells them what to look for on the label. The fastest way to see is if it says that it is either 100% Whole Grain or 100% Whole wheat flour used to bake the bread.



This is a no nonsense self worked out diet that works for the man who developed it, if you have the same weight worry, try it out and see if it works for you too.

Note, the man concerned is on no medication other than the bottle of John Smiths beer he has each day.

Roy

Nottys Good-Morning Fruit Diet.

Note, the opinions of the writer may not be the opinion of myself, just read it a couple of times and decide for yourself!

Hi Roy,

It's not whole wheat bread that is hard to find, there are hundreds or brands claiming to be whole wheat, it is WHOLE GRAIN bread that is hard to find. This is bread baked from whole grain flour where the entire grain is used not just the inside bits. You don't need more than a couple of slices of whole grain bread to keep you full for hours where as most other breads just make you want to eat more.

I don't think I'm on a diet, just one that starts the day with a little muesli but a hell of a lot of fruit, enough to fill a bowl as you could see from that picture. You need to eat so much that you will not be hungry for 4 or 5 hours. The rest of the day can be anything except cake and sweet stuff, I've avoided anything that is man made or processed in a factory such as cereals, Kelloggs being the worst as would be anything American would probably contain HFCS =  High Fructose Corn Syrup the stuff responsible for millions of overweight people in the USA and UK.

So, if it comes from a farm, or out of the ground or is part of an animal that has not been processed or tampered with in a factory so altered in some way, then its OK to eat.

Anything else like biscuits is a luxury that I try to keep to a minimum. The very dark chocolate seems OK now and then. It's not the natural fat that they have been shouting about for years that is killing us all, but the fat that is produced by sweeteners such as HFCS, that is bad fat that the liver cannot deal with so stores it where it can arround your middle in most cases. Natural fat is not bad for you so don't worry about butter or a bit of fat on bacon or meat its better than all the spreads and marg. You need some fat to get your liver going so that it can process the natural fats from natural food.

I should give up beer as well but have just cut that down a bit.

All soft drinks including fruit drinks made from concentrate will have HFCS in them especially those invented by the Americans like Coke so best not to drink those at all, they are pure poison.

I am no dietician so don't think this is in anyway a diet to follow, I just happen to notice that I lost 2-stone since I started it a couple of months ago. All I need now is to do some exercises to turn what's left of the fat into muscle.

A good name for it would be Good-Morning Fruit Diet if you wanted to call is something.

My latest idea is to eat a little natural licorice root every day and you will never be bunged up. I ordered half a kilo on line for 6-quid + post and there is enough to last months. I started one thin stick and it has lasted four days, you just chew the end and suck out the juice as you're doing something else and boy do you get an amazing dump.

Look it up on line and just check out the benefits of eating is.SEE THE LINK BELOW.


More news on the diet idea,

What I've been doing over the past two weeks is to experiment by going back on some of the things that I gave up eating to see if I started to put fat back on again and I did!

Not sure which of these was responsible but I am sort of addicted to crumpets so I've been having a couple instead of the egg and toast, sometimes even with Cheddar cheese on them, then at night I swapped the dark chocolate for a chocolate coated biscuit and one or both of these have resulted in the belly starting to grow again so bloody amazing really how fast that happened. Back to the whole grain bread and drop the crumpets. My reasoning was that I thought that I was getting too thin? Good luck with your blog.

Notty.

That was posted 26th February 2013, check the news below.

 I have stopped that diet I was on as its been too successful and I look like I did when I got back from Rio with you. I have now shrunk from 73-kg down to 61-kg and even though I'm now eating more I continue to shrink.

Note,

I suggest that any long term diet should be under the supervision of a doctor.

No liability of any sort  will be accepted if the results of what worked for one person does not
work for you!

Roy


Keel details Inside a wood/epoxy built boat

Some parts of any boat are hard to access, in this case the area was closed in some fifteen years back?


Click on the picture for a larger image.

Note the partners which support the laminated spring floor cross beam, that then accepts the 20mm 316 studs and nuts, one of which can just be seen. The area had just been washed out when this picture was taken, the traces of white in the right corner and lower center are soap bubbles, the white lines are paint runs!

Dudley Dix designed this boat and did the keel and laminated frame details, the glues used were Balcotan 100 on the laminted African Mahogany frames and Shell 816 epoxy on the keel members and the hull skin, all joints remain as good as when made one and a half decades back. All surfaces are given a coat of thin epoxy to keep moisture out of the plywood and timber.

This area will now be painted out as its a great small parts store!

Roy

Dudley Dix comments:

I studied your photo carefully. I saw the bubbles on the surface and droplets hanging from above and wondered what was going on. Then I realised that you had just washed it out and I was seeing water and soap. The laminated frame looks in excellent shape, no signs of any separation in the frame or between the frame and backbone.

Monday 25 February 2013

New shaft anodes fitted

I discovered that two shaft anodes last more than twice as long as one, so the fitting of two per haul out is now standard on this boat.

The Max Prop Classic has been spray coated with International Paints Prop O Drev antifoul, in aerosol cans and highly recomended, as it works!

While the cost to genuine zinc anodes has risen in recent years, so has the cost of the bronze propellor they protect, saving money on anodes is not worth the saving.

Hint, when you fit the shaft anodes ensure the shaft is clean stainless and not painted or has oil or grease on it. Tighten the screws into the nuts in stages and tap the anodes sides as you go, the anode will sit tighter to the shaft then.

Roy

New anode fitting on a steel keel box

Dix Design www.dixdesign.com provides the drawing to make the Dix 43 keel box in steel.  In the case of one wood/epoxy  boat the keel shoe is 1.1mtrs, high and 4.4 mtrs, long and around 430mm wide at the top of the keel. It weighs one ton and the internal cast lead five tons.



'This zinc anode can be re used but as the new one had been purchased, that one  went on anyway.



This anode weighs four kgs, the one it has replaced was the same and had lost just 80 grams in two and a half years in the water.


The stud below the anode is a drain out plug to remove the fluid (diesel) from the tank area in the keel box.

Note the hole in the zinc, that was drilled out using a new 32mm flat bit and a large electric drill.

There are some alloy anodes on the market, they sell for less but will do less and not last as long!

Roy

Sunday 24 February 2013

An apprentice or an Improver?

Education in Britain and after the Second World War will have improved some, it later became clear to me and others I know that we were being taught to become just so clever and were educated quite poorly. As those like me who were slow starters just got pushed to the back of the class?


My old school, Deyes Lane, Maghull, near Liverpool, England. The picture was taken about two years ago.


I left school in December 1963, I was then fifteen. My parents had been asked to visit the school with myself and meet the head master Mr Hall.

After the meeting, we all stood in the passage outside Mr Halls study, his parting words to my parents was more or less,

Your son is only fit to sweep the streets.

He may well have been correct but my very first job was as a pottato picker in winter, that was a very hard job!

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2009/02/tysons-of-5-dryden-streetliverpool.html



May and its spring time in the UK. I note that my old school was upgraded to a High School, I hope the education is better now?

Mail on the subject from a pal who is about seven years older than myself , my own mail to him on the subject is below his own.


Roy,

That's the sort of stuff people want to read, its right from the dark ages and was first illuminated when Pink Floyd wrote, 'Just another brick in the wall on their Dark Side of the Moon album, still a top seller and a classic. That would make the perfect opening for a book on the best parts of the rest of your life.

My own progress through school was much the same, I also failed that 11 plus so went to a very old Secondary Modern that was due to be pulled down as a brand new school was being built closer to where I lived. We moved into that in my second year. The headmaster was a welsh man called Percy Williams who was cunning-linguist (pun), he was an Esperanto nut so we were all supposed to learn this most useless of languages which wasted at least one period every day. As in your case, I was stuck in a C form right up to the last 6 months of school where as a bit of a leg up to help you get a job they stuck a few of us in a B form for the last 6-months.

I only started to learn after school and had to do three years of night school just to catch up to those who had spent time in A or B forms had when they left. I had to do those to get a free day at college paid for by the company, they were called PTC1, PTC2, and PTC3 which if passed allowed you to go in at the NC1 level of the National Certificate course.

I passed these three years so got my day off at college and entered this course but realized half way through that I would never pass it, again the maths let me down, just could not grasp what some of the formulas were for and they never explained.

I did fail but they gave me one more chance so I went into the City and Guilds course into C1 the first year which I passed. However, I had then been working for four years so I would have been almost 20 and was working on my own as what they called an improver, this involved traveling so it was very difficult to get back to night school, (the free day school had been dropped by now) so reluctantly I had to drop the night school too as it was impossible to get there in time while working away.




A youthfull Notty pictured here on the South Coast in 1963?

The last straw in a rotten system came though when we left school and the Youth Employment Officer told me I was not fit for an engineering job so it would be best to go into the mill. We were both shafted mate.

You've given me an idea, I think I may start my book with those remarks from that bitch who was really a recruitment officer for the mills.

By the way, in our school it was the teacher who would administer the punishment for minor stuff, you would get a ruler on the hand for a small offence, or a pump (takkie) on the arse for more serious stuff. They only sent you to the headmaster for a caning on the arse if you argued with the teacher. 

Good old days hey, remember those lines from Pink Floyd, 'We don't need no education.'

Notty. 


Notty,
The story of my life and its mistakes?

Good point but that would be a very long story, as I have made so many mistakes!

Mr Hall, my headmaster and also maths teacher was really a rubbish teacher, I was caned most Monday mornings for not having done my maths home work, I and others would have to line up in front of the class and be humiliated but I made it
hard for him. Hall was a short guy, so I held my hand up high, the canes impact was less then!

Today that punishment would not happen, it did me no good anyway, just allowed the teacher to vent his anger?

Then the system was wrong, from primary school we went and did the 11 Plus exam, those with a pass mark went to Grammer School, those like me with a fail mark went into a lower school, named the Secondary Modern, each years intake was then divided by the pupils ability, A B C D, I of course was in the D class.

I bucked the trend when I left school though, the Liverpool College of Building had lecturers, not teachers with no ability, I remember one such man at night school, our second year I think, I named him Mr Polo as he ate Polo mints as he limped around the classroom with his gammy leg.

The first night of that term was a short one, it was all maths and such, he said to us all................. If you feel your wasting your time here, please don’t waste mine and come back next week to waste more.  (words to that effect)

He also let us into a secret, learn the formulas, write those down in the margins when your in an exam and even if you get the answer wrong and the formula is correct, you will get a pass mark.

 This guy was my kind of guy, that year at exams, a paper which we probably had one and a half hours to finish? I was all done in about twenty five minutes and went and asked can I now go home? He quietly asked that I go back to my seat and pretend to still be busy, my early departure could rattle the others? I passed that paper and also the next years.

 Year four and then at a one day release at the Liverpool College of Building, I passed the London City og Guilds examination for Carpentry and Joinary with a distinction, this was the same young guy that Mr Hall could not teach!

There were two Deyes Lane teachers who worked with me and I did well with their support, Mr Halligan, the wood work teacher, I was normally in the top few on marks in his class. Also the Vice headmaster, was it Mr Barker? he had pale red hair and lived near Crosby. He took us for class now and again and taught Gardening sometimes, odd subject? It was he who gave me a decent school leaving refernce and one that probably got me my job at Tysons builders in 5 Dryden Street, Liverpool.

Roy

(just another brick in the wall)