Saturday 4 January 2014

The Cape Henry 21 kit build

Also at the RCYC and while I was viewing some of the Cape 2 Rio race entries is a Cape Henry 21 that was built locally from one of our kits.


The boat was  built here in Cape Town by a local specialist, who is keen to accept build orders from others, we supply the CNC cut kit, while he builds you the boat.


The venue is the RCYC, the Cape 2 Rio race start was just three days away!


This boat is fitted with a Yanmar GM10 diesel engine, the standard drive would normally be a small outboard, say 5 to 8hp?

Roy

 

Didi 38 light ship weight

The Didi 38 has a dry weight of some four tons, two of which are in the keel, the boat is fast in all conditions and especially in light winds and off the wind.

 
Here the fine bow can be seen, spring low tides have the boat sitting on her keel, Black Cat is now starting her third Cape to Rio race and the race starts today!

With an SA/D sail area to displacement of 23.8 its easy to see that this boat will power up easily.

http://www.dixdesign.com/38didi.htm

Bon Voyage to the crew of five which should work well, two resting or sleeping and three working the boat?

Roy
 

I meet up with the Cape To Rio crew entrant Angelo Lavranos

I met up with Angelo for a very brief chat about the Proteus 106 design he has, such was the time factor that we have not even had the time to go and visit the one being built here.


Angelo is doing the Cape to Rio race again and on Indaba, a Van Der Stadt 34 as crew.

Bon voyage Angelo and I will be watching your progress daily!

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2013/12/building-proteus-106-sailing-catamaran.html

This is the link to the Proteus 106 and under construction, its so easy you can do it yourself!

Roy

Friday 3 January 2014

Didi Mini Transat from one of our kits

This boat is the boat that started our move into CNC cut boats, that's a decade ago now, so ten years now and a boat that has launched a 1000 kits I would think?

In this time we have cut many boats and and of all sizes, dinghies to cats.


735 is the boats class number.


We have shipped these designs as kits just about world wide.


We also supplied the Harken deck gear and the special alloy stantions and pulpits.

The boat is for sale, it can be sailed out of Cape Town or shipped, contact me for details.

Roy

A yacht named Black Cat, by Dix Design

A new coat of paint on the Didi 38 Black Cat came with a sense of humour!


It went in this way.


And came out this way!



This boat was the first of Dudleys Radius Chine design yachts, the boat was built by Dudley and for the South Atlantic race around twenty years ago, Black Cat is now doing the race for the third time.

The bow is high as the spring tides are low, I hope they remember this on Saturday!


While the boat was always a racer cruiser and should do well in the race, she will also make a great fast family size cruising yacht, at 38 feet long she has lots of volume and three double cabins too.


The tide was still going out when I left, the Didi 38 draws 6 feet of water so you can see how little there is there right then.

Roy

Thursday 2 January 2014

Royal Cape Yacht Club, hosts the 2014 Cape to Rio yacht race

The event has some 35 plus entries, yachts of all sorts and sizes, where some of them are right now I am not sure, probably at the other deeper water marinas near the city center?



Rain is predicted for Saturday, I hope they are wrong!

Roy

Cape to Rio Yacht Race 2014 time

I have just been to the HBYC to see whats on down there, lots of work still to be done on many boats I think.

Dudley Dix was there to manage customs and immigration on time, one of the officials was not!

 

Dudley on his Black Cat, which is a Didi 38 that he designed and built for himself.This will be his third Rio race in the same boat.

The race starts on Saturday 4th January.

Roy
 

Wednesday 1 January 2014

B and G the 213 mast head unit repair works!

This story goes back about four years and more when on the removal of a yachts mast the windspeed and wind direction unit was wrecked when it came into contact with the crane.

A new one was purchased, that lasted not very long in local wind conditions and it went back to
the factory for repairs.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2013/03/b-213-mhu-unit-removal.html


When that failed some time later I was faced with a repair or a replaced unit, B and G offered me a new unit at a discount but that was still more than I feel I should have to pay when I started off with a new one in the first place. The service department are very good at support by the way, I have no complaints there, just the paying a second time.

 
I had a second option I wanted to try first, this 496 MHU was in stock, could I use the
head of it and bond it to the 213 arm?
 
I called in the help of Steve who is a local tech, guy not more than a few days later and he delivered his repaired and bonded 213 MHU unit to me, the cost and including another PCB was less than half of what the factory offer was.
 
 
 
This is a PCB the cost of which is horrific when bought via the agents.
 
Would Steves  repair work was the question, well he did the job in May of 2013, it was only three days back that I could get up the mast and swop the mast head plug over for the repair unit and all is working fine right now.
 
Steve showed me a typical fault, small O rings which seal the weather out of the PCB case were perished, he replaced those with better ones and also with silicone grease, he told me they should be replaced once a year. I then taped the joints on the case with black amalgamating tape, nothing should ever get through that now, will the mast head unit now give the many years of service I expect?
 
Time as ever will tell.
 
 
All working and the functions look good.
 
Happy New Year to you all!
 
Roy
 
Still on the mast head subject, a type C unit I fitted on the HBYC  marina office some three years back is still working, its over 30 years old now?

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2013/03/b-type-c-mast-head-units-are-better.html
 
 

Tuesday 31 December 2013

A Giant In Hiding

This volume came to me by way of a Eamon who happened to find the book on a dump, thrown away as unwanted. Written by Lawrence G Green and published by Howard Timmins here in Cape Town in 1970.


Not only is this book in good condition, it has most of its paper cover as well, who would throw such a volume away?


My thanks to the Eamon who spent the time to Google the book and find my blog about Wylo, the boat is still here in Hout Bay and in the care of Henry as far as I know.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2009/01/wylothe-original-that-frank-wightman.html

 
What a find, the book was well thought out and a lot of effort went into the publishing.
 
Inside and written in pencil are the words 1st Edition, was there ever a second?
 
Also To my 1st born with love from Dad, Durban Jan, 1996.
 
Roy


Roy

Monday 30 December 2013

Jabsco raw water pump

One of these fits on the Perkins 4108 diesel, its a strong bit of kit and should never fail. Keep a spare impellor just in case though.


There should be a rubber plug or bung in that hole where the shaft is.

 
If you have taken this off your Perkins 4108 engine read the manual very carefully about refitting it, do it wrong and you will wreck the drive.
 
How easy is that, simple it seems?
 
Note, the steel plate and four studs would normally not be removed as they fit inside the engines timing cover plate. The actual Jabsco pump should be safe to remove, its the timing cover and mount plate that needs a special tool to get it lined up, all in the Perkins 4108 work shop manual but not in the user manual I have read?
 
Roy
 

 

Sunday 29 December 2013

Inside the Hout Bay Yacht Club

I was passing and saw a HBYC club member on the clubs balcony, we started discussing a well known one design dinghy, after some time he suggested that rather than shout up and down at each other, why not come up and have a drink and a chat at a table?


What a good idea that was, just check out how nice the clubs bar area is, lots of space, plus the view from the full length windows cover the entire bay.

The one design dinghy? well its still under discussion, we have met with some top class officials, discussed the wants and whys, its now up to them and others to grant the licence for cutting and supply of kits!

Watch this space, I may surprise us all one day?

Roy