The Twelve Apostles from Glen Beach

Taken late afternoon and about 1969,using slides which I have just scanned.

Left click the picture to view in a larger size,photo by Roy McBride

Henry takes to computers

Henry has writen some interesting words when he walks all over the PCs key board.

Henry now about ten weeks old

Hout Bays specialist shops

We need specialists,some in each field,one such place deals in electical supply,thats AC either domestic or commercial,I was fortunate a year or so back to walk in to Super Team electrical wholesalers and meet up with Philip behind the counter.

Freddie,Brian center and Philip to the right.

My needs were not straight forward,I was installing a 220 volt system in a yacht,I explained what I thought was required and Philip sorted out what was needed,wires,plugs,glands,distibution box and the breakers.Mainly ex stock but Super Team will normally do you a same day supply ex their own suppliers if you can wait untill the mid afternoon,as they have a delivery service and do collections daily,recomended!

The Super Team as it is today,Brian has recently come out of retirement to help out when his son re located.

Freddie,Philip and Brian

The team,best for good  service in Hout Bay contact them on 021 790-8724/8 or

philip@superteamcpt.co.za the address is 39 Victoria Road.

Hows Henry?

Henry is doing just fine,in fact very fine,he can now fly from tree to tree,down to the fence,then over the top of our double story house and to the back garden,all self taught , as neither Jean or I ever mastered the art of flying.

Henry today,cautiously free if he wants to be but at this time home is inside our house and flying through the front door still means home,we have cared for him about nine weeks now.

OK,Henry sometimes walks in,he got that from us maybe?

Roy

The Ever Ready Sky Leader LW/MW portable radio

This radio has been in the family some years,how many I had no idea untill I found the paper work for it.
It turns out to be some 51 years old and it still works!

Thats my mother on the left,the guy she is talking to is unknown to me.

My dad it seems may have  bought new old stock,that radio is dated as a 1957 model,check the link and scroll down the page.. (note,the dates do not match but this is the radio we have)

Ever Ready Sky Leader radio.

As ever I have checked up on the radio,from whats published that is a 1957 model radio,so sold as new old stock to my dad in 1960, the radio is now 54 years old!

Check this link,scroll down  http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Engineering/Electronics/EverReady/EverReady.htm

Roy

Left click to read the deposit slips,which are dated 1961,making the radio only 50 years old?

My folks kept all bills that were important,I have had a good sort out and have found some stunners,some date to 1947! This purchase receipt says the new radio was bought in  1960,so 51 years back,when it cost seven pounds seven shillings.

My cousin,the then Sandra Jennings,now Thornell and living in Durban since around 1966,Sandra often camped with us and there she is listening to the Ever Ready Sky Leader portable radio.

More on this classic radio.

One of the first all transistor portable radios to be built in the UK, the Ever Ready Sky Leader remained in production for several years. This late example in a blue rexine covered wooden case and brass trim was built in 1962 and comes complete with its original shoulder strap.

Country:  Great Britain (UK)	Manufacturer/Brand:  Ever Ready Co. (GB) Ltd.; London
Year: 1958	Type: Radio - or past WW2 tuner
Semiconductors (the count is only for transistors)	6: OC44 OC45 OC45 OC78D OC78 OC78

Principle	Super-Heterodyne (Super in general); IF-Freq 470 kHz; 2 AF stage(s)
Wave bands	Broadcast (MW) and Long Wave.
Power type and voltage	Dry Batteries / 9 Volt
Loudspeaker	Permanent Magnet Dynamic (PDyn) Loudspeaker (moving coil) / Ø 4 inch = 10.2 cm
from Radiomuseum.org	Model: Sky Leader
Material	Leather / canvas / plastic - over other material
Shape	Portable, e.g. Portable Radio (with or without mains > 8 inch).
Dimensions (WHD)	240 x 190 x 85 mm / 9.4 x 7.5 x 3.3 inch

 Dont you just want one too!

Roy

Our 1954 Morris Oxford

We used to borrow my grandads company Morris Oxford,his name was Fred Ford and he was my mothers dad,he was the CEOof the main Liverpool Morris agents,we used his car for special weekends and on main holidays,his was black.

When my grandad died from TB and related issues we ended up buying a similar car ourselves,it went everwhere and was generally reliable,my dad was ex army and very good with mechanicals anyway.

Another shot that I assume I took at a camp site in Llangwanadlle,North West Wales and right on the coast,this  was one of those days when the AA were needed,recomended!

Roy

Those Camping Club years

It was years too,all year while it was warm and often a January frost bite special site meeting at Loggerheads,North Wales, where heated showers and loos were made available by the local council at a local school close by.

Thats Linda,Roy McBride and John McKay posing for the shot taken by my dad, RH McBride

This picture taken by R McBride in 1968,thats his Sunbeam Stilletto parked next to his beige tent,the F in the registration plate signifies the 1968 year.

At another camp site,probably in Wales,which due to only the passage of the Mersey Tunnel out of the center of Liverppool City,then a half  hour drive through Cheshire,Wales was very accesable,we could be in the main town of Ruthin within an hour?

Camping fun,the way it was in 1964

This large black and white picture was taken by my dad at Garth,a campsite in North Wales,it was of National Feast of Lanterns holiday weekend and fancy dress was on the menue.

Picture taken,developed and printed by R H McBride

John and Shay French at the Camping Club of Great Britain & Irelands main Liverpool and North Wales section main event of the year.John who was a coal man (delivery) saw (i hope) his son Les, rise through the years to become the clubs Chairman,this was and still is a first,in that Les started as a CCY youth member of the club,rising to the top position in the club.

Roy

John and Shay were super folk,we really all loved them a great deal R.I.P.

Robert Henry McBride,photographer.

Introducing the man,my father, who has taken many of the pictures I have
used,Mr Robert Henry McBride.Dad started as an amature photographer,then moved to the Liverpool College of  Building where he ran their copy room and did what ever camera work they required.

He later took up a post at Liverpools St Pauls Eye Hospital where he was the Senior Photographer,a job which suited him and he stayed there untill he retired.

Dad standing next to our 1954 Morris Oxford,registration OKC 475,either myself or my mother took the picture? I would guess this was around 1963?

Roy

Domicella,a cat rigged Lavranos design

I have always liked this boat,the idea follows the Freedom Rig concept and really works,with the boats long waterline its a cruising performer too.

Off Seal Island (duiker island) Hout Bay on the HBYC Closing Cruise

We can offer this design as a part kit set,this will be CNC cut bulkheads,materials to mould the hull with,epoxies and the plys for the decks.The masts on this boat are carbon in the front and GRP at the back,we could offer them as a Birdsmouth construction kit for owner assembly.

Mark,the boats skipper and owner was chasing down one of our kit builds,being Nandi a Didi 34,he passed him too.

Perfect sailing weather! Our stock design Hard Spray Dodger will fit perfectly over this boats cockpit too.

Arriving at Vulcan Rock,the turning point for the cruise that day.

All pictures by R McBride the camera was a Canon G11 set on auto but using the tele lens as required.

The Pelican 42 cat ketch by Angelo Lavranos

Something for everyone on this blog,I have always liked the idea of sailing with all the sails up and never having to move a sheet when you tack,sort of like driving a car,you just turn the wheel and off you go in the other direction.This is our first such sail plan design offering and as the masts can be owner built,wishbones and booms also,this could be a very cost effective owner builder project.

Left click to enlarge and read the entry on the Pelican design in SA Sailings magazine.( I tried that,it does not work!) email me for the original copy, Roy.

Seen here in Chapamans Bay,Domichella passes a smaller boat,Nandi a Didi 34 that was built using a CKD Boats kit

Pictures by R McBride

Enlarge each picture by left clicking it,the kit will consist of the plans and materials to build the boat,the bulkheads and transom will be pre cut with stringer cut outs on the bulkheads,we will supply a moulding jig to the transom which can be laminated from layers of 6mm marine plys.We also supply the epoxies and fastenings plus the treated pine building stocks if required.

Check out some favorable comments from Bob.

Hi Roy

 Just a quick note to tell you we mentioned you and CKD on the blog and
 even said some nice things.

Check it out here...

 http://boatbits.blogspot.com/2011/04/very-cool-design-and-not-wire-in-sight.html

All the best

Bob

If the link does not open,copy and paste it to Google,

It starts as: 
Thursday, April 21, 2011


A very cool design and not a wire in sight...
I have a question for you...

When was the last time you flew on an airplane whose wings were held up by wire rigging?
Keep that in mind while we discuss a boat design...

Roy over in South Africa is on something of a roll putting together lots of kits for folks to build boats with. Apparently if you want a kit that can be cobbled together with a computer and an automated cutter he is THE MAN!

Luke and Roy

Luke is our second grand child and the first by Janet our younger daughter,he is a great little chap and enjoys his visits.

Luke already aprooves of our bright  yellow Toylander,I can see me making him a Dixi Dinghy as well one of these days.

As the Crow flys

With our new addition to the family,Henry the pidgeon was one of the topics we discussed on sundays HBYC Closing Cruise,which was very well attended with some 17 boats out on the water and a full club house for the prize giving later.

Athol, one of our regular crew members turns out to be an expert on Avian things,we were told all about how birds eat and why,plus what they need as a diet,he also to us an amazingtrue story about a ride with a pet Crow.

Athol told us yesterday about a long trip they went on in a car from Rhodesia to Zambia,it was 1500 miles and more. They agreed to take a friend as a passenger,who turns up with a tame Crow on his shoulder,they questioned having him in the car and what about the border controls?

No bother says the friend,my Crow will fly while we drive he says,so off they go and sure enough there is the bird high above them,each evening when they stopped the bird would land and join them in food and a sleep,then the next day they were off again.

At some stage the passenger was transfered to a second and different make of car,now they said,whats going to happen now with your Crow? so the Crow is shown the new car,the Crows owner then gets in the car which drives off,the Crow then follows his owner and the new car!

And where is our Henry now?

We have started something now,he like to perch high up,so a head is just right.

Henry,my head and a Canon G11 camera.

Henry and I,a self portrait.

An Alan Fraser Imp now in South Africa

Well it will  be soon,we just need the typical white Scots Saltair cross on the roof,any day now and I can start the assembly process,the car will be re exported to Scotland where it came from originaly.

The car is a very bare shell,stripped right back and made as light as possible without drilling it full of holes.

Also now ready,is the full race inlet and exhaust manifold,we can now complete the build of the new 998cc Hillman Imp block.

Made to order only,my own was sold to fill an order,I am waiting for a new one to use on my own car,thats a Singer Chamois with a new 916cc engine using Hepolite Powermax plus 60 thou,pistons.