The Hout Bay Yacht Club marina approach

With the annual yacht cruising season fast approaching South Africa, it will be a good idea to post how to enter the Hout Bay Harbour and the HBYC marina.

Looking towards Chapmans Peak from the main quay of the inner harbour of Hout Bay.

The marina is laid out in a letter H , this gives a boat the chance to face the main wind we get which is from the South East and from the Chapmans Peak side of the bay.

http://hbycclub.blogspot.co.za/2009/10/approach-and-radio.html

The club is a short walk from the marina and along the quay side that the fishing boats use.

The office is run by Anne and Alan, who is both the club manager and also the marina manager.

Main office phone number 021 790-3110  Anne

Marina phone number 021 790-7095         Alan

These phones are both in the same office.

Alan Batley has a cel number also 082-337-2208

Picture by R McBride using a Canon G1X digital camera set to auto.

The marina and looking South West, the mountain to the left is Chapmans Peak, to the right is The Sentinal.

My thanks for fellow HBYC member and past commodore, Justin for setting up the clubs blog pages and for the availablity of the picture and diagrams.

Roy

Fred's Cape Henry 21 progress

Fred is from Seattle, we sent him a Cape Henry 21 kit a while back.

When he can he sends some progress pictures.

We also supplied Fred with the steel drop keel and a 316 grade stainless steel deck fittings package.

With the favourable exchange rate for those buying from South Africa, our prices are the best they have ever been.

Roy

Fitting a keel to a wood/epoxy Dix 43

These things take time, so its best to start the program early and work on the keel shoe long before its required, that is what I did anyway.

I was fortunate that a very talented guy named Eroll was sharing the premises I was in, Eroll was the master steelworker, he set things up, then his son Jeremy did the main part of the welding under Erolls supervison.

Jeremy is on the left, he was assisted by Mike and Alfred.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The keel shoe on its own weighed one ton, I then had to add five tons of lead to bring it up tothe required weight, as I said,starting early gave me time, it was two years in the end.

The keel bolts  number fouteen (14) then there are four (4) diesel fuel access pipes as well, totals eighteen (18) holes in the boat which have to match the keel exactly.

The day of the lift Ian was there to give me a hand.

The moment of truth, yes they all fit in their related holes!

My mother Doreen, she is now some ninety years old, it was my late father Robert Henry,  who took all the pictures.

Out of sight but always there was John Holmes, who helped with the line handling and took charge when the propping  of the boat was required.

The next day Ian and myself poured epoxy into the keel bolt stud holes to make sure they would never leak, then with the cap plates and nuts tightend up the boat was left overnight for the epoxy to set.

We launched the boat the next day, that's John standing on the aft deck!

Note, this keel has never leaked a single drop of water.

The boat is now for sale, contact me for detailed Word document and inventory.

Roy

Today is Heritage Day in South Africa

So we have a day off and lots of sunshine, its said to be a National Braai day, that is a barbacue to some.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Sailing around Hout Bay is a real pleasure when we have nice weather.

Looking back at Hout Bay and from Chapmans Bay.

Druma our dog was a fine sailor also.

This is the very nice view from the deck of the Hout Bay Yacht Club, Castle Beers are being discounted while the RWC is on!

Roy.

Thin plywood, a three ply just 1.8mm thick

We can make this (so can you) if we use our special flexible veneer sheets, which are just 0.006 mm thick ,then cut panels to 60 cm square we can press a nice 60 cm x  60 cm three ply up.

All veneer species are special imports.

Note, due to the different stock veneer thicknesses from species to species, the finished panel may be between 1.8mm to 2.5mm.

The finished panel is reasonably flexible and is also moisture resistant.

The materials are all imported, this includes the special glue, which is applied with a foam roller.

The work require  hand cutting of  the veneer sheets to size, then the application of the glue on  all four contacting faces.

The special jig then needs clear plastic sheeting applied to ensure the ply faces do not bond to the jig.

Then the veneers need loading to the jig and the pressure is applied, this is all done by hand as small orders do not support expensive machines.

You can of course press the board yourself but do you want to?

We use a moisture proof  PVA glue imported from Germany.

MONDAY, 1 MARCH 2010

Thin Plywood in Cape Town,a new product from CKD Boats cc

This thin ply sheet above is in African Mahogany, we also have white and pink beech, white maple, cherry,teak ,we can post anywhere pending the size of your order.

Now ex stock and a three ply in American Cherry, grade A pre sanded faces with no slicer marks!

This product should be perfect for model makers.

Roy

Didi 38 kit to Johnston Atoll

This came about some years back and before the US Army closed down the base and returned the atoll back to nature.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

The idea was to supply just the boat hull and deck kit with the related wood and epoxy, in the end we sent the customer the entire boats worth of gear.

The reason we shipped the mast, sails, engine, stainless steel, winches, deck and plumber fittings out as well as our standard Didi 38 kit was simple.

As the island had to be supplied via Honalulu, buying from Cape Town was cost effective as it cut out the US based supppliers, Prices and our Rand exchange rate were better back then (they still are) so in the end we even supplied the boats electronics package as well.

Before the boat was finished, the island was closed down, our customer then shipped the hull he had already built back to the Seattle, USA are and was having it finished there on the mainland.

http://sayachts.blogspot.co.za/2011/01/didi-34.html

Check the link for more on this design concept and read Justin Phillps detailed review in his SA Yacht Blog.

http://dixdesign.com/34didi.htm

Roy

The wood and epoxy boat building story

Well, not really a story but in this case I have just fitted the shower tray to the aft cabin of a Dix 43 launched in 2000.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

What you cannot see is the new water collection tray under the plantation teak grate, check back on this blog to see the pictures of the tray.


http://www.whalepumps.com/marine/product.aspx?Category_ID=10021&Product_ID=10037&FriendlyID=Gulper-220

A really nice pump has been installed, it sure moves the water out fast.

This wood/epoxy built Dix 43 is now fifteen years old.

It is for sale, please contact me for the Word document and information on the boat.

Roy

The Bombaloza skiff in the water

Based on three sheets of lightweight okoume marine plywood, this skiff is easy to lift and handle.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Plans also exist for a two seater with a four seat design being worked on right now.

The alloy hardware can be sourced from an outside supplier.

Why not build yourself a rowing skiff, there are many places that you can use them and to move one its as easy as a car top roof rack.

My thanks to David, the designer for supplying the pictures.

Roy

Mariquita news

What can I say, some pictures of the five times Lipton Cup winner came in from Vienna today.

Stunning comes to mind?

Roy

A canal, river or inshore waters, long range power cruising boat kit

This was done purely as a concept design and a few years back, the idea is still there it just needs someone who wants such a boat to allow the design to be completed?

Two possible layouts are shown, the final layout would be to the owners requirements.

I would expect  this design to be in a plywood/epoxy build with a GRP sheathing over it to add strength for contact with lock gates and walls?

Click on the images to view in a larger size.

The designer to this stage comments below.

I had anticipated about 40 Hp - 50 Hp for this design.
 Consumption around 2 l/h, at cruising speed of say 5-6 kts, would
give a daily range of 120 nm, using 48 l fuel (approx). If you carried 480
l, that would give you 10 days cruising, with a theoretical max range of
1200 nm in flat waters. Call it 1000 nm.

This design was intended as a versatile passagemaker - for med type
conditions, rather than canals. It would be ok on European rivers and
waterways, and the Med sea for example. Subject to beam restrictions, not
sure about the UK.

My thanks to JP for supplying the concept drawings which are copyright to himself.
Note, they must not be used for contruction in any form.

The final design and building details will be drawn up by a well known boat designer.

Comments invited!

Roy

Bombaloza scull building pictures

Dave, the Bombaloza Scull designer has just sent me some nice pictures of one of our CNC kits being assembled.

Myles had a very narrow space to  work in but managed very well.

Myles is now on the water, we supplied another  kit to a new builder last week, pictures of that build as they come in will be posted.

Roy

The Optimist dinghy kit

We have done many of  these during our last twelve years or so.

The boat in the first picture was built from one of our kits.

I think its now in Australia?

The builders jig is your starting point, the wood/epoxy boat has to have a jig,  this is a great idea anyway as it speeds up the building process.

The floor or bottom of the boat is the first panel to be fitted into the jig.

The sides, bow and transom follow, fitting the panels is a step by step process.

This amount of clamps is nice to have but you  can manage with a lot fewer clamps.

We supply a very documented builders instruction guide, it has 27 pages in it with  lots of build pictures and a step by step explanation of what to do.

Flicka 20 station panels

With the decline of the value of the Rand currency,our Flicka 20 frame sections price has come down from U$1000  to just U$588.

We are asked many times do we have the Flicka 20 plans, the reply is always the same, no.

What we do have is the frame sections profiles, this also indicates where the slab of lead ballast will fit. From what we have we can supply a set of sections cut from MDF (supawood) for about the cost of R8000, thats around U$588 right now. From the frame kit you can do a really nice strip plank build, we could also supply the clear oregon pine and epoxy required.

That will ship as an 8 x 4 flat pack (2440 x 1220) and we can arrange the shipping at actual cost as well.

Licence agreement?

The buyer has to understand that we are offering the boats shape profiles with no specific plans or licence to build the boat but as the plans were previously published in Rudder Magazine, we feel the plans are now in a free domain.

A wood/epoxy canal boat kit?

This has been discussed for some time but we have never progressed past the talking stage.

An enquiry of sorts came in from England today, my reply is below.

Such a craft will also suit slow moving rivers and lakes?

This idea remains but as we never recieved an order, it went no place fast.

The concept is easy, the internals, things like the cupboards and so on become the frames which hold the shape and keep it together.

We would offer it as an entire shell with the interior all CNC cut, a doddle to assemble really, very much simpler than a yacht for sure.

With no enquiries and no design existing, means it will not happen, as to date I have used other designers, then sell the kits based on their work.

A well known yacht designer in the USA showed some interest but I then have to pay him for the design work.

A kit to a 27ft boat would be about R80,000?

Not sure really but thats a good guess?

Roy

The Optimist dinghy kit

We have done a lot of these kits, the first order from the KYC sent us on the way very well as they gave us an order for eight kit sets to start with.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/designs/optimist/index.htm

The Wood-Epoxy design is still built to the original class rules but certain changes were made to make the design lighter and even stronger than the 'GRP' design at a fraction of the price. With adding the additional thin epoxy saturation to the hull it keeps the boat's surface from drawing in moisture that could add weight.

We supply all the materials that are on the table in the first picture, plus the epoxy, glass tape and fillers kit if required.

Each kit is supplied with a 14 page A4 builders guide with pictures of each step of the assembly process.

Its easy, honest!

Roy