Where is Devils Isle?

This was a question I was asked by an American cruising sailor once.

I told him that its easy to find and that you cannot miss it.

He replied I can if I dont know where it is?

I will post a map later.

The picture came to me from my good friend Notty who went there on a Fortuna 37 with his wife and son, 

Dated 1994 click on the images to enlarge them.

Devils Isle is almost not in this picture as its the spec of land to the left, part of the planes wing gear can be seen also.

The large island is Royale with St Joseph at the back, we anchored there for around a week.

Roy

Story writing or blogging?

This week I got to meet John  and was then talking to a regular blog reader who I had no idea existed .

We do have a common connection as it turns out as I knew his late dad very well and I am pleased to say I know his brother very well too.

The writing really started about ten years back and before the blog writing began, then as the blog expanded I slowed down on the actual story writing and then expanded the blog on a near daily basis.

http://forum.theimpclub.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=27433

The link needs to be copied and pasted into Google, you will then have to sign in as a non member to access the forum pages.

This blog slowed some around 2013 when I was asked to rebuild a 1971 Hillman Imp, that took me to an Imp Club forum, then I started the thread on the Imp and of course had less time for my own blog.

The underside of the car was stripped and refinished first.

The pictures should enlarge when you click on them.

The cars original block was bored out from the standard 875cc and then fitted with 998cc liners and pistons.

The Imps all have drum brakes all round, in the case of the 1971 Hillman Imp the owner chose to have me fit the disc brake conversion kit.

While the rebuild was happening and  it took over a year, I was able to buy back my own 1967 Hillman Imp Californian coupe, a rare car these days. This saw me working on both cars as time allowed, I then opened an Imp Club Forum page on the red Imp Californian, that is now at some sixty eight (68) pages and covers the cars rebuild in some detail.

The blue Imp is now finished and with its owner,  the red Imp coupe  can be my daily driver should I want to use it? It is fully roadworthy and is licenced and insured.

The cars interior has been re done, the carpets and head liner have still to be fitted.

There is also a set of front disc brakes ready to fit, the suspension will also be lowered 1" (25mm) by fitting the Monte Carlo competition road springs.

So with all this going on the writing stopped for places like Duckworths Magazine but I guess folk still read the stories from time to time?

http://hbycclub.blogspot.co.za/2009/10/roys-articles-in-duckworks-magazine.html

Same again, if the link does not open for you please copy and paste it into Google.

There are ten stories there, one is in two parts, so lots to read if you have the time?


Roy

Optimist kit now packing for Switzerland

Some may wonder why we have to include a packing charge when the kit you have bought is shipped by road or sea?

 in this case we used a sheet of pine 9mm ply top and bottom, the five steel bands then can be made very tight to secure the package, which probably weighs in at 80 kgs.

These pictures demonstrate the steel banding, the pack in this case is okoume marine plywood and not the Optimist kit, the images should explain the process we use?

The actual CNC cut kit will be loaded into the purpose made packing crate on monday.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

The crate is being made today.

It has a 9mm pine ply sheet top and bottom, with 6mm plys on each side and the ends, glued and nailed it will be quite secure when the 16mm steel band strapping is applied.

Pictures of the loading will be added  later.

Roy

Machining the 998cc Hillman Imp block

This was done for me by Bremco back in 1971, they used a Mk1 block with liners and pistons I sourced from the Rootes Competition Department in Coventry, England.

In more recent times I  took over a Mk2 block that a local auto engineer had converted, it looked great, its a pity it looked better than it actually was.

The new liners all had to come out, they had been installed at different hight's, so the head gasket would never seal.

Its a bit of a long story but in the end I sorted out the problem myself, Then used a general engineer who had more interest in doing the job correctly. 

He in turn knew a marine engineer with a surfacer with a magnetic deck, who faced off the top of the block and liners to perfection.

This work can now be done here in Cape Town, you need to supply your own Imp engine block though.

The engine in the pictures is now back in its original 1971 Hillman Imp, fitted with the cylinder head and a new Solex carburetor, it started first time.

Roy

Marvin Creamer and Globe Star

I mentioned meeting the man.

This was probably early in 1983?

We were both having an early morning shave,  standing at the sinks of the men's locker room at the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town.


http://www.globestar.org/photos.htm

 The GLOBE STAR completed a successful circumnavigation of the globe, skippered by Professor Marvin Creamer of New Jersey. Creamer navigated without the use of compass, sextant or electronic instruments! He eschewed even a wristwatch, but took an hourglass for changes of watch! Actually, a sextant, clock, compass and radio were sealed in a locker below deck in event of an emergency, but these remained sealed for the entire journey, which was attested to and notarized by proper inspections.

The boat was equipped with a transmitter which sent signals at regular intervals so that the Coast Guard knew of the boat's whereabouts. When it malfunctioned, the media reported the crew missing. After the Globe Star reached port, Creamer called his wife, who had more confidence in her husband's abilities than in electronics!

http://www.globestar.org/feat.htm

The route.

Cape Towns RCYC berthing back then.

The man himself.

Well done Marvin!

Roy

Hokule sailing our way to Hout Bay

They may not find space in the Hout Bay harbour?

They have Just cleared Richards Bay and may want a spot to keep their ship when in our waters?

Sailing around the world without a GPS or Sextant sounds interesting, I once met with Marvin Creamer at the RCYC, he was on a voyage with one crew around the world and using only the stars, sun, moon and planets, he made it too!

Roy

Port Officer OCC

My thanks for the use of this super quality picture, click on it to view full screen.

I have has mails from Heidi, she is part of the group that are sailing down the South African coast.

I am not sure if she is sailing on the 61 ft long sailing cat or the steel support yacht that is sailing with the cat.

Aloha (warm greetings from Hawaiʻi),

We received your contact information from some friends who are members of the Ocean Cruising Club.

The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) is humbled to have our traditional, double-hulled voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa continue on her first Worldwide Voyage from Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, and visit some special ports in South Africa, possibly including Hout Bay. (photo of Hōkūleʻa attached) We just cleared Customs, Health and Immigration in Richards Bay on Oct. 19, and may seek to visit your port if we need to avoid weather en route to Cape Town. We would be grateful for help in, and advice about, a place that we do not yet know.

Hōkūleʻa (a double-hulled, traditional voyaging canoe) has no auxiliary power and only sails within the parameters of safety and weather, with Gershon II (a monohull motor sailor) sailing nearby only for safety and any necessary towing to get Hōkūleʻa out of weather situations. (See specification sheets, attached) Because Hōkūleʻa is completely reliant upon weather conditions for sailing, we cannot commit to dates of arrival and sail.

We are, however, planning an arrival ceremony in Cape Town on either November 14 or 21, 2015. We will be conducting educational outreach and exchange there for a week, before going into dry dock to prepare for our Atlantic crossing at the end of December to visit more like-minded, ocean-based communities before returning to the Pacific and home to Hawaiʻi in 2017.

More on this when I find out.

http://www.hokulea.com/

Roy

The Optimist Meranti wood optional offer

Some while back we stopped offering the machined wood to our kits.

We have now found a timber company who are able to cut and machine meranti so have been able to supply the client of the Optimist kit we are about to pack.

The bundle of meranti wood is well selected and has machined up really nicely.

Packing for its shipping to Switzerland  starts tomorrow!

Roy

An Optimist kit set to Switzerland

We have shipped the Optimist kit set to Switzerland before, this one should pack next week and will then be on its way.

 Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

The wood / epoxy Optimist design requires a builders jig, we developed our own to suit our kit.

The rudder and dagger board, plus the sides of the dagger board case and some foot strap mount blocks are all included.

The bottom of the wood / epoxy Optimist is 12mm thick.

All plys are okoume species veneers to the BS 1088 standard, its the lightest ply we can use within the Optimist class rules.

There is very little space wasted on each ply panel, that makes our kit as cost effective as it can be.

Not shown are the two temporary  hull spacers, the meranti wood and a carton with epoxy, glass tape, micro balloons and fumed silicas to make fillers and pastes to form corner fillets.

We also supply a detailed builders instruction book, which includes  pictures  to guide you through each step of the building process.

Recently a sailing school in the USA asked for details on the builders jig and the assembly, I sent the link below.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.co.za/2010/04/ckd-boats-optimist-jig-and-boat-in.html

With the very low exchange rate to the Rand currency, buying from South Africa has never made so much sense?

We have sent these kits to places like the USA, Greece, Switzerland and can normally ship world wide at a reasonable cost.

Roy

The Loggerheads Inn, North Wales

Another picture of a Welsh public house was taken in 1961 and by my dad Robert Henry McBride.

Our Morris Oxford is loaded with camping gear, the registration was OKC 475, with a 1400cc side valve engine, it was not the most powerful of cars for camping.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, ( my thanks to Wikipedia for the information.)

Jump to: navigation, search

Loggerheads
We Three Loggerheads
Loggerheads Loggerheads shown within Denbighshire
Population	(2001)
Principal area	Denbighshire
Ceremonial county	Clwyd
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Police	North Wales
Fire	North Wales
Ambulance	Welsh
EU Parliament	Wales
UK Parliament	Vale of Clwyd
Welsh Assembly	Vale of Clwyd
List of places UK Wales Denbighshire

Coordinates: 53°09′16″N 3°12′51″W / 53.15433°N 3.21423°W / 53.15433; -3.21423
Loggerheads is a village in Denbighshire, Wales on the River Alyn, a tributary of the River Dee.
It has a country park which follows the course of the River Alyn through karstic limestone countryside including the sites of old lead mines and mills. there is a working flour mill on site.
A leat or leete, built around 1824 follows the side of the valley nearby and was used to carry water to the lead mines of Mold Mines, on land owned by the Grosvenor family. It is now the popular Leete Walk. The name Loggerheads may come from the dispute over estate boundaries between the lordships of Mold and Llanferres. The final boundary is marked by Carreg Carn March Arthur which is said to bear the imprint of Arthur's horse's hoof after it jumped from the nearby mountain, Moel Famau. The local pub has a sign showing two men grimacing at each other with the words We Three Loggerheads,^[1] taken from a painting by Richard Wilson. The third loggerhead was the viewer.

Fifty years on and the place is little changed.

Roy

The White Horse Inn, Cilcain, Wales

As a family we went camping to Wales many times per year.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

What is special about the picture below?

Well my dad took it and in 1963, I think it was a winter ramble we were on, not camping as there is very little flora growing at that time.

Fifty two years later and the White Horse Inn is much the same as it was back in 1963.

My dad Robert Henry McBride, (r.i.p) took the picture, at the time he was the photographer for The Liverpool College of Building.

I later became a student at the same college.

The reason we were in Cilcain, was that as a family we were members of the Camping Club of Great Britain and Ireland and members of the Liverpool and North West Wales section.

Camping in Wales for us was a very regular event, I may be able to find record of who's farm field we used?

http://cilcaintoday.delfryndesign.co.uk/page27.html

News just in says that very little can be seen to change but that the old sign has been removed to allow for a table and seating.

Roy

Volvo MD21 Hurth gearbox identity?

Can anyone tell me anything about this Hurth marine gear box?

There is no makers plate on it but it has the word 'Hurth' cast into its end plate.

It is sitting on the bell housing for a Perkins 4108 marine diesel.

It was removed from a Volvo MD21 marine diesel engine, it has no raw water cooling and has a forward gear reduction of just over 2:1.

I would like to know what model it is and if there is a workshop manual available?

What oil does it use, I think it had engine oil in it?

Roy

Cruising Sails for sale

New and unused, each sail has been taken out of their new sail bags just the once.

Suitable for a larger sized vessel and intended to fit an Endurance 48 designed by Peter Ibold.

Made by  Ellens & Hudson in tan Dacron.

Both sails have bronze piston hanks, I can arrange to have a Bolt Rope fitted if you want to use the sails on a furler with bolt rope groove in a foil?

Sizes;

Number one Yankee, 75%,   Luff 15.00 mtrs Leech 9.50 mtrs  Foot 8.40 mtrs weight of cloth is said to be 325 grams. Area is 36.28 M2 or 390 sq feet.

Price R9000.00  or about U$ 670 at the expected exchange rate.

Drifter, 150%,  Luff 16.00 mtrs Leech 15.10mtrs Foot 10.60 mtrs , weight of cloth is said to be 250 grams.
Area 77.40 M2 or 833.10 sq feet.

Dimensions are ex the Peter Ibold Endurance 48 sail plan.

Price R12,000 or about U$888.00 at the expected exchange rate.

All prices are sold in Rands and the exchange rate fluctuation is to the buyers account.

Shipping world wide at the cost to us can be arranged.

Roy

The Proteus 106 sailing catamaran

This is very good package, we pre cut most of the 120 sheets of imported okoume marine plywoods, plus the 10 sheets of pine exterior ply that are used as temporary spacers.

Plans are direct from the office of Angelo Lavranos in New Zealand, Angelo has a very detailed study package and at no charge, please contact me for details.

We can ship these kits country or world wide.

Roy

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