EU and RYA Certification

We are asked for a certification policy on our kits very rarely but did do a little asking around as a result of such enquiries,that last such time was when a chap from the RYA in Britain contacted me asking if we required their help in this matter? I asked him to view our web site and the materials and kits we sell but to understand that while we do supply dinghy and yacht kits,we do not build them or sell them as finished units in any way whatsoever,he came back agreeing we did not need any certification from his department,I have asked the local CE person here in Cape Town,he also agreed but in any case,we supply our plans and materials in good faith but will not be held liable for any error in design or shortfall in a materials list taken from the designer in question design plans materials list,I should add,its not been much of a problem in our last six years of trading.

What is possible is that we can offer selected materials that are CE certificated,this can be a change from the far east marine ockume plys we normaly use,which is stamped with a BS1088 mark but carries no certificate,which is allowed I may add,or use french made ockume plys which also carry a BS1088 stamp but also a certificate number.We do not have a copy of this certificate but it will be available on request,changing to the french ply will add about 30% more to the cost of the ply part of our kits.Our epoxies and Superform bending plys are already CE approoved,so no problems there,all timbers we sell to be used on the boats build are kiln dried and should be acceptable,the SA Pine we supply for things like building stocks,is tanalith treated (copper solution) and carries an SABS approoval too.It is worth noting,that our keel boats are normally designed to the american standard ABS rules, a standard which in its self is world wide accepted,we supply to the same standard as asked for by the designer in question.
All export orders are fumigated as required by international law,a full certificate is included with the orders bill of lading documents.

First National Bank Currency Rates.

Friday once more,so here are the bank rates as of the last issue by FNB.contact me for the full list.

Forex Rates


All exchange rates are updated regularly. However, the rates that you receive in a FNB Branch may differ to these rates due to changing market conditions and the amount of your transaction. Please contact your nearest FNB branch if you wish to buy or sell foreign currency.


For your convenience, our Forex Calculator is available online.


Please note
Bank charges and commissions have been excluded

You can receive these rates by subscribing. These rates will be emailed to you at 09h00 and at 16h00 on valid business days.


The following European monetary area currencies have been incorporated into the Euro currency:

ATS, BEF, DEM, ESP, FIM, FRF, GRD, IEP, ITL, LUF, NLG, PTE, SIT, VAL.


Public Exchange Rates against the rand for amounts up to R50 000.


Published at 2008/06/27 10:02:00 AM


Rand per foreign currency unit

Description Code Bank Selling rate Bank buying TT Bank buying TC's Bank buying notes
EURO CURRENCY EUR 12.7235 12.2168 12.1856 12.2044
BRITISH STERLING GBP 16.0319 15.3924 15.3418 15.3768
US DOLLARS USD 8.0448 7.7957 7.7397 7.7878

Resolution 816 Epoxy information

Table Bay,Cape Town,Royal Cape Yacht Club yachts,in 1965 with Astra on the left





At least once a week we get a question or two about the epoxies we sell,what is it,is it any good,why is it less expensive than the others on sale? When I started the build on a Dix 43 about ten years ago,I took advice from the boats designer Dudley Dix and used Shell 816 epoxy,which since Shell Chemicals moved out of epoxies,has now been re branded as Resolution 816.Its a no nonsense type general purpose epoxy,it has many uses but the one we look at is its glue line and gap filling quality,it works so well that we romove all fastners from the build,then back fill screw holes with 816 epoxy and graded teak wood flour.Little Astra was literaly a sunken wreck,it was given to me on the understanding I fix her,so I skinned her with two layers of 4mm ockume marine plys and of course the glue was Resolution 816. Astra was repaired some ten years back now,she will be 74 years old now,she is also boat number 8 of possibly more than 1000 built.

Roy

Inside our factory

An Argie 15 clear oregon pine boom kit,being hollowed with a 32mm diameter tungsten router bit.



Inside our factory,the 16mtrs long white mast is in for a service and repaint,it will be reassembled using Tef-Gel paste.

Many may wonder where we do the work,we have what I think is a nice factory,its about 275 square meters,plus the offices,part of the factory floor space is pure storage to our stocks of Superform bending and marine plys,the rest we use as work stations,which includes a rip saw,two band saws,radial arm cut off saw,spindle,thicknesser,two compressors,plus the usual hand and power tools,its a set up that is very flexible.At this time we have a set of Clear Oregon Pine stringers to machine for a Wharram Tiki 38 and today ran some timbers for an Argie 15 mast and boom,also in Oregon Pine,the picture on this blog shows the two halfs of the Argie 15 boom,hollowed out and ready to ship with the rest of the boats kit.

Roy

A series of information of specialist woods,Lignum Vitae

From a very soft wood like Kiri,to one of the worlds hardest woods 'Lignum Vitae',we are on a mailing list from a company who trades in such wood,what is it? hard for certain,it may be the worlds hardest species even.Used on ships in the past as propellor shaft bearings,when lubricated with sea water,it would take the strain from the turning shaft,hard wood indeed!
Commercial Lumber cc,our founder company ,specialised in sourcing timbers not normally found on a timber merchants shelf,Lignum Vitea,Greenhart,Purplehart,Spanish Cedar and Mahogany,African Balsa,we can still do the same now.

Roy

lignum-vitae.com

COMMON NAMES: Lignum vitae, Guayacan, Palo santo, ironwood

SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 1.05

DENSITY: 77 - 82 lbs./cu.ft.

TANGENTIAL MOVEMENT: 2.5%

RADIAL MOVEMENT: n/a%

VOLUMETRIC SHRINKAGE: n.a%

DURABILITY: Exceptional resistance to moisture and fungal attack

SOURCE: West Indes, Central America, northern South America

DESCRIPTION: One of the hardest and heaviest woods (three times as hard as oak), lignum vitae is most commonly used for mallet heads, bearings and rollers. Because of its durability and natural lubricants, it is the preferred wood for propeller bushings and other underwater applications. The lignum vitae tree generally grows to a diameter of about 12", although historically, trees in the 18" - 30" range have been known.

Lignum vitae is reddish brown when freshly cut, with pale yellow sapwood. As it oxidizes, the color turns to a deep green, often with black details. The grain is highly interlocked, making it difficult to work with edge tools, but it machines well and takes a high polish. It is a remarkably good wood for turning. A similar species, known as Maracaibo lignum vitae (Bulnesia arboria), which grows in Venezuela and northern South America, is similar in properties and appearance and is sometimes substituted for genuine lignum vitae.

ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT: being replanted by our known suppliers:

Boat Builders wood,a new species is available

CKD Boats cc grew out of an established timber import company called 'Commercial Lumber cc',we stopped trading in retail timbers as we moved across to a more exciting line and kit boats and related materials.Commercial Lumber was started on the discovery of a plantaion of Teak,the british had planted in many places,one of which I sort of stumbled upon,our import of Plantation Teak to South Africa was a first as far as I know,its was the same with Bending Plywoods and Flexible Veneers,which we still stock.

Finding new products has become a way of staying in front to some extent and we have just found a new timber called Kiri,its also a plantation grown species (good news) and comes from Western Austrailia.Kiri may be the wood to replace our last shipment of Clear Oregon Pine,which we sold out of yesterday,to a builder of a James Wharram Design 'Tikki 38',we supplied his Ockume Marine Ply and Epoxies too,we will also cut all of the boats bulkheads as well.

Kiri looks like it is very stable,it air dries well just like Spanish Cedar but will cost less,it is perfect for strip plank constuction and is nice and light,we have asked the suppliers for samples,when they arrive we will expand on this new timber species and look to place our first order,again another first for an import into South Africa.

Roy

Paper Jet U-Tube film clip

Dudley Dix has just released a video clip of him sailing his Paper Jet,remember the Dudley is not a youngster any more,so his performance shows even more how easy this new design is to sail.

Dudleys message to the trade,click on the web address:

Hi to all of our agents and kit suppliers,

I have uploaded video footage to YouTube of me sailing the Paper Jet 14 with Standard and Turbo rigs. I have embedded the video on my website at http://dixdesign.com/pjvideo.htm .

I am still learning to sail the big rig so it is not the best sailing that you will see. In a few weeks we will do some more video and get better results. In the meantime, this shows pretty well that the boat can be single-handed with the big rig and is quick.

We take two Paper Jest to the Wooden Boat Show in Mystic Seaport next week. While there, Wooden Boat Magazine will sail test the two boats with the three rigs for an article to appear later this year, I guess one of the last two of the year.

If you have not seen it yet, I have also added a photo of me on trapeze with Turbo rig and spinnaker to the Paper Jet page of our website.

Regards,

Dudley Dix

Weekly Currency Rates Chart

Continuing with our rates chart from last week,we post the latest currency rates from the First National Bank web site.

Forex Rates


All exchange rates are updated regularly. However, the rates that you receive in a FNB Branch may differ to these rates due to changing market conditions and the amount of your transaction. Please contact your nearest FNB branch if you wish to buy or sell foreign currency.


For your convenience, our Forex Calculator is available online.


Please note
Bank charges and commissions have been excluded

You can receive these rates by subscribing. These rates will be emailed to you at 09h00 and at 16h00 on valid business days.


The following European monetary area currencies have been incorporated into the Euro currency:

ATS, BEF, DEM, ESP, FIM, FRF, GRD, IEP, ITL, LUF, NLG, PTE, SIT, VAL.


Public Exchange Rates against the rand for amounts up to R50 000.


Published at 2008/06/20 08:32:00 AM


Rand per foreign currency unit

Description Code Bank Selling rate Bank buying TT Bank buying TC's Bank buying notes
EURO CURRENCY EUR 12.5964 12.0957 12.0644 12.0835
BRITISH STERLING GBP 16.0000 15.3636 15.3128 15.3481
US DOLLARS USD 8.0752 7.8253 7.7693 7.8174



Foreign currency unit per rand

AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS AUD 0.1289 0.1356 0.1361 0.1357
BOTSWANA PULA BWP 0.7898 0.8735 0.8844 0.8744
CANADIAN DOLLARS CAD 0.1239 0.1316 0.1323 0.1317
SWISS FRANCS CHF 0.1284 0.1339 0.1345 0.1340
DANISH KRONE DKK 0.5882 0.6204 0.6245 0.6211
HONG KONG DOLLARS HKD 0.9448 1.0123 1.0200 1.0133
INDIAN RUPEES INR 4.6422 5.5692 5.5692 5.5748
JAPANESE YEN JPY 13.2951 13.8614 13.8844 13.8754
KENYAN SCHILLINGS KES 7.6456 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
LESOTHO LOTI LSL 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000
MAURITIUS RUPEES MUR 3.1553 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
MALAWI KWACHA MWK 16.3835 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Not Available MZM Not Available Not Available Not Available Not Available
NAMIBIAN DOLLAR NAD 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000
NORWEGIAN KRONER NOK 0.6350 0.6679 0.6748 0.6685
NEW ZEALAND DOLLARS NZD 0.1604 0.1700 0.1706 0.1701
PAKISTAN RUPEES PKR 6.6748 7.8208 0.0000 7.8287
SWEDISH KRONER SEK 0.7425 0.7810 0.7843 0.7817
SINGAPORE DOLLARS SGD 0.1669 0.1774 0.1787 0.1775
SWAZILAND LILANGENI SZL 1.0000 1.0000 0.0000 1.0000
UGANDAN SHILLINGS UGX 189.3204 211.1612 0.0000 211.3746
ZAMBIA KWACHA ZMK 339.8058 0.0000 0.0000 0.0000
Not Available ZWD Not Available Not Available Not Available Not Available

Water Ballast but 40% heavier!

A discussion came up today when I was moving an order of Bio-Magic,which was packed to send to our agent in Johhanesburg,the order is a 25ltr container of unmixed concentrate,this travels for less cost and the agent then mixes it for end use.Moving a filled 25ltr drum (plastic) is seriously hard,its so heavy,I now find that Bio-Magic concentrate is a whole 40% heavier then water! read some comments below.

Roy



I have just been preparing an order for a client,its Bio-Magic concentrate,normally we do not supply it as such but the customer is an agent,she will mix it hereself and save pack and transports costs. I commented on the weight to the UK agent,he is a sailor too,this was his reply .


Hi Roy,

You've just hit on a good idea, how about using BM concentrate as liquid ballast on hi-tec yachts, to be pumped around as required? The reason its heavy is the amount of minerals in it.Notty,General Manager, Bio-Magic UK

Paper Jet,Turbo Rig

Dudley has his new large main sail on his Paper Jet number one,we supplied his kit too,one of the great things with this new boat is it can go from a trainer,move to a more talent required boat,then up to a very fast sport boat but all in the same day,same morning,if your keen enough!

Roy

Bio-Magic an enviromental solution

We have mentioned our invlovment with Bio-Magic on this blog before,we have just received a picture of the RV Home in Austrailia that tours the country doing shows and promotions,all forty six shows per year! We have very good stocks of Bio-Magic,either collect or we can send by post to your address.Payment will soon be as easy as using your credit card.

Roy

try www.biomagic.co.za

Charlies Sundowner blog news

This was lifted of Charlie Whipples blog,more news and pictures when we have them.

Leaving at last -- 17-06-08
Rained all day yesterday, so I spent the day inside the boat, making tiedowns, installing lee cloths, making a canvas bucket, and so on. Today will see the water and stores go in first, then tidy up the rest. Some things must wait until we are under way. Plan to leave about 3 pm. Heading 020 to about 29S 180, then 070 to the southern Cooks. Chuck is working on the website and will have updates from me via satphone messaging. See you all in Honolulu. Oh, my apple died so I have no photos at the moment.

Cape Cutter 19 kit in build

Cape Henry 21




One of the most succesfull designs in our range will be the DixDesign Cape Cutter 19 at www.dixdesign.com the enquiries to this boat were many,we still get asked for it on a regular basis but as the design was taken off shore and no more kits were allowed to protect production of the GRP built boats,we have moved our attention to the Cape Henry 21.Its the same boat,just 10% larger but all of 30% more boat volume wise,so forget the CC19 and look at the CH21!Todays pictures just recieved,are of one of our CC19 kits being built by Ian Allen at www.thegables.co.nz down in New Zealand (we have another kit being built in Ausi)the CH21 wont look that much different when building.

Charlie Whipple is sailing for Hawaii on June 17th

Thats the news we have right now,the intended departure from New Zealand two days earlier has been put back because of weather,this is from Charlies blog:

Delayed departure 13-06-08
The weather is not conducive to departure on Sunday and Monday, so the departure date for Hawaii is Tuesday June 17, 2007. That will allow me to get everything almost completely done.



Rebecca Hayter, author of the book "Oceans Alone" and freelance writer, came down with Mike Hunter, Boating NZ Photography Editor, for a ride in Resolution and interviews for an article later on this year. Here are a couple of photos Mike took.


The man on the helm looks awfully rotund, but he'll slim down as the voyage progresses. :)



Just thought I was going to upload photos. Typepad's new system takes forever and I don't have enough battery energy to sit around and wait. That means you'll have to do without images. Sorry.

Holiday Shop

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Lesotho



Namibia



Malawi



Southern Africa


Mozambique



Mozambique



Victoria Falls



Victoria Falls


Namibia



Namibian Desert



Cape Town

Cape Town

One of my daughters,Lorna, married the guy she used to go on multi country camping trips with,Brett is his name.This was and still is a great low cost way to have an adventure holiday,you fly in,get met at the airport,then taken to a hotel for the night,in the morning your adventure begins!In this case by means of a 20 seater 4x4 truck,all camping gear and food is taken too,normally the first country will be Namibia to the North West of Cape Town,then depending on the duration of the trip,will head across land as far as Kenya and Mozabique,with over night stops at the Victoria Falls on the Zimbawe boarder.The trip back to Cape Town may call in at Lesotho and Malawi too,thats the adventure tour side.

At this time the two have taken a leave of absence from their eventual travel related jobs, to restore a large Victorian Farm House on Bretts family Dairy Farm up in the highlands of Natal in South Africas North East,its inland from Durban on the east coast.The work being near complete its back to doing what they do best,organise holidays for clients world wide.Brett stayed in the adventure side of the market but as management,he also managed a hotel along the way,while Lorna moved to another level and arranged specific type holidays instead.

Imagine you want to do a Golfing or Cycling holiday,it could be Surfing or anything really,Well Lorna will sort out all the options,planes,hotels or B&B accomodation,depending on your needs,then do the costing and present the program as one package.As Lorna and Brett have been just about every place in Southern Africa,even trips on trains like the Rovos Train,its certain they will know just the place for you to vist,as they have probably been there themselves.With the local Rand currency (see the blog below this) being more favourable to tourists now than for some years,this could just be the right time to visit.

Contact me for details, roy@ckdboats.com

Roy