Yacht Falkungen, a Dragon class dated 1955, has its teak decks restored.

This is a rare yacht in South Africa, I know of one more in False Bay?

Did this boat sail in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia for Denmark, as yet I can find no reference, does anyone know?

I am told the boat did sail in the 1956 Olympics, if this is correct the boat came second to Sweden with Ole Bernsten as skipper, the UK came third.

The boat has been in an extended dry storage and has dried out to an extent where the cold moulded planks are showing through the topsides paints.

The boat was moved to the HBYC new boat park, which was re surfaced and now such a nice place to work. The cover came recently when the restoration began some weeks back.

The boat normally has a grey canvas deck cover on.

The name plate tells us all, click on any picture to enlarge it.

The teak decks and mahogany coach roof have been stripped right back.

Very traditional and quite similar to the 1934 Tumlaren I restored named Astra.

The open cockpit suggests its a wet boat in any kind of breeze over say 15 knots?

Thats Will checking out his progress this far, he and his assitant have spent some weeks stripping the boat down, they are now moving forwards and have the teak decks caulked with Dow Corning 813 black silicone.

Roy

Teak deck deck caulking on Falkungen

There are many ideas on how to lay teak decks and the actual deck caulk itself can be just as varied. My own experiance will say you glue the new teak down with the same Dow-Corning black silicone that you will use to caulk the grooves between the teak slats.

The boat is a Dragon class yacht made for ( i think) the Olympics, she was built in 1955. The decks were stripped of the old caulking and Dow-Corning 813 black silicone has been applied with a mastic gun. I would prefer it that the excess is tooled of and then placed in another area, this ensures that there are no gaps underneath and saves quite a lot of product too, there will be no slumping or shrinkage.

Dow-Corning 813 has a remarkable tollerance to  exposure, it will accept heat to 150c and cold as low as minus 50c, its so good they have used it down in Antartica! Its also UV stable, you can glue in windows with no form of fastners, the UV will not break down the bond. Unlike some other products no primers will be required.

Available in white, stone, brown colours too.

Available in boxes of 12 tubes of 310ml and per order.

Note, there will be another blog on this boat and progress tommorrow, then on as the work proceeds, right up to launch day and sailing in Hout Bay and on to Chapmans Bay.










Roy

Pangaea visits Hout Bay Harbour

Pangaea made a very short over night stop in our harbour a day ago, they arrived at 3am the night before  and from Nambia on the last leg of what was a four year trip.

This is a big sailing boat, at some 115 feet long its as large a yacht as we have seen in Hout Bay, or was Blue Leopard larger I wonder?

A winters day morning brings a welcome visitor.

The boat was built in Brasil, its an alloy construction and made to very high standards, the masts are carbon.

This is a very large dive platform!

Re they sponsers names, the boat is named Pangaea.

The web address is www.mikehorn.com check it out for more info on the boat and where it has been. The boat left quite soon after I took the pictures and went around to the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town Harbour.

The crew had just woken I think, they were friendly and gave me some basic information on the boat, I would have enjoyed talking longer and looking over this boat. The guy in the white tee shirt may well be Mike Horn?

More pictures of the boat will be posted later.

Roy

Packing the Cape Henry 21 drop keel plate

The order we are shipping out in the next few days also includes the drop keel plate, local engineers are known for their quality and also their pricing.

The 16mm thick  MDF packers are there to stop the steel plate from moving, they are screwed together, then to the sides of the packing case, they are not screwed down to the plys in the kit below.

The top is brought in for the final closure of the crate.

With the lid screwed down with 40mm long posidrive screws, the crate is then steel banded with 6 x 16mm wide steel bands, they are tightened and crimped into place with the special tools you can see on the top of the crate. Lables are then stuck on with the delivery address, plus our own address for ease of knowing where the crate came from.

Shipping to the USA will follow soon.

Roy

Cape Henry 21 yacht kit packing

This now follows a well tested routine, prooven and perfected over the years. The 16mm chipboard box has been part assembled, the joints are glued and screwed for security, one end can be left off, this speeds the loading of the plywood sheets. We finish off with the lid being screwed down then we apply six steel bands around the box.

Open ended and ready to load, the crate is on a dolly with castors so we can move it out for loading with a Hyster.

Charles and Nigel with a first panel

This Cape Henry 21 kit will be uplifted today and soon be off to its owner in Seattle, USA by sea.

Lifting in pairs works well, as one panel supports another.

The various shapes and bulkheads are easy to see, they will only fit in one place when cut free from the French marine grade plys.

Seen here, Nigel is feeding the two sheets in while the other guys assist by lifting the other end up a little.

The stack is building up now, we supply the required 36 sheets of 9mm thick plys with each order.

The last sheets are about to be packed, a sheet of packing ply will be placed over the last panels for protection.

Thats a load of 36 sheets of French made BS1088 marine plys in one stack, we allow an end gap in the packing box of 10mm, the space on top allows us room to pack the boats steel drop keel in the same order as well.

We apply for insurance on the customers behalf, the packing materials and insurance are then charged to the customer at our cost, the same with the cost to sea freight, we make nothing on this part of the service.


Roy

A friends gun collection

This is a new one for my blog, guns are not quite my thing but with all the history thats handed down, model,and maker to buyers its quite a story.

Roy

One of the collection as mentioned bellow, I will post the picture of them all later.

The largest far right Belgium by Dreprez for the Victorian market in Calcutta this would been for the wealthy...a center fired bullet

Middle and far left again Belgium pin fire, a early invention where the hammer struck a pin on the rim of the bullet, not very successful made for the middle class...

The center one with the norm handle., was mad by a knife making company in Birmingham Unwin and Rogers it is a black powder percussion single shot, and then it has a knife blade, and if that fails it has a cut throat razor - when London was rough!

To the right a 4 barreled sharps pepperbox 1859 American civil war era a carry gun if you could afford it, maybe 8$ - 10$ at the time only the rich...USA Philadelphia

Far left revolver civil war era Allen And Weelock 1859 USA Worcester Mass

This was a time of invention., not specifically the gun, but the bullet then the gun that could fire it So there was a transition from black powder to finding a bullet, that was quick to load and fire.

Bottom left USA Plant tit fire, the bullet loaded from the front, 1860 again not very successful made by Eagle Arms New York Cival war era.

Back to black power a revolving 5 shot pepper box, Allen and Thurber Worcester USA used a secondary weapon - a multi shot gun used during the 1849 gold rush and Cival war

Far right Scottish revolver Mortimer and sons Edinburgh a single action, pull the trigger fire!

But a mover in the right direction a bullet that worked,,,

The first double single action revolver beaumont Adams London., 1856-1880 pull the trigger fire, or cock the hammer and fire...but it was still only a black powder, but the first .45 bullet made around London bridge - the purpose was it could stop a crazed person running at you with a sword?

These were favored by British officers serve ring in India...

But the search for the bullet carried on? That could be loaded, fired and reloaded quickly

Brian at Bay Harbour Market

Brian trades in the canvas covered area on the right as you walk down the main entrance walkway.

Known as Brianvinyl on his email address, its a great call and Brian has a good selection of LPs from all decades, he has CDs and Tee shirts as well.

If Brian has not got a record your searching for, ask him to try and find it for you, it may take a week or so but he normally does find it eventually!

Roy

The Bay Harbour Market in Hout Bay

Worth a visit when your in Hout Bay, the stalls are varied, there is a large variety of food and refreshments, plus live music and the place is heated in the winter months!

Bay Harbour is located at:

31 Harbour Road
Hout Bay
Cape Town
Western Cape
7806
South Africa

The Bay Harbour Market uses the gound floor of the main building with the glazed panels above, plus the tented area in front.

Art and crafts are inside and outside, its quite a vibe when you enter and walk around.

Pictures by R McBride using a Canon G11 digital camera.

The parking and market are well controled with proper security, while its not a requirement, you may find its a nice thing to tip the parking attendents.

Roy

Wilhelms Argie 15 kit plys

We have another Argie 15 kit cut and ready for collection, just the weather is against us right now, we do live in a place where the winter brings our rains.

The base kit is some six sheets of 6mm marine plys,  with this boat having the optional side seats we add in two more sheets. The plys are a quality French made panel made to and marked BS1088,the worlds leading standard in quality control.

We can supply the plans and ply panels only, or as in this kit the wood, epoxy, PVA glue, glass tapes and screws.

Roy

Bokke & Blomme in Bay Harbour Market

I was down there this morning to check the scene out, now past a first birthday the venue prooves to be really popular and is always busy.

Janet with her stall and signs for sale, if you want a special design ask her!

http://decorinspirations.blogspot.com/2012/07/bokke-blomme-new-stocks-arrive.html

Roy

Marine grade teak deck caulking with 813 Dow-Corning black silicone sealant

As one of the major importers and retailers of genuine quality teak wood for decks on yachts, it soon became a cutting and planing service to size to the customers requirements. Special deep cut and thin tungsten tipped saw blades were used, they are just 2mm wide on the cut, this in effect saved the buyer a meter of 12mm x 50mm on every six or seven cuts, we made less sawdust too!

The fee for that service was based on a standard 15% of the cost to the teak, this in effect was offset by the use of our very fine cutting saw blades, many rip teak to size with a 4mm blade, the cost in sawdust needs to be seen after a few hours ripping a teak decks slats. It was not long before teak deck slat buyers were asking what black inlay caulk to use, we became stockists of Dow-Cornings 797 and sold 1000s of tubes over the years.

Click on the pictures for a larger image.

This is a teak framed hatch, which has been left to weather, it was made around fifteen years back and has never been redressed as I can remember? The lighter inlay is not teak its a wood polymer named Trex and made in the USA by Mobil, a petrochemicals company. They process equal parts of waste plastic and pine sawdust, heat it up and then extrude it in standard timber sizes, it cuts and planes just like real wood, they offer a lifetime warranty on domestic use.

The black caulk is Dow-Corning 797, this I have used myself for decades and never had a bad tube, its weather and UV proof, will take heat to plus 150c and cold to minus 50c, its stable and needs no primer.

We can also do colours such as stone, white, grey etc, due to the fact that it has a 12month shelf life we will only buy in to your order and on a minimum of 12 x 310mm tubes, which is one carton, It is highly cost effective and works. We can also recomend it for sticking in glass or Lexan type windows on cabin side, no primers or fastners will be required .

Note, Dow-Corning now brand the 797 grade as 813, tests have been done at the factory for a local superyacht builder where a white deck caulk was required, the tests prooved that the product is suitable for this use.

Roy

The Yaesu FRG 7700 audio pot arrrives

Seen here this tiny audio pot that Captain Dion is holding looks so small but its arrival was far from easy.

I had been advised that Yaesu parts are hard to find in South Africa, so I tried in the UK and was pleased to find they had what I required.

Sam Ruddy of Yaesu UK was happy to pack and post, I paid them and the package was posted to Cape Town, months later I still had no deleivery and the tracking number posted arrival in Johannesburg. Later Sam emailed me to say the parcel had now been returned, marked Not Collected, I have to blame the Post Office on our side, as no collection slip arrived with me.

Now in stock as a spare, you can get them yourself from Yaesu Uk.

Yaesu UK asked should they re post it back to Cape Town? I had a better idea as I knew Dion was due in Simons Town in a week or so, I had Sam post to Dions parents home in the British Midlands, Dion would then collect and bring it over for me. Yaesu UK posted as 1st class Royal Mail, the only bother was the envelope was empty when it arrived, they had failed to put the pot in the package!

This pot controls two functions, the audio AF Gain and also the Tone.

Sam re posted and  it arrived in time for Dion to bring it across for me, I then did a 50kms round trip to collect it, no problem, just check the view in False Bay and Dion made me some nice Rooibos tea!

All in all I feel that I have had very good service from Yaesu UK.

Roy

A message from Sam at Yaesu UK.

Hi Roy

Many thanks for the photo.

We got there in the end.
No problem with the help.
It is a shame we cannot claim air miles for this pot ha!

Best regards

Sam

Sam Ruddy
Service Manager
Yaesu UK Ltd/Standard Horizon

The Institute of Carpenters

My association with the IOC dates back to around 1967/8 when I was invited to sit a technical exam for entry to the institute. I had just finished the final year of The London City of Guilds for Carpentry and Joinery, my pass mark was high enough for me to be considered as an IOC candidate.

Edward Borastero, a full time student at the Building Crafts College, achieved the highest marks and the candidate achieving the second highest marks was Adam Jones, an apprentice with Denne Joinery and a student at Canterbury College.

The news letter is now sent by email, I was contacted by Mel only yesterday to see if others in South Africa would like to become members?

http://www.instituteofcarpenters.com/email-files/IOC_Newsletter_Nov11.html

A clock made by a member.

We are looking for qualified individuals or training colleges who may which to join and help their students become members.

Roy

Mast navigation signals

Seen in Hout Bay Harbour and on a local fishing boat, I have not quite worked out what the signal means, it may be a distress signal?

Is he crew, is he in danger?

Help!

Frans Loots remembers his Barlow Wadley XCR-30 radio

Frans is a yachtsman who knows some history about the yachts I have done blogs on, he discovered the blog last easter and looked right through them all, thats about 2000 blogs.
Roy

The Barlow Wadley radio.

That brought back memories!

As I said above, I sailed in the 1985 race to Uruguay and afterwards skippered Wings back for her owner.

I also competed in the 1982 race as skipper of a Petersen 33 with the romantic name of "Checkers Hyper". After that event I sailed the boat back solo to South Africa. On all these trips my Barlow Wadley went with. I can still clearly remember that on my solo passage, when still over 3 000 miles away from South Africa I could receive Radio South Africa's Afrikaans and English services on Short Wave. And as I got closer to home the reception got better and better.

In 1982 I navigated by sextant (a Zeiss Freiberger) and on my final approach to the Cape I went for 5 days without a sunsight. Eventually I used the Barlow Wadley, tuned in to Radio Good Hope, and swung it around to get some kind of a rough bearing on Cape Town. Later that night I passed a large fishing trawler and he gave me a position. My dead reconing position was "only" out by about 17 nautical miles. That was considered to be excellent in the pre-electronics days!

I still have the Barlow Wadley radio and recently gave it to my young son as a thing to open up and mess with. After reading your blog I will now go and claim it back and put it on display in my office.

Barlow's Television Co., P.O.Box 23, New Germany, Natal, Rep. of South Africa


Barlow Wadley XCR - 30

varia / copyright

http://www.dr-boesch.ch/radio/radio-e/barlow-wadley-xcr-30-e.htm

In 1974, a portable shortwave receiver with the dimensions of a conventional travel radio got very much attention among the shortwave listeners comunity. The first time, a circuit developed by Dr. T. L. Wadley for the British commercial receiver Racal RA - 17 was used in a travel radio. The circuit was developed by Dr. Wadley who had moved to South Africa after his retirement and the set has been built by the South African home electronics manufacturer Barlow's Television Co.

In it's time, the set had the early Grundig Satellit radios, the Zenith Transoceanic, the Panasonic RF - 2200 or the Earth Orbiter CRF 5080 / 6090 as concurrents on the market. None of these sets featured a linear frequency readout with a precision better then 5 kHz and SSB reception capabilities that allowed ECSS technique (listening to the separate sidebands of an AM signal using the internally added BFO carrier instead of the carrier of the station's signal).

Thanks to Frans for this great story about how good radio was and in some cases still can be.

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2009/03/barlow-wadley-portable-radio.html

View my earlier blog on the radio at the link above.
Does anyone have a Barlow-Wadley receiver for me? Please!!!

Roy

Note: Hamrad who were one street up from Bree Street, Cape Town, were selling these back in 1976, we bought the Yaesu FRG7 from them instead, Roy.

http://oldradios.co.za/casebook/66-barlow-wadley-xcr-30.html