A new drop keel idea for a Cape Cutter 19

This one came from Jorgen , a customer in Sweden, the drop keel would normally be made from a sheet of 18mm steel, expensive and so heavy that two can just lift it.

Look what this one was made from!

Click on the picture to see more detail and how the point at the bottom was formed by cutting the 3mm   316 stainless steel plate.

This I like!  more on the subject just now.

Jorgen, thanks on sharing this idea with us, its a great idea and one that may well be copied.

Hello Roy,

I am working on, the centerboard box is now placed and also the stem.

I read about a CH 21 with a different centerboard made of lead, plywood and epoxi.
That article inspired me so I have begin to build my centerboard of two
halves of 3mm stainless sheet metal instead.

So the case (around the lead and the inner frame made by stainless flat steel) is
3mm stainless sheet metal. So instead of milling I bend!
And to get the centerboard heavy enough is no problem with lead.
Probably I can leave the centerboard top "empty" inside for good weight distribution.

Careful weld and plug weld will close the construction.

Regards from Jorgen

 The stainless steel sections are being test fitted to the plywood dagger board case, when that's proven to work the case will be bonded into the boat.

This 316 stainless steel drop keel may well become an addition to our stainless kit package.

There are quite a number of benafits, extra weight and a lower price being two of them, more on this in another blog to follow.

Roy



What will the internal weight be and how will it be made?

Jorgen and the Cape Cutter 19 designer Dudley Dix have been discussing the idea.

Hi Jorgen,

Yes, casting the lead to the right thickness outside the construction is what I meant by slab form. That way you are not adding more heat to the plates.

If you have round dowels sticking up from the bottom of your mould then the slab castings will have round holes in them. Weld round bar to the side plate in the same positions as the holes then drop the lead slabs over the round bars. The bars will hold the lead and also reinforce the side plates when you plug weld them to the 2nd side.

Regards,

DD

For sale, a Taylors 030L three burner paraffin stove

I grew up with the family using paraffin stoves and lamps, so I do have an understanding of what makes them work (or not) clean fuel is the prime suspect when the burner does not burn clean, also worn jets and leaks on the pressure side.

Click on any picture for a larger view.

This stove type is known to me by its fame on cruisers yachts using it world wide, made in Great Britain, its a top class product.

The stove is the full works, two top burners, plus a cast iron plate that covers the top when the grill section is required, the oven is large enough to make bread and a small roast.

Taylors stoves are marked with the series and serial numbers, with this known I contacted Jackie in the UK of Sea-Sure the agents for Taylors stoves, she tells me this stove was new in August 2003. As I know its not been used for two or three years, the stove has seen only seven years light use.

This is the later model and follows the changes made in July 1998 and as mentioned in page 29 of the user manual (supplied)

Has this oven ever been used, it does not look like it.

Just about spotless inside this oven, the burner shows no sign of being used.

The fuel supply tank comes with a hand pressure pump, gauge, also a fuel filter and bowl.

The tank takes around 8 ltrs and will supply the stove running on all burners for as much as eight hours.

Paraffin is the heating fuel and methylated spirit the burner warmer to start the stove with.

A spare burner but of another type to what is in the stove, the internals are the same though.

Note the small metal section with grooves on one side, that is the control valve and should have a

thin metal pricker on the right hand end, its missing.

Signs of too much force when using the valve control can easily be seen.

The top burners require service kits, they have an internal needle valve that is controlled by

a rack and pinion system, the point of the shaft being the fuel flow restrictor, I will install those , clean the stove, test all three burners are working  and we are ready for a new owner!

Roy

Update, we have located two new and complete burners, they will be installed and not a spares pack.

The Taylors 30L paraffin stove revisited

Why the Taylors stove?

The fact that they are very well made and long lived must come to the fore here, plus with paraffin burners like Primus having been around for a very long time, Its going to be fairly easy to find spare parts.

You can fix them yourself, to be honest they just need to have clean fuel and thats about it burner wise. If a jet blocks its a very simple job to remove it with a small spanner, clean with a jet pricker (where are mine?) then replace the jet. The stove in the picture has internal jet prickers, they self clean by turning the control knobs to the left.

After a very long time the leather pump washer may start to need more pumps than was normal but again removing the old washer and fitting a new one will be found to be simple enough.

This is the Taylors 30L Paraffin stove we will have on offer quite soon.

So we have proven reliability but we also have safety, Paraffin does of course burn but compared to the option of LPG (liquid petroleum gas) the flash point is quite high.

Methylated Spirit (alcohol)  is used to pre heat the burners but a very small amount is used, the flash point of Meths, is of course low but with so little needing on each light up the danger is small.

Note, its important to fill the Meths bowl and allow it to nearly burn out before opening the knob to the presurised Paraffin, the reason is the pre heating may not be hot enough and the result will be the Paraffin flares up some. After a few attempts to light the burners you will soon get the idea.

The other issue is that Paraffin can be found just about any place, while LPG may not be so easily found, it may also be true that in colder weather Paraffin heats better than LPG which I have seen gives a reduced heat output as the temperature falls.

Whats the drawback? well it may be said that Paraffin can smell, so does LPG when not controled but for sure split Paraffin is far safer than LPG!

I will add to this subject as the used Taylors 30L stove is stripped and cleaned , then re assembled and lit up, sort of a Taylors stove user manual on line?

Today I discovered the fault with one burner, stripped and rebuilt it and in the morning we will do a test light up and boil some hot water to may some coffee!

New jet cleaners and related parts are being ordered, they will ensure that this ten year old Taylors 030L stove burns clean and as it should. This is one of the later series of stoves, so the most up to date?

Note, there is a user manual to be found on line, it covers all of the stoves under models 028, 029, 030, 030L which is larger of all the range?

Find it under Blakes Lavac Taylor

Roy

An update from Alec Jordan on the Ayles skiff

This came in yesterday and after I had posted on the Ayles skiff the day before, so please now read Alecs updated story. The pictures are from the Skiff World Championships at Ullapool 2013.

Roy

Hi Roy

Thanks for putting this up.

First point – the pic at the top of the two man boat is the Wemyss Skiff.  Attached are a couple of new pics from Skiffy Worlds to replace it.

The text below is now slightly dated – please replace with what is below.

Click on the pictures to view in a larger size.

 

Photo credit, by Steven Gourlay Photography, taken 10th July 2013, at 9.54 am.

 

Ullapool Harbour, Scotland.

Thank you for showing an interest in the St Ayles skiff. Your life may be about to change, hopefully for the better, as you discover the joys of boat building and being on the water as part of a community.

Those of us who were involved in 2009, at the start of what was then the “Scottish Coastal Rowing Project”, under the auspices of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, had a pretty good idea that building and rowing the newly designed St Ayles Skiff would be a very rewarding and sociable experience. We knew friends in our own community and some in neighbouring areas might well catch on and get an enthusiasm for the concept too. However, we have been somewhat taken aback by the speed at which the fever spread, not just around the Firth of Forth, which we might have expected, but initially along the coasts of Scotland, then down into some lovely parts of England, and then around the world.

Therefore, it is worthwhile trying to look at what is so special about this boat, and the way it brings communities together.

Perhaps most importantly, the St Ayles is not something you just buy off the shelf. It is supplied in a kit form, which means that the basic hull shape and dimensions will be the same for each boat. However, a great deal of work goes into transforming sheets of precut plywood parts into the graceful shape of a St Ayles skiff. It’s that work which is enormously rewarding, and can be done by you, in your community, with your friends, some of whom you will know already and some of
whom you have yet to meet, but all of whom you will have a special bond with. You and your community will be very proud of what you create, and it will have touches which make it unique.

Then you and others will start to row your community skiff. Many of the rowers will have lived beside the sea for years, but never looked at their community from seaward before. Just as you discovered the rewards of teamwork when building the boat, rowers will discover the joys of teamwork in making the boat sweep gracefully through the water, and making her ride purposefully over the waves. During the build some experienced woodworkers will have shared their knowledge with learners, a rewarding experience for both. Now on the water the same thing will happen, with experienced rowers and mariners sharing their experience with newcomers. Some of those newcomers will be youngsters, some will be pensioners, but all are discovering that joy of working together with others to achieve a goal.

Photo credit, by Steven Gourlay Photography, taken 10th July 2013,
Loch Broom, Scotland.

Apart from being pleasing on the eye, the St Ayles has proved time and again to be a superb seaboat.  They have been raced in everything up to Force 6  winds, and in three years of regattas, there have been no capsizes or injuries.  Their stability has been a big factor in bringing hundreds of people who have never enjoyed water based recreation into the sport, and while racing is a big part of rowing the St Ayles, there are a very large number of rowers who partake simply for the exercise and camaraderie of working closely together.

Coastal rowing is a very accessible sport. You do not need huge resources or specialist knowledge to become involved. All the rowers have a contribution to make to the propulsion of the boat, and all share the same rewards.

We recently welcomed 800 St Ayles skiff rowers from the USA, Australia, Netherlands, England and Scotland to the first St Ayles World Championships in Ullapool in Scotland’s Northwest Highlands.  The Worlds has attracted further interest from around the world as well as from Scotland; when the next Worlds is held in 3 or 4 years time, there will be many more countries represented – we hope that crews from Southern Africa will have discovered the joys of coastal rowing and will be present for it.

Alec Jordan & Robbie Wightman

Bravo, bravo to this idea, Hout Bay harbour and Hout Bay itself would be the perfect setting for a South African event!

Roy
 

For more information, please go to www.scottishcoastalrowing.org, or download the St Ayles brochure  from http://scottishcoastalrowing.org/files/2013/06/PDF-Final-Full.pdf.

Kits for Southern Africa will be available from CKD Boats cc .

Roy

Navik wind vane pilot for sale

Know as one of the better small craft pilots, suitable for craft to about 32 feet long, we have an offer of a complete Navik pilot.

They can be used with a small electric tiller  pilot gear with a compass, that way you can use the power of the sea water on the lower paddle to steer the boat with, this way 12 volt current drain is very low.
This size is all that is needed Raymarine ST1000 

When the electric pilot fails, you still have the Navik!

Sold as is, we can offer a shipping service by taking the vane apart, air freight may be reasonable, otherwise we would use the Post Office.

A vane steering gear is really another crew member, only it just takes a little oil and no food or space inside the boat!

The price is R8500 ex Cape Town, South Africa. (about U$850)

What a great offer!

Roy

The St Ayles skiff

I have mentioned this before, now we are further down the road and the class is even larger, maybe we can start our own class here in South Africa and have 'raids' as many other countries are doing?

 

the Wemyss Skiff 

 Ian at the front and Alec at the rear.

From  Alec Jordan:

Welcome,

Thank you for showing an interest in the St Ayles skiff. Your life may be about to change, hopefully for the better, as you
discover the joys of boat building and being on the water as part of a community.
Those of us who were involved in 2009, at the start of what was then the “Scottish Coastal Rowing Project”, under the auspices of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, had a pretty good idea that building and rowing the newly designed St Ayles skiff
would be a very rewarding and sociable experience. We knew friends in our own community and some in neighbouring
areas might well catch on and get an enthusiasm for the concept too. However, we have been somewhat taken aback by
the speed at which the fever spread, not just around the Firth of Forth, which we might have expected, but initially along
the coasts of Scotland, then down into some lovely parts of England, and then around the world.
Therefore, it is worthwhile trying to look at what is so special about this boat, and the way it brings communities together.
Perhaps most importantly, the St Ayles is not something you just buy off the shelf. It is supplied in a kit form, which means
that the basic hull shape and dimensions will be the same for each boat. However, a great deal of work goes into transforming sheets of precut plywood parts into the graceful shape of a St Ayles skiff. It’s that work which is enormously rewarding, and can be done by you, in your community, with your friends, some of whom you will know already and some of
whom you have yet to meet, but all of whom you will have a special bond with. You and your community will be very
proud of what you create, and it will have touches which make it unique.
Then you and others will start to row your community skiff. Many of the rowers will have lived beside the sea for years,
but never looked at their community from seaward before. Just as you discovered the rewards of teamwork when building
the boat, rowers will discover the joys of teamwork in making the boat sweep gracefully through the water, and making
her ride purposefully over the waves. During the build some experienced woodworkers will have shared their knowledge
with learners, a rewarding experience for both. Now on the water the same thing will happen, with experienced rowers
and mariners will share their experience with newcomers. Some of those newcomers will be youngsters, some will be pensioners, but all are discovering that joy of working together with others to achieve a goal.
Coastal rowing is a very accessible sport. You do not need huge resources or specialist knowledge to become involved. All
the rowers have a contribution to make to the forward movement of the boat, and all share the same rewards.
As I write this, I am greatly looking forward to welcoming St Ayles skiff rowers from Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia,
Netherlands, England and Scotland to the first St Ayles World Championships. This is a chance to bring together a worldwide community and I look forward to hearing all the stories of how these rowers became involved.

Open the link to read the rest of the text and view the pictures.

http://scottishcoastalrowing.org/files/2013/06/PDF-Final-Full.pdf

We can supply these boats as kits for your own construction, or as completed boats to your order.

Roy

The i550 sports yacht is in South Africa

Not only that but being built right now, with one of our kits under construction, plans ordered and for another of our kits the i500 class boat will soon be a factor of the local sailing scene.

Watershed Boats have agreed to allow CKD Boats cc to cut these boats and supply as kits.

http://www.i550sportboat.com/

Check the link  for more information.

Roy

The Dix 43 center cockpit on launch day

This was of course a big day, in many ways the day before was an even bigger day as the keel was fitted to the boat, would the 14 x 20mm keel studs line up with the holes in the boat? Would the 4 fuel tank pipes fit, lots of questions.

Thats John Holmes standing on the aft deck of the boat, John is a good friend and was crew on our trip
to Salvador,Bahia, Brasil on another boat I took over some years back. John took over the job of propping the boat up for me the day before once it was on its keel, thanks John!

Picture taken by RH McBride using a Pentax film camera. Click on the image for a larger view.

The hull of this yacht was constructed mainly by one person in a six week time span period.

Plans are available from www.dixdesign.com we can supply a bulkhead kit set. The coach roof was a custom design for this boat.

Roy 

1953 Aile class yacht under restoration in Mauritius

Not all of the time do we know what end use materials we supply are to be used for.

I asked a customer on Mauritius island what the 9mm thick okoume marine plys were for?

This boat is now sixty (60) years old, it looks to be very fast?

Here you go !

A 1953 ‘’Aile’’Class boat being restored !!

Cheers

Pipo

Designer: Iarl Linblöm (Finland)

LOA: 7 m 10

LWL: 5 m 90

Beam: 1 m 58

Draft: 1 m 04

Hull weight: 450 kg exc. rig

Ballast keel: 200 kg

Sail area (upwind) : 18.7m2

Spinnaker: 27m2

The Aile is a one-design keelboat, built originally by the Finnish Abö yard. It was adopted by the Parisian yacht club, Cercle Nautique de Chatou (now the Yacht Club Ile de France – YCIF) in 1936, when the club's previous one-design keelboat racer proved to be unsuitable for the new waters to which the club had moved.

The club committee had originally intended to adopt the Star class, and to import as many as 100, but on discovering that a rival Parisian yacht club, the Cercle de la Voile de Paris, already had the French monopoly on this design, as well as the sole rights to organise regattas for it, they moved swiftly to look for an alternative.

Owe 25 fast sail boat

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-design-we-can-offer.html

This came to us in 2011, the design has been covered by a number of publications, one being Wooden Boat magazine.

Kit wise the boat will be the building jig, bulkheads, deck and cockpit skins, the hull is strip planked so you can source your own timber for that.

Roy

Note, the designer contacted me with some news today, I will update the blog in the morning.

The first boat will start construction later this year, we will post build pictures as they are available. A polar graph of expected performance is available right now.

 

Southern Tiger gets a rebuild in Hout Bay Harbour.

Here in the Western Cape timber built trawlers and fishing boats are a part of our wonderful heritage, they last decades and of course do need repairs in the off season.

Not your average work shop.

The wood is Keruin which I used to stock for such rebuilds, it takes steaming very well and comes quite flexible then.

The team looks to be about five strong, needed to handle such bends in this very heavy and strong timber.

Freddy, a past customer, is the chief carpenter and a top man at his trade.

He told me the other day that this is hard work but he can still do it.

Good man!

 

 

 

Note the correct pink undercoat, always the best way to protect such timber if your not going to use epoxy.

 

Roy

Custom Rudder and Foil manufacture

Seen here is a new rudder to an Irwin 54 which lost the lower rudder pintal off Cape Point, That bent the rudder shaft where it exits the boat.

 Hout Bay was not that far away and they managed to enter the bay. It was blowing a good fifty knots at the time, Jean phoned the NSRI, station 8 Sea Rescue and they went out and brought the yacht into the saftey of Hout Bay Harbour.

The boat was a member of the then ARC World fleet, it was a few days before the trade closed for the Christmas break, we got the materials into stock and worked over the period and got the boat back into the water in time for the restart of the rally.

A new shaft and lower pintal were made locally, an engineer fitted the gear and rudder, plus quite a lot of  upgrades were made around the area where the rudder shaft entered the boat.

Note: the cut out in the rudder allows the rudder to be swung to either side and dropped.

We now have the CNC cut files to the Irwin 54 rudder and can fabricate to order. Shipping world wide should not be a problem.

Roy

Taylors 30L paraffin stove in Cape Town

This should be on offer by next month and here in Hout Bay, Cape Town.

(now here, August 7th 2013)

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2012/08/taylors-30-l-paraiffin-stove-for-sale.html

The Taylors 30L stove comes complete with a remote 1.5 (about 8 litres?)gallon fuel tank and 1.5 mtr supply line.

The stove has been collected by our courier, it will be with us this week,
Once its here I will sort out the required new burners and sell it on for the owner.

We have contacted Taylors in the UK and asked for prices on new burners and a service kit, once the couriers have delivered the stove and parts are here, the refurb will be done.

How about that!

http://www.taylorsheatersandcookers.co.uk/index.html

When new, lets see how close this good condition stove we will restore will come to the one in this picture.

Due to the size of the stove and its tank, this would suit a new owner who already has a boat here, or one that was passing through, it will of course also suit a camper or cottage some place off the Eskom power grid ( that's most of us in winter?)

For those who are in South Africa, we can send the refurbished stove to you by courier for around R400, the cost to the stove will worked out when we have the cost to the spares required to service it.

Roy

Island deliveries of kits and materials

With another order of okoume  marine plys to BS 1088 due to ship to a customer in Mauritius, it reminded me of some of the other islands we have shipped to from Cape Town.

The Marshall Islands, which was materials to refurbish a French made yacht around 40ft long. Johnston Athol, a Didi 38 kit, which included the mast, sails and engine, Honolulu, a Didi 26, come to mind. We also filled an order to Wilbur Smith when we traded as Commercial Lumber cc, was he building a house on an island in the Seycheles, I believe so.

Johnston Athol, this is as far away from Cape Town as its possible to find land, almost dead center and opposite Cape Town on the globe!

http://ckdboats.blogspot.com/2009/03/didi-38-kit-to-south-pacific.html
The fact is that with a global view of the map South Africa is central to the world, we are well connected with shippers and their agents world wide.

The Didi 38 kit being built on Johnston Athol, note the Yanmar engine, we shipped that also.


Plus its no more expensive to ship from Cape Town to California by sea than to move the same order from the east coast to the west cost of the USA by road.

Your order does not have to be for yacht and boats, we can normally source most materials, construction types also.

Roy

This is the latest island order shipment, it was collected today and will next be fumigated before being shipped to Mauritius, the top and bottom plys are pine exterior, the rest is okoume marine plys to BS 1088 standard.

Before we made boat kits they built the HMS Warrior

Yes and by a hundred & fifty years and more!

News in from George Dore, he is an expat from the UK but lives here in the cape also.
I have posted a picture of my own that I took when in Portsmouth myself, this shot is far better and the boat looks as if she had recently been slipped and painted?

Roy

Hi,

    a friend living in London sent me this excellent photo of HMS Warrior taken at Portsmouth.She never fired a shot in anger. 

Regards,

Warrior the first RN armour-plated, iron-hulled warship was built in 1860 had a two-cylinder trunk steam engine,  that drove a single propeller using steam provided by 10 rectangular boilers.During Warrior's sea trials on 1 April 1868  she had a speed of 26.08 km/h; under steam alone.The ship carried 867 tons of coal, enough to steam  3,900 km at 20 km/h.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

The ironclad was ship rigged and had a sail area of 4,497 m2. Warrior reached 24 km/h under sail alone. Her 26 ton propeller was designed to be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail, the largest hoisting propeller ever made, it required 600 men to raise it into the stern. To further reduce drag, both of her funnels were telescopic and could be lowered. Under sail and steam together, the ship once reached 32.4 km/h, against the tide whilst running from Portsmouth to Plymouth.