Another Kit for Kidz at Sea

I wrote a few weeks ago about the launching of a Didi 26 in Sint Maarten, built by school children participating in the Kidz at Sea program. The students enjoyed the build process, during which they learned useful woodworking and boatbuilding skills to help them in the future. This program has attracted considerable attention, with the Sint Maarten authorities welcoming the launching of the new boat and supporting both expansion of training of boatbuilders and increasing employment opportunities in the boating industry on the island. Prior to this build, the students have built a few smaller boats and this is their biggest project to date.

Last week Garth Steyn, who started the program, contacted me to order plans and a kit for the 2nd boat. This kit will be shipped to them within the next two weeks. The Didi 26 is a radius chine plywood racer/cruiser trailer-sailer that is available with either a short cruising cockpit that allows a transverse double berth under the broad bridgedeck or a long racing cockpit with port and starboard single quarter berths. The boats being built by Kidz at Sea are the racing long-cockpit version, with a fixed keel.

Garth Steyn speaking at the launch, with the instructor and students of Kidz at Sea.

Garth Steyn and Kidz at Sea students racing in the 2016 Heineken Regatta.

To see more about the Didi 26 and our other other designs for all materials, visit our website or mobile website.

Blue Screen Blues

Every now and then those electronic deities that control all of our lives decide to take revenge on us for some evil act that they consider that we did at some time in our lives. Some of us have many more than one of these beings imposing their will on our lives and the risk of revenge increases proportionally.

I try not to let my computers dictate to me too much but the fact is that it has become virtually impossible to be a professional in the modern world without almost total reliance on these digital marvels/tyrants. I find myself staring at various computer screens for most of my waking hours and try to stay friends with them. But it is when these things instantly morph from marvel to tyrant that our lives change just as quickly.

Last week I installed updated CAD software that uses a hardware lock for security. Whether only coincidence or not I don't know but my laptop went from totally cooperative colourful multi-functioning work partner to the dreaded blue screen of total stubornness, locking me out and throwing all of its play things (really my work things) out of its cot. It allowed me to work in safe mode but refused all attempts to recover the normal mode aside from reverting to as-new condition.

Yes, I maintain multiple backups of my important data in various places to cover a host of possible scenarios of destruction. So, I am now in the very lengthy and frustrating process of rebuilding all that was on that computer. Some of it goes easily enough but other programs are not so obliging as to cooperate.

The net result is a few days and nights of lost work and leisure time. I know that there is a very long list of emails waiting for my attention. I will get to them as soon as I can. If you are waiting for a response from me, please bear with me, I will get to it as soon as I can.

In the meantime, our desktop and mobile websites work hard for us, assisted by our Flickr albums. Our order and payment systems, plan printing and shipping of orders is unaffected. Everything else is working as usual but I apologise for any delays in email responses from me.

And Now One for the Little Ones

Our small dinghies form a huge contrast from our big cats in the last two posts. They are very popular for small family fun boats and for yacht tenders. They are also great little boats for a child's first "own boat", to teach them to sail and gain confidence on the water. With a good grounding like that a young boy or girl develops a love for messing around in boats and a foundation on which to build their future watersport or life in boating. I had use of a boat like that from an early age and it contributed to my intense love of boats and boating.

These dinghies use basic stitch-&-glue methods, within the abilities of most potential builders. They are all built by amateurs, mostly from plans only but sometimes from plans and patterns or a pre-cut kit. Smallest is the 8ft Dixi Dinghy and next up is the Argie 10, named after the sellers of the Argus newspaper in Cape Town, which commissioned the design about 35 years ago.

Morgan MacKay of Vancouver, British Columbia, bought plans and patterns in January for the Argie 10. Today, a bit over two months later, he has sent me photos of the completed boat, ready for launch when warmer spring weather arrives. He says that it took him approximately 100 hours. Looks like a nice standard of finish too. He says that his boys are looking forward to going sailing with him.

In these photos Morgan's boat is on a very basic little trailer. These boats can be comfortably car-topped but there are definite advantages to using a trailer, allowing smaller people to get it into and out of the water.

Very pretty Argie 10. Two-tone colour schemes look good on a boat like this.

Morgan's sons trying out the Argie 10 for size.

Morgan has fitted a Laser Radial rig in his Argie 10, as well as a Laser rudder. The Radial rig is a bit bigger and has a longer boom. I look forward to hearing how well she behaves with this rig.

To see more of our designs, please go to our desktop website or our mobile website.