Up and Over with a Didi 40cr

David Edmiston in New South Wales, Australia, is building a Didi 40cr, in its newest form. This is with the hull flare increased aft to give more deck area and space for a T-shape cockpit. I haven't yet figured a decent name for this version, so for the moment it is the "Wide Stern Version of the Didi 40cr". David has made pretty good time building her, he is an amateur builder having bought his plans in May 2014.

Yesterday his boat made a major move, from his garden to a spot near to the water in Sydney Harbour. The start of that journey was unusual, in how the boat was removed from the building site. I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Lifted off her building cradle, this view shows the beautiful finish that David has achieved on his hull.

Up she goes.

And up some more. Note the spreader bars on the slings to relieve the squeezing loads that would be applied to the hull if they weren't there.

And over the roof. Few boats get to have such a good view of their building site. Her building cradle is at extreme right.

And onto a transporter for a quick ride to the harbour.

And away she goes, out of the neighbourhood. Being a wooden boat, her build will not have disturbed the neighbours much. Some of them may even miss watching a big project like this, which often becomes a focal point for gatherings and building neighbourhood spirit.

Her keel is delivered to the harbour. This is a steel casing with lead ballast poured in.

Then her hull is lowered over the bolts for initial dry-fit, followed by permanent bonding.

This is a slightly bigger sister to "Black Cat", the Didi 38 prototype that I built in Cape Town 20 years ago. It has the same hull but extended with a 2ft longer stern overhang. It also has a longer cabin with a bit more accommodation length.

It won't be long before David's new boat is in the water and sailing. I will post new photos when I have.

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