Okay, so it is somewhat delayed from the expected start date,
but what isn't in this crazy world?!
Hull #11, aka "SV Mira", aka, our boat, aka our Home-To-Be started at the Vision Yachts Factory in Knysna, South Arica!!!!!
Modern fiberglass sailboats are made in a mold, which is kind of like the inverse of the boat-to-be. Fiberglass layers are build up onto this mold and eventually you get to the desired thickness, everything cures, the mold gets pulled away, and voila, you have a hull! Okay, you have the very start of a hull that would a) not float and b) not look much like a boat.
Creating the hull in the mold is the first step in a long list of steps.
Main steps of making a Vision 444, mostly in order...
- Make the hull pieces in molds
- Pull the pieces from the mold and fair them (sand, sand, sand).
- Bond the multiple pieces into one actual boat using fiberglass to join the multiple pieces
- Install bulkheads and furniture pieces and fiberglass them to the hull.
- More fairing, inside and out.
- Paint the inside and outside.
- Add in the big inside bits, like engines, batteries, electronics.
- Fit windows, hatches, etc.
- Fit the outside bits, like toerails, lifelines and stanchions, longeron (bow sprit).
- Install all the electrical wiring using the built-in conduits (at least on our boat).
- Move the boat outside of the yard and test for water-tightness
- Laminate cabinets with wood and fabric coverings.
- Apply the bottom Copper Coat paint
- But the boat on a trailer and tow it to the marina, taking up two lanes of traffic in the middle of the night.
- Splash the boat!!
- Add the mast, boom, standing and running rigging
- Sea Trials!
We are currently at the beginning of Step 1 and we hope step 17 will be done by early August.
So you have this fancy set of molds (which I believe are also fiberglass) that are used to make hulls. The first step is to clean them to a mirror like finish, wax them and then apply a water-based release agent, so that when you are done you can pop that baby out!
Mold Preparation
