Day Two

Today marks the day that I truly entered into the world of yacht manufacturing and maintenance. Although I did not get to experience the process of molding the hull of a boat, a man named Fred took me through the process. He described the sequence of events that goes on just to have the framework to build a Valiant sailboat. The care that is taken in each step of the process is immense. What stuck out to me was how unattractive the molds look in comparison to the final product. It was also interesting how they get the final piece after it is molded out of the mold. The mold is actually two pieces put together held together by bolts and hinges at the bottom. When it is time to take the piece out, they undo the bolts and release the hinges. The two mold pieces fall to the side leaving the piece in the middle to be taken away. Later we went to work on the last Valiant boat that they produced that is still sitting in the docks waiting to be shipped. Specifically, we were working on the rudder reference indicator. This instrument calculates the degree to which the rudder is turned to either the starboard or port side of the vessel. At first I did not understand why it was necessary to know this information as a driver of a sailboat. But, I learned that it is vital in order for the auto-pilot to function correctly. Later on, Fred took me over to see one of the first valiant yachts that they ever constructed. He said it was probably the third or fourth one ever made. It was cool to see the differences between most recent one that had been constructed and then one of the originals.