The lamination crew sprays gelcoat on the highly polished and waxed DSe hull mold. Fiberglass boats are fabricated inside-out. The “paint” goes on first with the structure being added behind the finish coat. The “shine” of the finished boat is a reflection of that on the mold surface.

The gelcoat cures before the application of the first “skin” coat of fiberglass. Island Pilot uses vinylester resin for this first layer of fiberglass to resist “blisters” caused by osmosis. (3 coats of epoxy are also applied before bottom painting after pulling the hull from mold.)

The first layer of fiberglass has been applied and Hull #1 is awaiting further reinforcing layers of fiberglass.

Honeycomb coring of varying thickness have been applied using the latest “vacuum bagging” techniques (assuring a perfect bond between the core and the underlying layers of fiberglass). The crew is cutting the fiberglass fabric prior to applying the finishing layers. Note the solid lamination below the chines.

George & Jack discuss bulkhead details and layout for DSe #1.

George waits patiently while Jack translates the design discussion to the plant engineering team. Plywood templates show the approximate location of bulkheads - Actual bulkheads will be entirely of composite construction using sythetic cores with fiberglass skins - maximum strength with minimum weight.

A good look at the hull - the forward port bulkhead will be watertight separating the accommodation from the generator compartments port & starboard. A small plywood box can be seen in the starboard hull - this is a full-size mockup of one GRP31 battery. There will be a total of 20 batteries located beneath the cabin soles.

Looking aft in the port hull and section of the wet-deck. The motors will be recessed into the hull just a few feet forward of the shaft log. An Aquadrive thrust bearing transmits the drive force from the propeller to the hull - a CV joint eliminates any vibration.

The guest stateroom will be in this space - you can see the area for the hatch next to the berth on the transom (X’d area with no core). The berth(s) will be on a flat surface over the wet-deck (convertible from twins to queen).

Another look at the wet-deck bridging the hulls. The guest berth will take up two-thirds of this space - the other third is in the starboard motor compartment. You can see the cutouts for the port lights in the starboard hull and the hatches in the transom (areas without core). The cockpit is over this area.