Ballast modification nears completion
The ballast yard is a key part of the Duracell's modification to a cruising sailboat. It's also a long and sometimes tedious process for Matt. But he's taking advantage of it to gradually improve his manufacturing process. To make the supports for the ceiling of the upper part of the tank, he chose to work on marble and not in place as for the lower tanks. He makes long angle bars before adding the cut-outs and gluing them in situ, saving himself a little sanding. The only thing left to do in situ is to make the plate connected to the wall planking, whose evolving angle makes work on a bench impossible.
Matt then cuts the tank ceilings from laminated sheets, which he reinforces, as the old ballasts are structural.
Finding the right mast
After more than a year of searching, Matt finally found the right mast in a Los Angeles training yard. He flew south to check the spar with a rigger friend. It was an old 70-foot mast. The two men checked the mast and the standing rigging rods. The connections and plates are given the utmost attention. An agreement was finally reached for $5,000 and the mast was sent to the Duracell yard, where important modifications had to be made.
