Acorn to Arabella: Pouring 9500 lbs of Lead into a Wooden Mold

As we patiently wait for Lou Sauzedde’s return (APB! LOU IS OK! He will be back very soon – we promise!)  we have been excited to follow along with the Acorn to Arabella crew who are furiously working on the ballast keel for their boatbuilding project. These motivated youth have made great headway on their Atkins sailboat build and they continue to impress us with their knowledge of the various projects they are tackling. Today’s videos include the actual pour of the lead into the keel mold, as well as an intro to WHY they chose to pour the lead for Arabella’s keel into a wooden mold. And, as we’ve come to expect, Steve demonstrates amazing comprehension of the various options and explains why pouring hot, molten lead into boards in the ground was not only the best option, it was the only option. 

Today (Friday January 26th), The Acorns released Part 1 of their videos on actually pouring the lead into their keel mold. We’ll link to the video below – and urge you to follow along with the build on the Acorn to Arabella Facebook page where they are posting more frequent updates.  Alix and Steve are moving quickly and while they have a lot left to do (like build a boat), they have already started building the crib for the keel, and eventually the whole boat, to be built on. More impressive, well-planned and executed work from this duo is no surprise, and it’s fun to watch the process and appreciate how much planning went into pouring molten lead without catastrophe.

Head over to their YouTube channel and subscribe to their videos so you know when the latest arrives. WE really enjoy following along with their build, and hope you do, too. Enjoy!

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