Cobalt Factory Tour Photos

[jhnmdahl]

My apologies that the color is off on the first handful, but here's a summary of what you may have missed if you didn't make it to Kansas last weekend.

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Cobalt Chatters meet up at Char Bar for some Kansas City beef and beer

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More members arrive after minor flight delays

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Members mingle and learn the faces behind the screen names

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Cobalt Chatters checking in for the tour at Cobalt Headquarters

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Long-time Cobalt executive (now retired) Alex tells us about Cobalt's history, and answers every question we had with his encyclopedic knowledge of Cobalt boats

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Our first view of the factory was the upholstery and carpet area

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Alex tells us how the hull molds are made, and about Cobalt's unique steps to ensure quality

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A larger hull is masked off for three colors, ready to receive sprayed-in gel coat

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A hull recently removed from the mold has stringers attached

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A separate pressure pot/sprayer for each gel coat color stand ready to make boats

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Boats over 30' are assembled on a separate line in a nearby area of the factory

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This A36 just received its engines

[jhnmdahl]

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The top of an A36 receives plumbing and wiring before being mated to the bottom hull

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Tour members inspect the top of the A36 still being fitted with parts before assembly

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The A36 mold is the same as for smaller boats, just bigger (and in an unlit room so very blurry)

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Back on the regular assembly line, smaller boat top hull parts are trimmed and prepared for fittings

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This hull top has been trimmed and cutouts cut for installation of various parts

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Ballsat tanks (white) and a fuel tank (tan) are installed in a WSS hull

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Fuel tanks and ballast tanks have been tested and are lined up ready for installation

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Alex explains how a fiberglass dash panel is upholstered and fitted with instruments

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An upholsterer fits and glues upholstery to a dash panel

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This boat is ready to receive its Volvo engine

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The top is held on by screws and adhesive, with two more sets of screws to come as bumpers and rails are screwed on

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This CS23 just received its engine and outdrive

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Smaller boats are tested under power in the factory water tanks, normally with a single prop and under 2000 rpm. Larger boats go to a nearby reservoir for open water testing

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Bimini tops are made in-house, and fit to each boat

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Stacks of multi-density foam (in back) are ready to be upholstered for seats

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Another view of the upholstery sewing area

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A blurry picture of the CNC upholstery vinyl cutting machine in action

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Another hull with stringers and bulkheads fused/glassed in

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Cobalt Chatters after the tour, many sporting stylish Cobalt Chat apparel

[Ytmsn]

That was a great write-up John!

[AsLan7]

That was a great write-up John!

+1
I’m glad somebody was paying attention!

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[Big Block Power]

Ok seeing that John posted a picture of this I'll explain why Cobalt does this and other manufactures don't. This is what makes Cobalt diff. I know others don't because I've had spider cracking from this area.
So how many of you have seen spider cracks coming from the bow rub rail from other brands.
Cobalt scribes the gel coat at this area so when they screw the upper to the lower hull it pulls it very tight and bends it in and the gel coat will Crack to the upper part of the hull above the rub rail if they don't scribe it to the glass. It looked like a black sharpie line so I asked why.

[Ytmsn]

Sooo many small details that all add up. 8 sheets of fiberglass are laid in, and overlap in the keel and at stress points, making 16 layers. It takes 4 days to build a hull because they let it cure before they pop it out. Then the keel gets another layer of kevlar glued in, making 17 layers along the keel for added strength. Rick told us most builders use 4 layers, and some of the cheapies use one or two! Then they spray a deadening compound in to reduce noise.

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Then on the underside of the deck they use treated marine plywood for bunkers that is sprayed or painted as well. Then they blow layers of glass in and hand roll all the bubbles out after every layer, making everything one solid piece.

Oh yeah.. probably one of the most important pics that we missed. Dinner shots at Char Bar...

Burnt Ends!

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And my wife's dinner shot

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[OldDonziGuy]

Just when I was lamenting the fact that I did not have any photos for my album of the Char Bar dinner along comes John. Thanks for posting those and making my mouth water again.

[Tuscany]

The sauce is everything, and just when you don't think there is a better BBQ sauce out there, along comes the Char Bar to add to the conversation..
This past weekend was so memorable. I wish we all had more time together...

[Bfun220]

That was a great write-up John!

+1
I’m glad somebody was paying attention!

.

John, thank you for posting such a great write up. I'll be using it to show friends and family how these awesome boats are built.

[akorcovelos]

The best part is they have been building hulls like this for decades, where even other premium brands have cut costs and quality Cobalt has stayed the line.

[Ytmsn]

And they continue to make improvements. Rich told us that since Malibu came along, all hulls and decks are kept together throughout construction, right up to the point where they set the deck on. He said the old process wasn't like that and they didn't see the need to keep them together at first, but now it makes sense. Any installs, changes or adjustments can be made more efficiently and fluidly.

[cmattj]

Great Pics John!

And the tutorial between them is awesome. ( Hey how come you can do that so easy?????) lol

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( Yes he points with his middle finger... a lot We noticed ) was very interesting as we fully understand what Cobalt learned, and applied to keeping the Deck and Hull tight for years to come.

I loce all the pics y’all ( that’s Kansas talk) I feel like I’m still there!!

[skno]

Thanks for sharing! Love the history that comes with a great boat. Glad I did a little research before i purchased my first boat!

[AsLan7]

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FWIW, I just wrote a one page thank you note to the folks at Cobalt Boats on behalf of the forum. Went out in the mail today.

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[Holy Smokes]

Well said, Jack. Thanks for putting that together.