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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:12 pm
by AsLan7
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Some more plant pics from one of the three tour groups....
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Largest employer in Neodesha (neeOdeshay)
Kansas (aerosol cans and freight car refurbishment are also up there along with agriculture obviously)....2 hour drive from Kansas City..
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The molds hand waxed after EVERY use....
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George (Tuscany) acting confused about his 6.2L, 430 HP windfall so they don’t take it back from him...
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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:29 pm
by AsLan7
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Where they join the top and bottom of the hull/deck during the assembly process.
American made baby...
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Any boat under 30’ gets run in the tank for 30 minutes at WOT. (>30’ get tested at the lake). Other builders mate the outdrive at the dealer. Cobalt assembles everything in house and tests in the tanks....
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Ladies sewing the hand stitched interiors.....
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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:37 pm
by AsLan7
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Eric (Liquid) with Katie (1/2 of team Nautigal) posing with the watercolor given to him by the Cobalt designer of the infamous 190...
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John ( jmdahl) the creator of the CChat forum announcing with a backhanding motion toward Cmattj NOT to post any pics of the new design models which may be debuting in the coming years while we eat lunch....(followed by Matt (in the black hat) who clandestinely reaches down while eating to access his FB page for some reason).
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The lunch crew serving BBQ & dessert with my (AsLan7’s) dad on the end trying to balance his massive BBQ plate with some healthy carrots and celery.
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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 12:42 pm
by chrisjrockwell
Was great to meet everyone.
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 1:08 pm
by AsLan7
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Greater than 40 year Cobalt employee veteran Alex discussing the intricacies of Cobalt....
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He was also the clown in these classic 1970 advertisements
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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:27 pm
by 2ridgebacks
30 min at WOT? Wow! Are they restrained by the tow eyes at the stern? 30 min? I wouldn’t have thought that was recommended. Good to know though.
Keep the pics coming!
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:32 pm
by NautiGirl
2ridgebacks wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:27 pm
30 min at WOT? Wow! Are they restrained by the tow eyes at the stern? 30 min? I wouldn’t have thought that was recommended. Good to know though.
Keep the pics coming!
Hate to start an argument, but I doubt they run them at WOT. The tank is only 3 - 4ft deep tops. We should have put BBP in and checked to see if he could touch the bottom to verify. There wouldnt be any water left in the tank after the first boat of the day was tested if they ran them wide open. Our guide said they ran them 30min with "everything on" and in gear. I would assume they throw it in FWD then in reserve to make sure the lower shifts ok then run it for 30min with all the possible options on to put some electrical load on the charging system. Either that or they run it at WOT without a prop on, but I seem to remember them mentioning they water test w/ props.
If you think about it these are new engines from Volvo - because there was not a Merc to be found in the house - they are not going to run them WOT for 30 min until they go through break in.
Regardless super small details - the attention to detail at cobalt is crazy - and its awesome they take the time to mount the lower to the engine and do all the tests they do. Great tour and great company all around!
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:38 pm
by AsLan7
NautiGirl wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:32 pm
2ridgebacks wrote: Sat Dec 15, 2018 4:27 pm
30 min at WOT? Wow! Are they restrained by the tow eyes at the stern? 30 min? I wouldn’t have thought that was recommended. Good to know though.
Keep the pics coming!
Hate to start an argument, but I doubt they run them at WOT. The tank is only 3 - 4ft deep tops. We should have put BBP in and checked to see if he could touch the bottom to verify. There wouldnt be any water left in the tank after the first boat of the day was tested if they ran them wide open. Our guide said they ran them 30min with "everything on" and in gear. I would assume they throw it in FWD then in reserve to make sure the lower shifts ok then run it for 30min with all the possible options on to put some electrical load on the charging system. Either that or they run it at WOT without a prop on, but I seem to remember them mentioning they water test w/ props.
If you think about it these are new engines from Volvo - because there was not a Merc to be found in the house - they are not going to run them WOT for 30 min until they go through break in.
Regardless super small details - the attention to detail at cobalt is crazy - and its awesome they take the time to mount the lower to the engine and do all the tests they do. Great tour and great company all around!
I remember asking Derek (our tour guide) this question and I thought he said WOT for 30 minutes. Any others on our tour remember this?
I could be losing it. When he said this I specifically looked at the straps and tow eyes thinking they really need to hold this thing or else!.
On a side note, he also mentioned that when he is in the boat testing them in the tanks, sometimes as a joke they would turn the outdrive and trim it up fairly high to "shoot" water at the girls on the assembly line next to the tank dousing them with water.
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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:54 pm
by Big Block Power
Agreed they were ran for 30 mins is what Rick told us. He did say when it's real hot and wasn't too cool down some employees behind them they raised the drive and soaked some team members behind them. Lol.
It was really really cool. I'm glad the line was not working as we could hear everything and we could touch anything. If they were working no way would that have happened. Now with that being said I would love to see them doing the assembly also.
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:57 pm
by Big Block Power
One hull ready to get popped out. The stringers for all of the boats ready to get installed. The Kevlar reinforced hull
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 5:59 pm
by Big Block Power
Selfi with Oscar and Nauti in tune A36
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 6:00 pm
by Big Block Power
A little surfing harware.
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 6:02 pm
by AsLan7
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To piggyback on your thread bbp, here is the glassed in steel frame reinforcing the hull topside. Apparently in the early days the hulls were flexing causing hairline cracks. The steel frames were then added....
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Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 6:04 pm
by Big Block Power
I found Whitelightnings next boat. I really liked it so I was thinking the 10 year plan. So I found some Dreamsicle seats and added them to the build along with a 430 to the build sheet. They will never know.
Re: Cobalt Factory Tour Dec. 14th 2018. Be there or be square
Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2018 7:02 pm
by Tuscany
I could be losing it. When he said this I specifically looked at the straps and tow eyes thinking they really need to hold this thing or else!.
