Friday was a glorious day indeed. I headed over to Aardvark HQ in Bristol to spend the day with the Cooke family, pick up the molds and learn a bit (alot actually) about hull construction.

I arrived there an hour later than planned after a morning rush hour spell at the M3/ M27 junction and then the satnav getting incredibly confused nearing the factory.

It was then a case of assisting in laying up a new Ninja for the day and getting to experience the process firsthand which was excellent as it soon became apparent that without the lessons, I could have made a whole load of extra work for myself.

Once the boat was layed up and under vacuum it went in to the oven to bake which was then my cue to load up the molds, grab the nosecone, wingbars and other bits and pieces and head for home.

Upon getting home at 9:30pm, I was greeted with a garage full of carbon, corecell and resin as the delivery men had been.

Over the weekend it was a case of having a clear out and getting everything in order ready for the actual build process. If there is one thing I learned from Aardvark HQ it was preparation is everything! This means keeping a tidy workshop so there is plenty of space to work and keeping things organised so I won’t be tripping over myself and getting in to a right state.

The first bit of actual work done on the “boat” has been to trim off the excess cloth from the nosecone produced by mike as it had come straight out of the mold. I’ve also cut out the contour foam from the templates taken at Mike’s.

Thanks go to Mike and family for their excellent hospitality and patience with my never ending questions!