Keel and Hull Mating

May 29, 2020

Keel and hull mating is a watershed event for SeaHawk. We once again called in the heavy haulers, this time to lift the hull onto the keel. The boys from Pedowitz Machinery Movers showed up with their giant forklifts and skilled operators. As you can see in the photos below, we lifted the hull onto the keel. Next we welded the keel and hull together. Then we lifted the now joined keel and hull onto blocks.

As you can see, it was quite a lift. We used one heavy forklift on the bow and another on the stern. Sensors on the forklift show the lifted weight. So once it was up, we added the two together for 45,160 pounds.

With the hull and keel mated, we then began linking together the vital systems housed in each.The keel will eventually hold all our battery power and high-pressure air.

There will be a lot more work to do on the hull. In its final form, we will have a sharper nose than the one pictured here. And the stern hemisphere is still off for easy access as we complete the build. Take a look at other pages on this website for more pictures on that progress.