Making of an Ice Boat
The first thing that bothered the makers was to make that the newspaper version of pykrete was stronger than the conventional wood pulp one. The test unveiled that the newspaper version, though tough was brittle. The problem was compensated by using 2 inch thick newsprint plank instead of a thinner one, which when tested exhibited properties equivalent to a 2 inch thick plywood.The design of the boat was kept similar to that of a flat-bottomed boat. This would ensure the boat to sail with less horsepower and would also make it easier to construct.
The whole project was made in Alaska in order to find the necessary cold but non freezing water for the project.Also,to make sure the newsprint planks remained intact, a freezing van was hired.Wood pulp was made by putting thousands of newsprint and publications in tubs of water.
The design of the mold consisted of an enclosed wooden box made out of plywood of width 8 feet , length 20 feet and thickness 3/4 inch . The sides were held together with galvanized brackets and were also nailed and glued.The outer side of the mold was lined with a flexible polythene film, which would act as a water seal. The newsprint were laid on the mold in a pattern similar to that shingles of a house, i.e. to put one newsprint at a time in such a way that each joint of two newsprint is covered by the mid section of another newsprint. This would facilitate the water to flow over the layers and not under them.
Also, when water freezes it expands. Thus if proper weight was not kept on the newsprint, they would deleminate. To ensure that this doesn't happen, an inner mold was made. A 150 horse power four stroke Yamaha engine was mounted on the boat when it was in the cold storage.