As I was looking at my pod, how it was made came to me in a flash. I knew that the shape reminded me of something, and it finally hit me: a wheelbarrow!
There are a lot of styles and sizes out there, and I need to make a new one that is a few inches narrower than this one is to fit my skis. so I'll be hunting for one pretty soon.
A layer of plastic or mold release on the inside of the barrow, and a couple layers of glass plus reinforcement where required should give me a nice result in short order without having to go through all the trouble of making a mold!
My old pod works great, and a new one that is a little pointier on the nose should be just as good.
Just another idea.
Karl