Ventillation Cowl at Bow

[Scott Galloway]

Dear Ariel owners,

I removed the ventilation cowl on the deck of my 1965 Ariel #330 near the bow. The original installation appears to have been an aluminum deck ring with screw-in cowl, and perhaps also a screw-in deck plate. A previous owner cut the vertical section of the deck ring on a Nicro three-inch cowl and screwed it on top of the original fitting. I removed everything and cleaned up the original deck ring, but cannot determine manufacturer.

The manufacturer's name did appear on this ring at one time in a small oval mark, but it is almost worn off and it currently looks like the letters "NEBIUIU" or "VARIUIU" but neither of those names sounds like anything I have heard of. I also don't know if this ring was the original installation.

The deck cut out is precisely four and one eighth inches. All of the catalogs that I have consulted require either smaller or larger cut outs for their ventilation cowls. I would like to install a new screw-in style cowl vent with ring, or find a new screw-in cowl and deck plate for the ring that I have.

Does anyone know a source for this item? Cutting a larger hole in the deck is certainly possible, but I consider it a last resort.

Thanks,

[Bill]

Pearson used a number of suppliers for hardware. Some firms were European (Dutch). The last supplier was Rostand and their cataloge does show a number of deck plates. You might contact Carol Harrington and ask about a plate that meets your measurements. The aluminum plate is likely the one Pearson installed for access to the water tank as they did not provide a vetilator.

[Mike Goodwin]

Mine is bronze and made by Nicro , I'll take a photo tomorrow .

[Scott Galloway]

Thanks for the replies guys. The photo of the ring beneath the vent cowl on Sirocco is a dead ringer for the vent ring under my current makeshift cowl. The difference is that my cowl was replaced by a previous owner with an ill fitting snap-in Nicro cowl. The bottom (verticle section) of a new Nicro plastic snap-in style deck ring cut off becaue it didn't fit inside of the aluminium ring, but was too small for the deck cut-out. The remaining horizontal portion of the plastic deck ring was attached to the original aluminium ring, which looks just like the aluminium ring on Sirocco.

The pastic ring was attached by sheet metal screws and lots and lots of silicon. The plastic ring was badly cracked and the installation (which was entirely bedded with silicon) showed signs of leaking.

Frankly I find the idea of a snap-in plastic ring a bit frightening in this location. I like screw-in deck plates for off shore sailing.

Naturally, curiousity got the best of me, and I decided to mess with it before I discovered that the deck cut-out on my boat is exactly four an one eight inches in diameter. The Nicro four inch vent requires a four and three eighth inch cut out and the three inch vent requires something less than four inches.

It would be really nice to find a screw-in cowl vent that fits the threads on my original ring. Otherwise I will have to go with a larger set-up and cut a larger diameter hole.

Thanks for the tip on the Rostand catalog. Also my copy of the Ariel maintenance Manual shows a deck plate on the hand written packing list ffor Ariel #24 as: "9114 1 ea deck plate 3" Rostand"

Although it is conceivable that this plate was installed for the purpose of filling the water tank by passign a hose below through it, the deck plate would in that case seem superfluous since the forward hatch is more proximate to the water tank inlet below than is the deck plate on my boat #330 or Sirocco (see photo above), which is over the anchor locker in the forepeak.

[Scott Galloway]

The larger photos of Sirocco's cowl vent are very helpful. The deck ring is identical to mine on #330. As you say, the size is greater than 3" and less than 4". My deck cut out is four and one eighth inchs in diameter.

The fact that we both have identical deck rings tells me that this particular vent may have been factory installed. Unfortunately the cowl that is currently on my boat is a Nicro pop-in type that was adaptd to fit (sort of) this deck ring.The original cowl vent is no longer on the boat.

[commanderpete]

I'll take a look at my cowl.

There are some nice looking ones, available in stainless or brass,
at this link. Unfortunately, they also require a 4 3/8" cut out.

www.marinershardware.com

[Scott Galloway]

Thanks for the URL to mariner's hardware. That was one I was not aware of, and the low prifile vents look very good. It looks like I will be enlarging my deck cut-out.

[commanderpete]

Here is the cowl vent on my boat.

[commanderpete]

Wow! That's a big one.

The stamp on the deck ring actually reads "Marinium"

[commanderpete]

I did a quick google search on Marinium.

It seems that Marinium is not the name of a company. Instead, it is a type of metal alloy, stronger than stainless steel yet lighter than aluminum.

I thought about painting mine white on the outside and red on the inside. But, it would probably end up looking like the plastic ones they sell.

Besides, now I have a new found appreciation for this high tech piece of equiptment.

[commanderpete]

You're right about getting a low profile vent. The sail would get caught up on a taller vent.

I could use some more ventilation on my boat. When I leave the forward hatch open a little I get rain inside. I thought about cutting a hole in the top of the forward hatch and installing a Nicro solar vent.

I'll have to ruminate over that project for a few years. Cutting holes in the boat always makes me nervous.

[Scott Galloway]

Thanks once again for great photos. The enlarged photos from Commanderpete show exactly what I have deckplate-wise on my boat, hull #330. However the cowl vent itself is missing. The Marinium info is also useful. It does look more than ever like I am going to need to relplace the entire unit, and enlarge he deck cut-out. That cowl vent of yours sure looks beefy. Too bad that both the cowel vent and the deck plate are missing on my boat. have nothing but the ring, and even that has been altered.

[Mike Goodwin]

I've got one in more forward hatch , wouldn't be without it .

[S.Airing]

Scott,if your going to drill and install a new cowl vent nicro makes screw in solar vents the same size.You could inter change the regular passive vent with the powered vent when wanted.Keeps air flowing below all the time,I know many people that do this.I dont know about the weather were your at but you dont see many boats on the Chesapeake Bay with out a powered vent or two.Mine has never leaked a drop after all these years.

[S.Airing]

My engine vents are Nicro 3 inch.screw in type with metal bases.These shown here are 3 years old and are the 3rd set Ive had on the boat.The sun is very hard on them and if you dont keep care of them the look like crap in about 4 or 5 years.

[Scott Galloway]

Thanks once again for the suggestions and helpful photos. I have a copy of the Nicro catalog, and your suggestion of the screw-in type offering the alternative if a passive or solar vent sounds like the way to go. My boat stayed dry and mildew free this winter with only one beat up but functional jury-rigged Nicro passive solar vent in the bow. That vent was adapted to fit the original stock deck ring with a lot of silicon goop added. To do it right, I will have to cut the opening to 4 and 3/8 inches it appears, but once I do thatm I will have a lot of flexibility. Still it would be nice to find a cowl vent to fit the stock deck ring that I already own.

[commanderpete]

How well does a nicro solar vent work at the bow? I was thinking it would admit alot of water when a wave comes over the bow.
I know you can close them from below, but it wouldn't be too convenient getting in to the anchor locker.

[Mike Goodwin]

I would put a passive vent there and a solar vent higher in the forehatch or cabintop , that way you get circulation . BTW , I have directed a water hose at my solar vent in the forehatch and no water came in , there are baffles . I think you would have to submerge the bow extremely to get any measurable amount .

[S.Airing]

I would only leave the solar vent in place at the bow when your tied up and away from the boat.Underway either plug it or use a regular cowl vent.

[Scott Galloway]

And finally, I seem to have plenty of time to work on this since I am in the middle of deck repairs and a complete deck repainting job, so I am in no hurry to replace my marinium cowl vent at the bow. I was told by a Wilcox-Crittenden representative that this firm made this part. so I wrote to Wilcox-Crittenden to ask if they indeed did make the part, and if they have a source. We'll see if they respond.

[c_amos]

Ok, I have been on / around boats and ships all my life.

I have noticed many private / pleasure boats have the cowl vents and air intakes painted red......

Any one know why?

[Scott Galloway]

Good question,

I purchased a 4" forged stainless steel cowl vent from Mariner Hardware in 2002, and I love it. It came with a four inch deck fitting and a deck plate. I have yet to use the deck plate. I leave the cowl vent in place at the dock or at sea. I don't get much water in through the vent into the anchor locker below when at sea, but I coudl use the plate for long passages if I chose to do so. The four inch vent provides plenty of ventillation. I had the choice of red, green or white interior on the vent. I chose white. That decision not to select the red interior did make me like I was being unconventional. About 90% of the cowl vents that I have seen are red. I really don't know why red is so popular. I also had the choice of bronze or stainless steel, and I choise stainless. The stainless steel matches my new chainplates and rigging hardware, and goes well with the original stock Marinium deck fittings.

[ebb]

C'Pete,
If you ever decide you don't want that dull, pitted, aluminum cowl on yor foredeck anymore....I'll trade you for a glitzy MarineHardware unit ANYTIME. The company is close by here. (Petaluma, CA) I"ll hand pick one for you. You can have one painted intestinal red inside if you wish.

That Almag/Marinium cowl deck plate is pretty unique from what I can find. And I like that soft sculpting. that kind of filled out look, that almag castings have. Perko is supposedly making fittings from marinium again - but the company has quirks that will doom its popularity. Don't know, but they probably overprice as well.

The marine aluminum fittings, chocks and cleats, that 338 had are just as serviceable now as the day they were bolted on at the factory. The problem is they don't compare well with the glint of buffed-up stainless and what the lubbers think an expensive boat should have on deck.

Perko says in their awkward introductory hype on the internet about their 'new' line of mirinium fittings (including THRUHULLS!) that what ever is cast in bronze can be cast in almag. There are foundrys that can do castings in almag 35 (which one assumes is close if not the same as marinium) just as competantly as bronze. $$$

A guy on a Pearson forum (I lost it) points out that our aluminum window frames and opening ports were made from marinium. There were no marks indicating this on #338 pieces. They may have been imported, as Bill points out from some foundry in Holland. (Early outsourcing ?) My frames all had some corrosion. My impression is that the marinium alloy does not have this problem - unless the opportunity is blatant.

Looks like Marinium has become antique collectable. Trading active on the net.
Your fabulous cowl with its equally fabulous patina is probably worth at least $20 wanna sell it?
Naw, it's somewhere between $200 and $2000!
GORGEOUS. Perfect foredeck ornament!:cool:

[c_amos]

Ebb,

Faith no longer wears her Cowl vent on the bow. If you would like it for #338, I would he happy to send it to you.

Craig

[ebb]

Wholly galloping guppies!

You say it's a Mininimun like C'Pete's??
I'd love it! I'm making an aluminum bowsprit for Little Gull and she would love to have a friendly fitting from the past up there.

I closed the opening off, but I'm not happy that a solar vent in the anchor locker Bomar is good enough ventilation. Might put a hole in the deck back but on the portside. WOW!

[c_amos]

Sure nuff.

I would be happy to be able to send part of #226 to serv aboard #338, considering Faith has her old Drawers and Cabinet door.

I am looking in my Association registry, dated 10 June 2004 and have an address in Sonoma at 19310 C********* Rd. Is that still a good address?

[ebb]

Craig, that's fantastic!
The address is good.

Still have an original long locker door - and a small square one ......:D

[mbd]

I'll get in line behind Ebb if anyone has another original cowl vent and ring lying around. (mine were rubber and plastic)

I've got 2 original 6" cleats and one 8" bow cleat (aluminum/marinium?) or (2 8" plastic ones if you prefer those :D)

Post deck job, I may have other hardware of interest too. I'll have to take inventory...

[ebb]

Craig,
Cowl of Faith arrived.
Sooo nice. Looks like a piece of Mid-Aluminum Armor.
A thousand rope burns on its helmet.
Archeological silicone welded to its ancient collar.
Fantastic.

The cowl turns in its base as if new.
There is no corrosion where you might think it could be - down in the threads where there's been four decades of SALT WATER and CLOSE metal to metal contact, and it's clockwork. Truely AMAZING.

This is a LOST ART. No company can make a fitting like this today! NONE!
I know there currently is an ATTEMPT to bring back marine aluminum - but I think the ART is gone, replaced by engineered (let's see what we can get away with) alloys that have no cojones.

We have B.C/A.D historical dating. Our boats have a befor and after. We have Indestructible Pre-Engineered Fiberglass PEF?) and indestructable, non-corroding aluminum (NCA?) on our A/Cs.
Many of the boats had monel water tanks - don't know about the gastanks for the Atomic 4. Sure are lucky we are in the Befor column.


Seem to remember discussion about cowls in the bow and someone saying not much water gets in there.
I can see an insert baffle that could be made to fit inside the rather large opening in this cowl. It would keep dollops out and cut down on airflow of course - yet in conjunction with a Hella fan, or an inline hose fan, it might produce sufficient air exchange in the forepeak.

Craig, Anything original from Little Gull that's still sitting in the garage, let me know!.....:D

[mbd]

Jeeze Ebb, rub it in. I'm on my "spare" cowl vent now. The first one took a dive off the bow at some point during last week's sail.

I'm curious. What did Little Gull have for vents? The rubbery ones like I've got? Are these things original or a PO's "upgrade".

[ebb]

HiYa Mike,
Had same as you.
One of those vile vinyl things that loose shape and get stained and why the hell do we buy those things? Because they are soft? Cheap?

They look cheap. But they probably aren't cheap. Had TWO stored in a box waiting for me. Still in their original packaging, they had slumped, lost their shape, the white had turned to brown in places, and were speckled with mold. Tossed them, Couldn't get the cowl replacements.

Look, if I don't use this baby, I'll send it (with Craig's blessing;) ) to you Mike, OK? The reason I'm saying that is I have a bowsprit to mount there in the bow. And there's the samson post or huge cleats I want up there too. I originally was going to mount a saucer vent on the Bomar I have over the anchor locker. Mike Goodwin likes em.

And so that classie Cowl of Faith may nought have a plaith to call its own on deck. Have to do a final foredeck layout.

[mbd]

Well a hearty "thanks" for the offer Ebb! That'd be way cool should it turn out.

It was mentioned on the Classic Plastic forum yesterday, that Mariner's Hardware (http://www.marinershardware.com/) is having a close out "sale" on their bronze and brass stuff. Googling around a bit, their prices don't look like a super deal. But, one of these would look really nice up on the bow of Sea Glass!

Last night, unbeknownst to the Missus, I almost pulled the trigger. But, in a fit of common sense, I thought I should wait it out at least another season. Besides, I've still got plenty of hardware to re-install this year.

Speaking of which, my chocks and a couple of 6 inch cleats are on their way to a new deck, but I've still got a couple more pieces, including an 8 inch bow cleat. Two bow cleats could give your foredeck layout a few more options...

[Tim Mertinooke]

I still have the original cowl attached to the deck of A-24. It is turned backward like most and I have had no problems with water entering even in a brisk sail earlier this year. I also have a deck plate that seems to be made of the same material that fits in place of the cowl. I can't however seem to get the cowl to turn or remove it and I hesitate to put any real force on the thing especially since it is working so nicely to provide air and doubles as my anchor hawse. I do however need the ability to remove it. Any ideas or experiences in trying to remove it if it is stuck? Mystery Oil, PB Blaster, continuous love taps? My plan is to rebed hardware this winter and would very much like to rebed the cowl vent.

[ebb]

Indeed nice stuff!
M.H. is a small outfit. Been there a couple times. (Looked like there is one person in the 'warehouse' shipping and buffing stuff - and a gal in the office - the alphas seemed to be always away at boat shows) Personal service, for sure! Got some cast s.s. o-ring deck (access) plates for the v-berth water tanks. Wanted 6", but the five inch were on special. They were at the time switching over from the two hole wire/pin opening style of plate turning to the winch handle (star) style. Much to be prefered. High quality stuff.

Have to assume that going with expensive and heavy cast access plates for water tanks is better than trusting Beckman.

imco If you buy a cowl from an outfit you probably should buy the kit. Which means you get the deck collar, of course, but also a plate to close it off. Set screws, if that is what is used to hold the cowl in place, and a plate key, or the slightly bendable wire opener. One miss with this opener and you've gouged the nice shiney plate! Keys, screw in plates, O-rings are not necessaryly standard. Got replacement O-rings at the shop.

I always balked at the cast cowls. What, the unit weighs 12#? While the sheet metal cowls are 1/3 the weight.


They had a carbon fiber cowl sitting around that weighed ounces, nothing.
But at the time I don't think they had the companion parts. I'd like to see a unit made from Marelon, fiber impregnated nylon. It's nice - but a little strange - that we still see fittings that have had their day on vanished varnished yachts as desirable.

The Almag Cowl of Faith has a tough utilitarian look to it - you know, it looks like galvanize. Don't have to polish this vent! Sheet 'burns' look great and the cowl looks salty and ageless.:D

[ebb]

Tim,
That's interesting that your cowl won't turn.
Cowl of Faith looks like it just came off the assembly line. The threads are clean, SHARP. And it turns up or down as if oiled.

This cowl, under the mouth in a molded bump, has a pin that was frozen in the down position and a DFO took a hacksaw to the tiny tip. The collar has 16 grooves around it that this pin once could engage.

Maybe your pin is corroded same way. It does not look like the design of this pin had a spring in it. But it probably did. There's a little notch the knob of the pin could be moved up into. That knob that motivated the pin on this cowl is long gone, I bet the knob screwed into the pin and that was what kept the pin in place - and how it was installed.

Because the cowl moves up and down when moved - because of its threads - the pin would have had to compensate for the slight changes in height.
Now corroded, it may be that another metal, like a spring, is in there. You know: what kept the pin loaded in the down position.

So far, the PB Blaster substitute I'm using has not budged it.

Aluminum is sensitive to other metals, even to other aluminum alloys.
I've just read an article on why one should use s.s. pop rivets on an aluminum mast rather than aluminum.....

[Tim Mertinooke]

I tihnk you are right about the pin. I can wiggle the cowl back and forth maybe 1/16 of an inch. The pin looks corroded so maybe I'll focus my efforts on that. No hacksaw for me though!:)

[ebb]

I have heard, don't quote me, that white vinegar might work on aluminum corrosion. Certainly would not hurt the deck any.

With my strongest magnifier I don't see no separation in the parts. Think we got a weld.:eek:

[mbd]

"Mike G" would know. :D