Ariel 259

[carl291]

Here's a picture of A 259, maybe a member may recognize this vessel. It's from the Jacksonville FL area, abandon at a storage yard years ago sold at auction and sat in the former owners yard for more years. When I registered with Bill he said 259 was named Crab Ghost, the transom has the faded letters Trie.

[carl291]

As Tony G. eluded to, a hammer, a sharp instrument and a wrecking bar are fun tools! This boat had all of it's formica covered in bead board paneling, The galley top was done in ceramic tile. After a little probing I discovered most of the new wood work was covering rotten bulk works. out came the fun tools and here is what's left:
Fortuntely the ice box was already removed,

[carl291]

I cut the sole out from under the cockpit searching for the keel void and the added ballast to discover mine is glassed in. Do I need to cut through this fiberglass and remove it or just cut an inspection hole and have a look see? I kind of hate to remove this fiberglass because it appears to be factory work very nicely done. Does any one know what that yellowed vinyl hose is for? It leads from the bilge to the port cockpit locker hatch drain.
It is certainly not as crowed under there as is my little Electra.

[Chance]

Carl,
Looks like you have the foundation of a great vessel. Thanks for the photos and keep them coming, as you make forward progress on bringing her back to a fruitful life.

[Bill]

I cut the sole out from under the cockpit searching for the keel void and the added ballast to discover mine is glassed in. Do I need to cut through this fiberglass and remove it or just cut an inspection hole and have a look see?

IMHO, the added ballast appears to be gone. In most cases, the factory left it sitting in the bilge. Someone probably sold it.

The keel "void" is usually found under the encapsulated lead and mostly toward the aft (see pg 41 in the manual).

[bill@ariel231]

Carl

fortunately the demolition phase is quick. one item you might want to check that caused me grief on A-231 was wet core in the keel void. it's the area under the cockpit. that rising area from the companion way steps aft looks identical to the shape on my boat (there is a lot of variability in the profile of the bilge from year to year). On A-231, the quality of the factory glass work sealing the keel void wasn't up to par. As a result a lot of water dripped into the foam and area around the lead ballast below.

Glad to see another Ariel on the long road back.:)

cheers,
bill@ariel231


ps. by the way, that's a nice trailer!

[carl291]

Chance,
Thanks, A259 is as complete as other projects I've drag home. I'm hoping it won't be as long to complete as others.
Bill , Now would be a good time to consult the manual, I was just expecting to find a deep hole as others have posted.
Bill@A231
Would you suggest just cutting a hole big enough to look in and poke around? The fiberglass work in that area really is top notch, I think what they did when assembling was get the two pieces of mat backwards, the mat under the cockpit is totally wetted out and overlapped about 6 inches on each side to the hull. However the mat above the lead ballast barely overlaps the hull 1 inch. I removed the rudder shoe and drilled up and into the hollow area, ( the glass is about 6 inches thick in that area) and no water. This boat had a knot meter drive mounted just above the ballast and 3 bolt holes were open which allowed the rain water to leak out about as fast as it leak in and not collect. This boat has been out of the water for a long long time, I would think it should be dry but I want to be sure.
The trailer is home built, but it pulls like a dream I was really surprised, it certainly was a buying point for me. It's made to launch from the trailer with an extended tongue. Also the mast can set down on the trailer and not overhang. I would like to make the tongue extension removable. Of course it's steel and from Florida so it needs sandblasting and painting.
Thanks, Carl

[Tony G]

Carl
Ahh, how good that cathartic feeling is...

Bill is right, you can find the void right about where it is indicated in the manual. I was able to 'sound' Dream Weaver's lead fairly accurately. You could try that but how effective it is will rely on how well the original glasswork is adhered to the ballast or at least in contact with the ballast.

And that is a nice trailer!

Welcome to the recovery process!!!!:D

[bill@ariel231]

If the factory glassork in the bilge was wet out and does not look like it leaks from above you are ahead of the game. If you are going to be out of the water for a while, it is a good time to drill a couple 1/4" holes as low as possible in the keel. if there is any water there, it will drain out over time. if it is dry, the holes are easy to patch later. it it is wet, then there are several possible sources for water entry (all enumerated in the keel void thread).

[carl291]

It is beautiful here in middle GA today, I happen to be walking by the boat with a gasket scrapper in my hand and thought I might see how hard it would be to remove some bottom paint, well seven hours later it all gone! That little one inch wide blade had a work out:D

[carl291]

All of the gelcoat that hasn't previously been ground off is badly crazed and I'm assuming needs to be sanded off and some type of barrier coat built back up.
Here's something you may find interesting, I bought this power boat trailer and installed uprights and a keel support for my Electra, once I set the boat on the trailer, I'll install the bow stop. It's made of Aluminum and rated at 5000 lbs with the 13 inch tires even though it has 3500lb axles. It is a very light trailer and should pull well.
Later,

[frank durant]

'that lil one inch blade had a workout'......bet your arm did too :)

[carl291]

Weekends are the only time I can work on 259 and it has rained for 5 weekends in a row, work has kept me busy for three more and now that I have time the heat index is 105.
I did manage to cut new coamings today, I really like the grain in other piece better but it was simply too narrow to get both pieces out of. Oh well, nice wood for hatch boards and winch mounts ,( would 1 inch thick teak make a good rudder???) The wood is Brazilian Teak 1" thick.
I'm not really a wood worker so I measured and traced 3 times before cutting.:rolleyes: I was pleasantly surprised at how well it cut.
Any opinions on whether I should seal with penetrating Epoxy or simply varnish? Thanks

[mbowman]

Carl, it's good to see another Ariel in the Area. I'm just outside of B'ham and there is another one up in Huntsville. Welcome neighbor! I've just started Refitting mine "A-233" this week. I spent 3 hours with a sander/grinder on the keel today.... trying to get all of the old bottom paint off. These little boats are a labor of love!
Hey where did you find the Brazilian Teak?

[mbd]

Any opinions on whether I should seal with penetrating Epoxy or simply varnish? Thanks
To deal with some rot, I took my coamings down to bare wood a couple of years ago with a heat gun and a lot of scraping and sanding. When reapplying, I couldn't decide which way to go, so I coated the fixed rotted section with epoxy (which was already full of epoxy anyway) and then did the winch bases and the forward blocks of the coamings (also not in great shape and very porous). The rest of the coamings were just plain varnished.

Two years later, the epoxied parts are showing some unsightly yellowish "bubbles" under the epoxy and varnish. Could be I didn't prep well enough, or the not-so-good wood outgassed after being sealed with epoxy - even though I laid them on the driveway in the sun to warm them up beforehand. But whatever the cause, it doesn't look so great, and to fix it I'll have to get out the heat gun, scraper and sander and do it all over again, except the epoxy will make it even more of a chore. I'm thinking I'll invest in new coamings before I do that, however.

But back to your question: if I had beautiful new coamings like yours, after a good sanding and cleaning, I'd just go with varnish and forget about the epoxy and the extra steps, effort and costs associated with it.

Oh, and three coats of varnish didn't hold up for a season along the top edges - six did. Now I've got nine coats on them...

[carl291]

Mike 233,
Auburn or BAMA ??? :D Thank You. The teak and Mahogoney comes from EBAY. The store is Sergio (??) . If you do a search, just type "teak" and all of EBAY and it should bring it up. The oversize shipping and the weight (42lbs) made shipping as much as the price of the wood. If you have trouble I'll put up a link. I just bought some new Mahogoney for the rudder, it's 1 5/8 " thick , I hope I can get it ripped to 1.25" and end up with some thick veneer for something else.

Mike 414, Thanks for the heads up on the varnish. The combing blocks at the front are original and I think I'll epoxy them and varnish the boards. nine coats huh?:o

here's the link: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/SERGIO-EXOTIC-WOODS__W0QQ_armrsZ1

[Commander227]

I used Interlux Perfection Varnish on my combing and am very happy so far.
It is a two part catalyzed product which is very similar to automotive clear coat.
It has much better UV protection than regular varnish and won't cloud up like epoxy.
Mike
C-227

[carl291]

I stumbled across this mast tabernacle on an Ebay boat and think it may be the answer to my mast problem where the PO cut off one foot of the mast.
I'll plate the mast on the inside and put the pivot bolt where the plate has been installed to stiffen up the hinge area. Maybe even install a bolt-on removeable guide to align the mast through the entire swing to raise the mast.

[mbd]

That's a cool idea. It could double as a crutch when you haul out too.