Stretch Ariel #45

Weather in Chicago now nice enough to start work on my commander, snow not likely to return any more.

I actually was lucky this weekend to catch a ride on an Alberg 30 on Lake Michigan, and it was great. It seems actually that the Alberg 30 is more tender than my Commander, it dipped the rail quite a bit, and was a wet ride much of the time. A great blast! And since I consider upgrading to a larger Alberg design some day, this seems a real possibility...

Anyway, back to my own commander - I have the usual split coamings, and was planning to fully break them and glue them using biscuits. However, when I started taking off one board, I found there were only very few screws under the plugs! I realized that a PO must have replaced one of the boards a long time ago, and with much inferior teak. This board is actually kind of flexible in many cracks, and I'm not sure if it can even be glued properly. The other board is truly just split in one place and looks easier to fix, I guess that one is the original high quality teak...
I'm tempted to take Commanderpete's advice and get into the water ASAP. And just leave them as is (with a brass plate or two bolted on to stiffen the boards), and maybe put some sealant in the cracks to avoid getting a wet butt. Not a proud thing to do, but more practical!

Guys, I can't resist posting this because it's such a beautiful shot of my Stretch Ariel.
We were tagging along with the fleet on the Chicago to Waukegan Race and it was gorgeous.

Unfortunately my older thread featuring #45 was deleted by mistake, I might have to repost some pictures especially when I get some work done in the interior.

Take care, Stephan

P L E A S E ! ! !
Post those pics.

Have to know WHAT was stretched. YES???

Well,,, more than the photo.... Alberg 35 looks very sporting in photo:p

Gennakers are wonderful, if they have a sock, of course. I wouldn't want to deal with a full spinnaker, shorthanded as I usually am...

Hello guys,

I thought I'd share with you some information about my solar panel installation. I'm living on my Stretch Ariel, and need electricity primarily for the fridge, the laptop, and the lights (in order of consumption).
I use two Kyocera 135GX-LP panels with a nominal peak power of 135W each. They are connected to a Blue Sky Solar Boost MPPT controller, which feeds into my batteries.
The mounting frame is 1 inch stainless steel tubing (7/64 wall thickness). After mounting them for the first time I realized that the original set screws were too unsafe and decided to drill through most of the connections and use longer set screws that enter into the tubes. The whole construction was too wobbly for comfort, and so I also added some extra bracing in the top forward corners. Drilling stainless is a pain, the total labor to mount the stuff was at least 20 hours!
The panels are attached with brackets that screw to their aluminum frame and encircle the tubes.

The total bill:
2 Panels at $440 each + delivery : $ 950
MPPT Controller : $ 250
SS Tubes, Bases, Elbows + delivery : $ 500
Various SS Screws, Brackets, etc : $ 50

Total: $ 1750

Result: So far, I'm very pleased. The panels produce energy even early in the morning. This morning, at 7:30, the output was 3.3 Amps. At 8:30, it was 6.1 Amps. Since they are mounted horizontally, they will never be perfectly perpendicular to the sun, but they should reach about 20 Amps during lunch hours. The MPPT controller is really working well, usually increasing the amperes (when the panels output more voltage than needed), but also producing FEWER amperes while boosting the voltage to make use even of very low light conditions). Very much recommended!

Ask questions if you like!

Stephan

Hello guys,

I also want to show off our new master berth. We decided that the forepeak is not as nice to sleep in as the salon, on account of the v-berth being rather high and the ceiling causing some claustrophobia.
We designed a berth extension that expands the 27 inch wide settee by 23 inches, giving us a total of 50 inches width, very comfy for two!
The extension does double duty as the backrest during daytime.
My admiral produced a beautiful cushion for the settee, and 'the mother of all pillows (as you can see in the photo)' to store bedding during daytime (thanks Chris for lending us your sewing machine). We used 'Krypton' fabric, which is beautiful, very comfortable, stain and mold resistant etc. The particular style we chose is called 'Moonbeam'.
The extension is made of 1/2 in marine plywood with birch longitudinal stringers, and rests on two strips of wood that are screwed to the fore bulkhead and the settee, and a hinged leg. Two brass pins line up with holes in the extension and keep the extension from sliding off its supports.

We sleep 'like rocks' on the thing, it works very well!

Stephan-I love my Koycera 60 watt panel on the back of my Ariel as well. Been running trouble free for 5 years now. Just keep the fluid levels up in your battery bank and you'll have trouble free power!

Well, one more season over, and once more still in Chicago...
My dream was to have sailed south enough to be able to keep the boat in the water. Unfortunately, Lake Michigan ends in Indiana.
The last ride was cold but fun.

See you guys next year.

Happy to meet you guys!

Guess you got a mythical mainsail there...

How else can you be rail down with the cover on.....?:D

With the main we'd have been *feet* in the water, not just rail. Jib alone was well enough. 30 knots of wind from abeam plenty of times. 7.5 knots sustained at times.

I didn't think the wind blew in Chicago :D

I had bad ventilation problems last year. Living on the boat probably adds so much moisture that mold thrives. So my first project this year was to add some vents and improve air circulation in the main cabin. A friend recommended the venerable Beckson Vent-O-Mate, so I got two and put them in last weekend.
One went through the roof (which meant putting a 4 inch hole through two layers of fiberglass, one layer of balsa, and another layer of FG (the inner liner), the other one through the hatch. As you can see in the pictures, both are seriously heavy, and should not suffer from the intrusion.

You are protecting the venerable balsa in the hole, correct?

Sure, Ebb. I basted it with epoxy all around. No worry, I don't want my roof rotting.