Ariel Technical Drawings

I was preparing to raise my mast today after an extensive rehabilitation project, when I discovered a long narrow plastic bag full of what I at first thought might be charts. What that bag was doing in my lazarette locker I do not know, because I don’t recall ever having seen it before. It was one of those plastic bags with built in tie straps so tightly secured that I could not remove it, so I put it below until after we raised the mast this afternoon.

Imagine my surprise when I later opened the bag and discovered three new spark plus still in their boxes, a strange little cylinder marked impeller (I have a 6 hp outboard motor), two plastic jib hanks, and a tightly rolled set of Pearson Ariel technical drawings including some copies printed on plan paper stock and some “original quality drawings” suitable for use in producing blueprint copies. I even have two printed on plastic sheets. Most of the drawings were signed by J.L.L. Lee and dated 1982. There were multiple copies of some of the drawings.


So now I am wondering how these plans came to be in my lazarette locker. I suppose that when I recently cleaned out the V berth to facilitate rebuilding to the deck below the mast and strong back I must have moved that bag from the V berth back to the lazarette, but how did these plans come to be in my V berth. I completely stripped the boat in 2001 to repaint the cabin.

I vaguely recall something about a set of plans being available from the Association sometime in the past, but search on this forum for "plans", "technical drawings," "drawings", etc. failed to turn up any leads. Perhaps I purchased them from the Association, or perhaps some great mystery is afoot,...or perhaps this fall when I repainted once again after the repairs were completed, I spent too long below in the paint fumes. Pretty cool drawings though... Anyone know if the Association has such a set of plans for sale?

A shot of the rudder drawing appears below.

Jean Lee and Todd Baltes owned your boat in the Bay Area, moved it to Santa Cruz, removed the ice box and added the tabernacle.

Jean was a GE draft person and did a series of Ariel tech drawings for the first edition of the manual (published in 1984). All the drawings are included in the current manual (but reduced in size). You likely have vellum copies made from the originals Jean provided to the Association.

BTW - they had an outboard motor bracket on the transom for awhile. Until the got the crap scared out of them in choppy South Bay seas. They promptly removed the engine bracket and returned the motor to the well. Jean and Todd were quick to dissuade anyone from putting an outboard bracket on the stern of an Ariel or Commander.

Bill,

Thanks much for that reply. You solved the mystery. I adopted my boat from the Sea Scouts here, but I met the prior owners, Jean and Todd, many years ago, since the slip they leased was directly across from the one that I leased through 1992, when I owned a previous boat.

Jean and Todd paid me a visit once after I adopted my Ariel, and kindly left a few spare parts. I did not make the connection between Jean Lee and J.L.L. Lee yesterday, when I saw the signature on the technical drawings. The drawings must have been sitting in that bag from the day that I adopted the boat. At that time, I must have stashed them next to my set of charts in the V berth assuming that they were S.F. Bay charts. So thanks for solving the mystery. What a treasure to discover these drawings. And what a gift to all Ariel owners from Jean to have prepared those drawings in the first place.

So anyway, I have the drawings if anyone wants to obtain a print or two. Since I have some original quality drawings, I will have to look into the cost of reproduction. Of course the images in the manual should suffice for most purposes. I don't have full size originals or copies of many of the drawings in the manual, however, but only those that Jean drew.

Todd told me a hair-raising story about a day in southern San Francisco Bay with their OB Motor on the transom. When I adopted the boat, the nicely done teak OB mount was stashed in the cabin. The mounting holes were still in the transom. I filled those holes and brought the motor mount home.

I totally enjoy the ice-box to chart table conversion. There is one side benefit of that modification that is not stated in the manual. Since Jean and Todd installed a flush-mounted Lexan skylight in the deck opening left in the bridge deck by the ice box removal, there is wonderful light below at the chart table. I added a layer of gelcoat to the old icebox cover and put a white plastic gasket around the bottom edge. The cover protects the skylight in port and prevents sunlight from streaming below when you don’t want it to do so (like when the boat is unattended). Now for the best part: Because of the skylight, I was able to mount both a Garmin 76 GPS and a Garmin 176C Chart plotter directly below the skylight. Both have built-in antennas. I mounted them on the bulkhead behind the charttable at a height that permits me to fully open the chart table lid. Both units work well below without external antennas because they are mounted directly below the skylight. Both are portable. The Garmin 176C will work off the house battery or a set of internal rechargeable AA batteries, and will tie into my VHF radio for digital selective call purposes. Both units can also be removed easily and used in the cockpit.

Although GPS units do not receive as well when their antennas are horizontal, I can flip turn units in their mounting brackets so that they can be read from above from teh cockpit through the skylight in wet or rough weather. The units remain functional in that configuration. I must admit that since most of the screens are in rather small print, and particularly so on the Garmin 76, only a few of the screen options are easily readable this way. Light conditions are also a factor, but the skylight used as a GPS viewing screen is a neat feature.

I long ago learned that a GPS 76 does not belong on ones belt in the cockpit. The screens are too easily damaged. Screen repair by Garmin is an expensive thing to arrange. I must admit that the lack of an ice box below could be an issue, but I suffice well with two slim-line ice chests in the port cockpit locker for overnight trips, and a flexible insulated cooler below for day trips.

The tabernacle was added when Jean and Todd relocated the boat to Santa Cruz. I made modifications to the tabernacle set-up when I adopted the boat in 2001. I have just completed re-stepping the mast after an extensive unplanned repair and rehabilitation effort following an accident documented elsewhere. The work on the deck and strong back were professionally done, as was a complete new rig for the boat, including turnbuckles, wire and terminals. We were able to reuse the pelican hooks, tangs, and the portion of the terminals that were stay lock fittings. We made further refinements to the tabernacle system and part of the project. I will post some photos of the completed project on the "Cave Paintings" thread of the gallery forum. We had to completely rebuild the section of the deck both fore and aft and of the strong back. The strong back is now reinforced and fully integrated into the deck structure. While I was at it, I refinished the mast and replaced all electrical wiring and fixtures. I also installed new chainplates and reinforced and sesealed the bulkheads to which those plates are attached

In a boat vs. bridge collision the bridge always wins.

Scott,

Congratulations on finishing Augustine. I need to take some pointers from you on 'time management' :o
I've been digging around here and on your own web site trying to find some pictures of that chart table skylight you write of. If one knows what they're looking for you can just make it out in some of the photos. How did you attach the plexi/lexan over the opening? Obviously it's watertight. We're still kicking around some different ideas here on how to structure the outside frame for a skylight/portlight just like what you describe.
Would you have any close-ups of that area of your cockpit you could share with us? Thanks, Tony G

Tony,

Time management is easy. All you have to do is spend forty hours a week minimum for about three and a half months and you can accomplish a lot: particularly if you have professional help with the big pieces.

The Previous owners installed the skylight and chart table. The skylight is flush mounted in a recessed lip that was cut at the outer edge. The skylight is thru-bolted through a mahogany panel on the underside with acorn nuts on the bottom. The bolts are flathead machine screws, so they flush mount into the Lexan skylight. Given that the bedding of choice for the previous owner seemed to be silicon, and given that the bedding on the skylight is clear, I assume that the bedding is silicon. Plans for the chart table conversion are in the Ariel Association manual. I will take a few photos of the skylight and chart table and post them.

The previous owners did a great job on the installation on my boat. They used all mahogany, and designed a nice chart table with an opening lid and interior compartments for charts and tools.

In the photo below you can see the table. The right chart table lid hinge is visible against the bulkhead. The mahogany strip above the table is the front trim strip for the mahogany "ceiling" installed above the chart table through which the skylight is thru-bolted. The black mount on the left is for my Garmin 76 and the longer black mount on the right is for my Garmin 176 C chart plotter. The GPS units are directly below the skylight. The Loran is on the far left, and a dome light that has both white and red bulbs in it is mounted against the mahogany ceiling. You can clearly see the dome light in the photo. That fixture lights the chart table very well. The compass can be read from the chartable or from the cockpit. It is lighted.

A small sub-panel (connection box) is below and to the left of the dome light. The purse-like apparatus above the table is a contraption that I devised from an imitation leather purse (Ross Dress For Less) and a 1 X 1 piece of teak. The teak strip is backed with Velcro. It attaches securely to a strip of Velcro on the bulkhead. A small pair of binoculars, some pens, a variety of small tools, knives, propane torches for sealing rope ends are inside the purse compartments. I can either reach inside the companionway hatch and remove the whole thing from its Velcro strip, or instead, I can reach into one of the pockets to retrieve the tool that I need for a quick topside repair without having to drag out a larger tool box or three from below.

As requested, I have attached are two composite photos that I took today. It was raining at the time, so the tent was over the companionway hatch. The light available for the photographs was poor. The first composite shows the chart table. Again, I did not design or build this icebox-to-charttable conversion. The plans are in the Ariel Association manual. I have no critical comments about either the design or the execution of this useful and well built table. Since the table is varnished, an occasional splash of salt water has done no harm to the wood The placement of the electronic instruments beneath the skylight in the bridge deck also offers excellent protection from spray and rain.

The second composite shows the skylight in detail. The cover is merely the original icebox lid with new gelocat on top and an edge protecting plastic strip mounted on the bottom edge to protect the deck and Lexan skylight. Garmin GPS 76 and garmin GPS 176 C mounting brackets are shown. Both receive adequate reception without external antennas due to their proximity to the skylight.

Well that was easy enough. Thanks.