A-398

Mike

She is looking good. One of the best aspects of this forum is seeing how others have fitted out their boat to suit them. There are a lot of really good ideas floating around out there on Ariels and Commanders. Bill's question flys from here too. That seems like an ideal spot for a holding tank. What is your expected volume? A one-off job wold maximize the use of space in that area. You have the right idea. Although, isn't stainless contraindicated for holding tank use? I thought I read somewhere that the acidic contents wreaked havoc on the welds...:confused: Maybe I dreamt the whole thing up. Regardless, more photos please.

Tony,
Yeah, you dreamt the whole thing up. If that were a reality, trucks hauling acids and the like would be breaking apart going down the road. All welds have what's called a heat effecting zone, which makes the area along the weld more brittle than the original metal, Stainless is the best material for this, IMO. Don't ask how I know this..... I may have just dreamt it:D:D

The volume is about 8 gallons. It was the same dims as the old holding tank. The old one cracked at the top last year, I did glue it back but I didn't trust it any more. I'm sure the welds will be fine, I'm not worried about corrosion. I also smeared 5 minute epoxy over the welds just for an extra safety.

A picture of me sailing on the Tennessee River today.

What a great picture! Thanks for a vicarious thrill for those of us still stuck on the hard.

Sailing days soon.........:)

Looks like a great day Mike. We went out today to Sail (also in Alabama) When I pulled the start rope the motor started right up, BUT, reverse didn't move the boat.... Forward didn't move the boat either. I pulled up the motor from the well and YES the prop was not there. The last time I took it out (a month ago) there was a lot of debris floating in the water as they were raising the water level on the lake.... I must have hit something and sheered the pin. The underwater current must have loosened the prop enough to remove it from the shaft. I don't know what happened except that I couldn't go sailing today... And wow what a great wind today! Oh well... Maybe Thursday! I'm going to be pulling mine out of the water next month, so i'll miss most of this season.

I just picked up a used bimini with a stainless frame from the harbor this weekend. It was left over from a used boat, and it had been sitting around for years. I got it for free. I spent some time making a new top from some sunbrella I had left over from an ebay purchase.

How about a measurment chart? We could use it as good starting point for bending one up. Think of it as an 'online catalog of Ariel/Commander facts', or something to that effect.

Here's a few pics from this week. I've had the boat out since last Saturday sanding and painting. I also named the boat "schnell". German word for fast.
The boat looks great from 20 feet. It's not bad for an outside paint job.

Looks fantastic! Keep it up and you're going to run out of things to do on your boat! ;)

Mike,

Very pretty . Schnell eh...not mach schnell.

Did you roll it out or brush it and whose paint? I am facing that job in the near furture.

I used Interlux Brightside Polyurethane, it was rolled on with a foam roller. I painted 3 coats of dark blue and only used just under 2 quarts.

Mike,

Thanks for the info. Brightside was the one I had at the top of my list. It looks like wonderful job.

John

I'm getting this engine this weekend. It's a Yanmar horizonal single cylinder, 7hp engine with gearbox. From my measurements it looks like it would fit in my boat.

I took some more measuremenst and decided to not get the Yanmar, I think the horz. engine might be too tight on inside walls. I'll keep looking for another engine.