The Great Houdini

Here's proof. No Sasquawtch video here, boys--that's the Nearly Perfect Wife curled up below with points, condenser and rotor, getting intimate with Houdini's original A-4. Got to make you proud, doesn't it?

Hey Ebb, we finally got some numbers for you on Gene's dodger. Bridge deck to underside is 37 inches. Cabin top (next to hatch) to underside is 12 inches. It appears that Houdini has about 3-more inches of clearance all around (i.e., about 44 inches from the bridge deck and 15 from the cabin top). The three inches should make getting in and out of the companionway a bit easier, although the "vaulting" maneuver for entry still seems the best :D

Thanks Bill and Gene,
these are good to have. For all us who want a dodger. The lower the profile, like Gene's, the better it looks on an Ariel.

I'm going to make a mockup. Instead of the pickup cab look, I am pretty sure I'll be slanting the dodger more downward toward the front. This may allow me to cheat and raise the cockpit end up some. Still, more rapid movement thru the device (and perhaps a more stiffening old guy) may require a lid over a U-shaped opening in the dodger top. Re-inventing the wheel again? Somebody must have done it already?

On a cruising version of a dodger the windscreen has to be substantial. I see that part of the companionway cover being able to withstand green water - with the cockpit protection and maybe a folding part of the top being sunbrella or samoied(?) :)

EOs like that are very rare, very very rare!
Capt. George, take care, take care,
Bring her a flower every day, every day!
Never a screw driver, or a wrench.

Well said Ebb, well said...

But...maybe she LIKES to get a screwdriver or a wrench...maybe more than flowers.

I've known a number of gals who would be like that, some were straight but all were great!! ;)

Dave

Hey--anybody know what this is? I was sailing along minding my own business and letting Bob (the autohelm) do all the grunt work while I dug around among my Sea Dees for some music. Popped my head over the bridge deck to check things, and this had jumped on deck. Must be a sea monster or maybe a flying fish of some kind. Maybe mom will let me keep it.

It's an E O.
E - I - E - I - O

You can always count on Ebb.

Yes, yes. Ebb has been reading my mail. The Nearly Perfect Wife is constantly intimating that some kind of flower is in order. As for tools, her favorites are the rigging knife and a good pair of vise-grips. Glad to help her with that stuff; but when she gets on one of those flower jags I tell her to put in a request chit.

Been getting alot of side-long looks from the Alberg 30 captain one slip over lately. Then a couple of chicks show up to tell me how "cute" Houdini is..everybody says this stuff is to blame. :D

So--saved the companionway to the last. Here's the before--it'll be a week or so before I have the shiny "after"....

Hi George -

Looking good! :)

How about a pic or two of your stainless steel mast support system, and maybe some details on that? Is that a mod you made, or did someone else put it in? I don't recall seeing it before. Looks to be a fairly simple job - 2 90* pieces with support tubing welded between them - is that right? Thanks!

I like the caned locker doors - sweet. :)

Aye--that compression bracket is a custom job from a local fab shop. Simple enough. 2 pieces of 2" angle iron (stainless), with threaded collars at each end. Then you take 1" stainless tube, thread it, and insert. Holes at the center of each tube allow you to torque it into proper tension. Voila! No mast compression. Although it does a number on your noggin if you happen to forget it's there. :confused:

Don't know how many Ariels had the little modification that mine had--by way of an expanded step down into the cabin. But the previous owner's work on this was as sturdy and practical as it was homely. Had to take care of that, since it looked like a wart on a pretty woman's nose. Check this out. Very Japanese, no? Very Zen.

Now I gotta stain and varnish it. And inlay little stars where the dowels show along the outside slats.

Yes, Grasshopper.

Very nice, picture of more elegant simplicity! Only missing a wok on the counter. :)