Ariel #414

[Commander227]

How is sailing the Rosinante? I nearly bought one before I settled on The Princess.
What a stunning boat!

[mbd]

She sails every bit as good as she looks too! We went out last weekend and I cannot believe how incredibly well she points! I think the extra sail area of the mizzen really moves her along deceptively well in light airs too. He's also engineless, so not dragging a prop through the water is a big plus too. Every time we go out, we just sail right past other, often larger boats. And I have yet to be out on the boat when someone didn't compliment her looks. On the down side, there is a LOT of Spring maintenance to get her ready, and the extra sail adds a few more lines to deal with. I'd think it'd be a challenge to single hand. But wow, what a boat!

The best part though, is her name: Ariel...

[mbd]

So it has been a long time coming, but it is time to part ways with Sea Glass. She is up for sale and needs a new home.

She has been a wonderful vessel, has given me and my family many many cherished memories, and has always gotten me and my crew home safely. But she should not be sitting in the side yard like she has been. It's criminal. The diesel needs attention or repowering, and that is just not in the cards for me. So for someone who is ready for that challenge, she's a perfect fit and ready.

I'm very sad however - but it's not all bad either. Remember sv Totoro, that perky little Sea Sprite 23 from a few posts earlier? Well, as it turns out, after 2 years, the owner never had her hauled down to Jersey or picked her up. The first winter, I shoveled the snow out of her cockpit and put a tarp over her. The next winter I kept checking on things and she still hadn't left.

That following spring, as I was commissioning Sea Glass to sail her engineless for the season, I talked it over with my wife and said, what if I offer Totoro's owner a ridiculous price? Long story short, I did, he said yes, and the little orphaned SS23 found a home.

So I have been, and will continue sailing Totoro for the immediate future. At this point in time, with 2 high schoolers and their schedules, the smaller boat is just a better fit. So we'll continue on with Sea Glass' little sister and hope Sea Glass finds a new family she can take care of soon.

[Lucky Dawg]

Hey Mike,
While I know that the time is right when the time is right... I hate to see you go! I've appreciated your input and insights over the years.

[mbd]

Well, Sea Glass has been sold. She isn't going too far. She'll be sailing out of the other end of the bay. Fortunately for her, her new skipper knows his way around diesels and happens to be a carpenter as well. Hopefully he'll sign on here soon and take advantage of this great community.

So thanks Kyle and everyone else who makes this such a great place to hang out. Maybe my next post will be one of Sea Glass out sailing with her new family! Until then, fair winds!

[414]

Hello All,

I am the lucky new owner of Sea Glass, hull number 414! I know Mike is a well respected member of this forum and I hope I can earn my keep too. Many of you have likely never met Mike in person but I have had the pleasure and he is a great guy who clearly loves these boats very much.

I’m excited about her and looking forward to getting on with the engine rebuild and rudder issues that she currently has. We should have her in the water by next spring and sailing the coast once again. I’m a newbie to “big boats” and have only owned a small aluminum fishing boat and a 12’ sailing dinghy, so lots to learn for me.

Just wanted to introduce myself and say thank you to the members of this forum for already providing a huge resource of knowledge.

-Ben

[GSGardner]

Welcome Ben! Congratulations on your new boat!

[Lucky Dawg]

Welcome Ben! Keep us posted on the gory details of the work you'll be doing. We eat that stuff up. Congrats on upgrading to such a great yacht!

[414]

Hi Everyone,

I'm starting to get my head around the list for A 414 - Mike's (MBD) old boat 'Sea Glass'. I've got a bunch of ideas and a a few big items that must be addressed and most of them I have a good idea how I want to tackle them. The rudder though is a different story.

After reading what I can find here and elsewhere on the rudder I'm thinking this one is not as bad as it looks. There is not really anything that is soft except one spot in the center that I can cut out and fit a new piece of mahogany in with epoxy and some bronze rod. Also the shoe is perfect - no play between the shaft and shoe. The rudder to tiller connection is also good with a just barely noticeable amount of play. And Mike already did the upgrade to the delrin bushing and gave me a new o-ring too (he really is a great guy)!

SO what would you do if this were your boat? I'm not afraid of pulling it and doing whatever will get me the most years.

Thanks!

-Ben

[mbd]

...SO what would you do if this were your boat? I'm not afraid of pulling it and doing whatever will get me the most years.

OH OH! You'll learn not to say something like that around here!

Seriously though, a PO had previously encapsulated the rudder with expoxy/glass. It had long failed and I would just bottom paint it each year. I had been picking at it over the years to determine if the wood underneath was still solid.

I'll now return to vicariously spectating. I am really looking forward to watching your progress. She is in good hands!

[CapnK]

I had a ~6 gallon tank on my Com-Pac 23D (w/a Universal M2-12, IIRC), stainless and custom-made to fit under what serves as the laz/seat on those boats. It was that capacity because that was the amount of space available there. To run it dry would have taken 24 hours or more of non-stop motoring, as it had a 1/4gal/hour burn at hull speed, so you should be able to get by with a 2-4 gallon tank plenty fine. I'd go with a small tank like that under the cockpit floor like Bisquit has, and design it to be pretty easily removable for cleaning/inspecting. Shouldn't be hard to do, with that small of a volume. You can use an outboard engine bulb/line to transfer from a jerry tank sitting on the cockpit seat into your main tank with little drippage/mess, and keep the inlet inside one of the cockpit lockers for simplicity. Thanks for taking care of the old gal!

[414]

Hi Kurt,

That is a good idea, thank you. It is a nice space for the tank since it's hard to use for much else and if the filler neck was under the cockpit seat instead of in the cockpit floor I'd feel a lot better about water entry and such. Also thanks for the fuel usage numbers. That's about what I've been able to dig up on the 2gm but good to hear from someone with experience with a similar engine and similar weight boat.

The rebuild has been on hold for the last week or so. I stupidly misplaced a part which is not helping. Also, I always think that at the holidays I'll have time to putter but I never seem to find it!

More photos and details soon.

-Ben

[414]

Whooo Hooooo!!! Found the misplaced part, bled the fuel system and cranked the engine on the stand. After about 5 seconds of cranking it fired and puffed out some white and black smoke then quit. After another 5 second crank it started and idled along! Black smoke cleared up in a couple seconds of running. After maybe 10 seconds I shut it down because it's currently inside (exhaust build up) and the cooling system is completely removed and I don't want to go backwards on this thing.

Now on to temporarily getting the cooling system hooked up, testing the transmission and letting it run for a good while to see if my hopes are correct at this point. If that all checks out then it's on to resealing, cleaning, painting and all the work on the boat to get ready to put things back together.

Excited to have a living engine! Here's hoping it's healthy too.

Happy New Year to all!

-Ben

[414]

Had a scary moment in the engine rebuild yesterday when after hooking up the temporary cooling system (a bucket filled with water and some garden hoses) water started spraying from the exhaust! Shut the engine down and when in the house to have dinner. Later that night I realized that the zinc bung just below the exhaust had been leaking and the exhaust manifold wasn't on tight. It was creating a venturi effect and sucking in the water spray from the bung and pulsing it out with the exhaust. Today I tightened the manifold and the problem resolved.

I then descaled the engine with 7-10% HCL (muriatic acid from the hardware store) circulated through for 5 minutes, followed up with baking soda and water to neutralize the acid then about 5 gallons of clean water that I allowed to circulate through the system for 5-10 minutes. All told the engine was running for about 25-30 minutes. I might catch some flack for using HCL for the descale and I wouldn't recommend it for routine maintenance but I decided to go for it after testing a few bronze (brass perhaps given the anodes?) parts from the engine in undiluted HCL (~30%) for 5 minutes. They did fine but were totally descaled. Also this engine is all cast iron - no aluminum heads or any other part and I removed the two zincs to prevent them from being eaten. Lastly the engine had a bunch of fine sand in the bottom of the water jacket that was sort of encased in scale. The only way I could see to get it out was to bust all that scale first then flush it out. Seems to have worked.

I then drained the oil from both the engine and transmission. The engine oil was great but after the 30 minutes of running the transmission oil looked like thin mayonnaise . I'm hoping it's from condensation that built up over the years this motor sat and not from something I have yet to discover. We'll see when I give it a flush then refill with new oil and run it again.

Next is to take care of a few oil leaks, replace all the rubber hoses, new thermostat, raw water impeller, degrease the thing and slap some paint on. Then on to the interior of the boat - new rear engine mounts, paint for the whole engine "room" and a drip pan of some sort for under the motor to keep everything out of the bilge.

What have others done for a drip pan under the engine? I've got a bunch of 20oz copper left over from a recent job and I'm thinking of making a simple soldered copper pan that laps onto the logs the engine is mounted on then hangs down under the oil sump - with a pretty agressive slope forward so I can mop up the inevitable spills easily. I also have some galvanized sheet from another job that solders nicely and it would take paint better than the copper. Anyway just spitballing now... if anyone has a recommendation let me know.

-Ben

[414]

Still chipping away at the 2gm. New zincs, fuel filter and I replaced the couple of fasteners I chose to cut to remove the engine. I also slapped (and I do mean slapped) some new Yanmar grey paint on it. Time to deal with the engine room if I can get a day that isn't super cold or raining. Plan to cut out the rear engine mounts and replace them then clean, sand and repaint the whole area before re-installing the engine.

I'm thinking of tearing out most of the existing wiring. It's all pretty old (much original I'd guess) and some of it is confusingly complicated for what it is. I need to dig around more but that's the way it's headed I think.

Also need to make a hinge for the foot of the mast (is this a tabernacle or is that specifically the type that leaves a couple feet of mast on the step before the hinge?) and a bow roller for the new-to-me Bruce 33 that'll be up front.

Scored a mooring recently too at Broad Cove in Cumberland, Maine. About 20 minutes from the house in the municipal field. It's an unpopular spot because of the long tender ride out (read row in my case) to the field, the shallow (and this year no) dock and it's a long walk to the water from the car. But It's all mine! I'll be dragging a 10' row boat with a 2 year old and all his stuff over the mud every low tide I get a chance to. Super excited!!