Ariel #414

[mbd]

That's awesome news - and the engine is looking great Ben!

[414]

Took advantage of the very non-typical weather we're having here in Maine to get the "engine room" and deep bilge painted tonight. I'm hoping that with the above freezing temps for the next few days and a small space heater I'll be able to get it cured. I can finish the paint that can be seen at the back end of picture after the engine is in.

In finishing up the engine I've replaced the couple of coolant hoses that run from the raw water pump to the block and from the block to the thermostat housing and head. I opened the raw water pump and had a good look at it but the impeller was in perfect condition so I let it be. I've got an extra (thanks Mike!) and I'll keep it on board with the tools to change it. From here on I'll make it a yearly maintenance item. I also pulled the oil pan while I had it out of the boat just to get a look at the bottom end and see if there was any metallic chips or shavings in the pan. All was well in there with barely any sludge which surprised me given its age and the amount of non-run time all boat engines experience.

All that's left to do before dropping the engine back in is to make a catch pan for under the engine that slopes forward to catch drips and make them easy to clean up and perhaps a two new rear engine mounts (I had cut about .5" off the top of one to get the nut to unthread but they are actually still stiff and in goodish shape). They may wait though as boat funds are running particularly low.

[mbd]

Looking good Ben! You're giving the old girl the attention she deserves. In looking over this, while building your drip pan, another thing you might consider is setting up your bilge and bilge pump similar to Capt. Ebb's. Lot's of good ideas and educational reading in his thread!

It's somewhere in his thread here: http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...GALLERY-THREAD

But once the engine is in, access to that bilge is difficult, unless you have the arms of an orangutan, which I don't thing you do.

[414]

Boy the months do slip away!

I thought I should give an update on 414. She's been rechristened as "William King" after the great state of Maine's first governor. Sea Glass is a great name but I felt like I was using Mike's boat until I painted the topsides, boot stripe and bottom and renamed it. Now I feel like I can call it mine (but your still welcome anytime Mike!). The Yanmar 2gm has been great. Starts right up, idles well and will rev to a little over 3k. I was having some trouble with the transmission but it turns out I had overfilled it. With fresh oil the dip stick is very hard to read. Once the level was corrected it has been engaging properly with no slipping.

I also relocated the thru-hulls for the bilge pump and engine exhaust to the transom. I know this is an unpopular choice because it messes up the lines but it was important to me to be able to see that the exhaust is flowing the right amount of water and since I had already done the engine I decided to make it symmetrical and do the bilge pump the same way. So I made up two 2" stainless thru-hulls from pipe and round flanges, added 2" ball valves on each inside the rear lazzarate. Then they got painted along with the topsides in an effort to make them less noticeable. They also are about 16" above the waterline and I like the idea of that.

Speaking of the exhaust- I couldn't bear to buy another yanmar mixing elbow after seeing what had happened to the one that was on the engine, so I made my own. It's an experiment to see if it will hold up to the vibration and is made from mild steel automotive exhaust pipe. If it makes it the season with no cracks or other issues I'll make it again but out of 316 stainless. It's been good so far with about 6-7 hours on the engine. It has a pretty radical ubend that comes as high as I could directly after the engine and a few inches of drop before the water is injected. I don't want any water getting back to the exhaust valves and since my thru-hull is mounted high I wanted the insurance here.

I also rewired the mast with new anchor and steaming lights and a new VHF antenna and cable. Getting the wires through the deck as a little puzzling to me and I went back and forth on how to do it but finally settled on a traditional goose neck. I ordered some 1.25" 316 stainless pipe elbows and a flange from Amazon and made it up. I was concerned it would be ugly on the cabin top but I located it right next to the mast (just forward of the beam) and it disappears since that area is busy anyhow. Also in the mast department was a new port lower aft stay. I made it up with sta-lok ends and it was very straight forward. It did however make me wonder about the rest of the standing rigging and I'm thinking of switching to Dyneema next year or the following. Anyone have any experience with synthetic standing rigging?

Along with the new antenna was a new VHF. The standard horizon GX2200 and a USB cable that allows me to run openCPN on my computer. It's not really needed for the kind of sailing that we've been doing this summer but it's fun to mess with and the program is free so the only added expense was the $30 for the cable from milltech marine (which works great by the way). And if we did get stuck out in the fog or after dark we'd have both GPS and the AIS receiver which is comforting.

Lastly I stripped out all the wiring from the whole boat, including the switch and fuse panel. I made a new fuse box that houses the fuses and switches and got new ground and positive bus bars that are currently located just aft of the port side settee next to the battery. Nothing exciting there just wiring that works and most importantly wiring that I know since I did it - but since my memory seems to fade daily I also labeled both ends of all the wires .

That's all for now. I hope everyone is having a great summer on their commanders and ariels! These are really great boats and me and my little family have been having a great time learning to sail a "big" boat on ours.

-Ben

[mbd]

That is one mighty fine looking vessel!