Beautiful !! What took you so long to find this site? You are sure to enjoy the 'company' here and obviously have much to contribute as well.thanks for sharing.
Beautiful !! What took you so long to find this site? You are sure to enjoy the 'company' here and obviously have much to contribute as well.thanks for sharing.
I'm just guessing someone's going to ask about the handle atop the companionway. I made it to solve a couple of issues. The original wasn't very easy to open with cold hands and I wanted a drip edge at that location as one more way to keep the cabin dry in the rain (with the hatchboards out).
Below are two images. A closer view and a profile.
The traveler & mainsheet system is built up from Garhauer blocks bolted to an old Fico traveler I collected as separate parts from a couple of local marine consignment shops. Just like everything else, it gets a cover too....
Thats enough topside for now, lets go below decks....
The companionway steps are a change from normal. When I loaded in the westerbeke, I needed to make a bit more room. As a result I ended up with these steps (I'm told they came from a Dehler??, maybe, the style looks right but I've not seen one with just two steps below).
One other change was to move the galley sink outboard... my advice.. if you move the sink off the centerline, do not plumb the sink to a seacock. I found the sink below the waterline when I got knocked down on a starboard tack. As a result, the sink now drains into a sump/pump system, and I don't worry about taking the boat offshore.
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 12-05-2005 at 11:38 AM.
on the port side of the companionway is the usual fuse block and just for the fun of designing a rotating/sliding mount using a bit of teak, a stainless steel spring and a harken recirculating-ball track&car is an old chart plotter a friend donated.
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 12-04-2005 at 05:23 PM.
on the stbd side of the companionway are the radio and the backside of the depthsounder/compass... I got carried away here
Lets have a look at the engine..
It's a Westerbeke 20B2 (18Hp) driving a 2 blade 12x12 prop. It's a bit of overkill, but the price was right. Its also a bit larger around than the original atomic 4....
Actually this boat has had a series of different power plants as evidenced by details in construction, witness marks and accumulated junk uncovered during the demolition phase of the project.
Here is a timeline (with liberal speculation):
1. As built, the boat left the factory as an outboard The evidence is a factory outboard well, and the cockpit drains are forward. However, I never found any sign of the mystery "extra ballast" some other Ariels have found.
2. some time in the late 60's but before the v-berth was painted purple and fuzzy feet were glued to the overhead (must have been pretty psychedelic). The boat was professionally refited with an atomic 4 or palmer. The evidence for this phase of prior owners is three old guages, cutouts for shift/throttle and a very professionally installed shaft log.
3. The lost years (20+ years), evidence of abuse, neglect, engine removal more neglect, cheap repairs and by the time I've found her a dead 8Hp mercury from the early 80's. In this timeframe, the shaft log was sealed with a wooden plug and the inboard side connected to a bit of old radiator hose tied above the waterline (it's a mircale the boat floated).
Anyway. The install of the westerbeke entailed new engine beds and some changes to the cabinets port and stbd of the engine block. You may notice the cutout under the icebox to provide clear access for the oil filter & raw water impeller. The raw water strainer is on the left (above the waterline), I make a habit of flushing the heat exchanger with fresh water after everyuse.
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 12-07-2005 at 05:34 AM.
Up forward, there was a puzzling leak (just an occasional wet spot way up forward in the bilge). I started looking for it when I found a trail of bottom paint in the bilge (It looked to be transported by the leak). Last winter, I opened up the cabin sole in the v-berth to locate the problem (a small series of spider cracks that have since been ground out and re-glassed).
That left a gaping hole in the cabin sole crying out for teak.....
I've started thinking about pressurized hot water (and maybe someday a shower)...
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 04-02-2007 at 04:30 PM.
I recall a couple of months back, someone was thinking about a teak rub rail. I had a similar issue in the original overhaul. When we got the boat , the hull/deck seam was split on the stbd side from a midships to the bow. Somewhere in the previous repair attempts (before we took posession), the original stainless rub rail was removed & lost. I elected to replace the lost rub rail with a line of teak (using the witness marks of the original for dimensions).
Here's a view of the bow:
(p.s. before any professional riggers send hate mail, the clevis pin at the base of the furler has since been turned end-for-end. Just in case the cotter pin breaks/drops out, the clevis will stay)
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 12-04-2005 at 07:45 PM.
I installed the Schaefer 750 furler dockside in 2004. The biggest problem we puzzled over was settling on a path for furling line back to the cockpit. Ultimately, the routing you see below emerged. At the cockpit coamings, the line passed through a 3/4" copper fair lead. The furler works great with the 100%. With the rope luffed 130% it's probably a bit small... time for more thinking....
One other change worth visiting is the forward hatch. This change was made the second time I changed the mast step (why-oh-why didn't dig out the Balsa under the mast step the first time).
Anyway, the hatch (Bomar model #1080) and its mount are roughly an inch bigger all around than original. The unexpected benefit is that stowing the spinaker is much faster (nothing to snag on). The real nicety is the jib sheets don't get caught like they did on the original.
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 04-22-2007 at 08:01 PM.
That's the tour for now.
One other thought. Thinking about the distance some of the other Ariels & Commanders have traveled (Australia, Greece ...). We've got to have one of the least traveled in class. 42+ years later, Ariel #231 is still within 3 miles of the original factory in bristol.
Alyce is passing the Mount Hope Bridge (just south of Bristol)....
Great work !!
To error is human
To Sail is divine... Book of French
Very very nice Bill!
Where did you get that two-part pushpit - if it can be called that? Or would it be stern-quarter lifeline stanchions or something? Anyway, how do you like them? Sems like it might be a more cost effective solution than a full-blown pushpit.
I'm sure I'll have many more questions for you down the road too.
Mike
Totoro (Sea Sprite 23 #626)
Eeeeegads
A gorgeous boat
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