Canadian, Frank Durant, purchased Ariel #50 and "hopes to re-configure the galley, build a better ice box, and some how have a hand held shower that drains in the v-berth area." Frank is a confessed "boat nut," and currently owns a 1964 Folk Boat he’s restoring, a 1986 "Shark-24" for the "cottage" and a 2002 Beneteau 331 swing keel that is currently docked in the Bahamas.
"I LOVE Alberg designs and instantly fell in love with the Ariel when I first saw pictures!" Frank hopes to " . . .semi retire in 2006, sell the Beneteau, keep the Shark24 at the cottage for the summers and the Ariel in the Bahamas for the winters. These ARE beatiful boats!"
Frank asked that we post the following "before" photos of the boat. He promises to follow up with photos of his remodeling progress.
I bought Revival on Ebay and have had a lot of fun with her. That is after I wired the shrouds to the spreaders. On my first overnight I heard something slapping the mast and looked over and the shrouds were off the spreaders. We sail engineless and were on a lee shore. So in the morning I went up the mast a bit and put things back in place and found that they had only been held there with tape! We weren't able to keep them there with just turnbuckle tension and so had to take dock lines and tie the shrouds together. What a white knuckle trip back.
But since that first night she's been from Palmetto, FL down to Key West, the Dry Tortugas, and one trip to the Bahamas. She's being a lot of fun. I'll post pics soon. I'm glad for all the good work that went into her restoration.
Having some trouble uploading pics so wanted to invite you to Facebook where I have videos and lots of pics sailing Revival. I'm the Bart Blankenship from western Colorado who's kissing the grouper.