I hauled the boat last week and started to do some honest reno work so I figuered I'd start a new thread documenting the adventure. I have always enjoyed watching the threads of the various reno projects and hopefully others will find it useful. At the very least it's something to do while you eat your lunch! First a few shots of the haul out!
Always a nail biter!
Well we spent this weekend getting the boat ready for new paint, seacocks, and various misc renos.
Getting all the old thru-hulls off was a royal PITA. I tried the trick Casey talked about using the bolt thru but didn't work. Ended up cutting them out with a sawsall and beating the snot out of them till they let go. Don't know what was holding them on but sure was a tenacious bond.
Removed some of the old hardware associated with the fact that 387 used to carry an inboard. Took the old well cover off. Pearson (I assume) glasssed in the well cover fair. Is this the case for all inboard Ariels? PO didnt remove the cover just cut a big ol hole in it. I am going to fair the hull around the well exit and fix the hole in the cover. Also the orignal head is no more,-bye bye!, along with the thru hulls. They will be glassed over.
We also have removed the rub rails. These will be reinstalled, after fixing the various holes and gaps, with new screws.
As a result a particularly bad grounding in the inlet in 4 foot seas we had a crack in the rudder tube ( I was in the marked channel but the water wasn't!!). Hopefully no more. Ground down the old tube to remove all that weird grey stuff. Laid on a coat of thickened epoxy followed by 4 wraps of cloth. Was a bit of the job working in those tight quarters and very difficult to see the back of the tube but overkill with epoxy will hopefully take care of that.
I added a build up of thickened at the base to "copy" the grey stuff that Pearson laid on. ( sorry Ebb I never got your email but i hope I didnt screw up to badly!).
Doesn't seem like much but that took two full days (Including some rudder work see rudder discusions thread). Seems I am always in my own way on the boat. Have to move things a million times and always dig to find the right tool. Promise myself to be better organised next round!
Andrew
Last edited by Westgate; 03-09-2008 at 09:03 PM.
Planning the weekend boat projects. Would really like to get the hulls stripped. I am using a RO sander with 40 grit paper on both the topsides and bottom paint but both are coming off very slowly. What you see here is about 2-1/2 days work (there is a similar amount of bottom stripped on the other side)! I got so disheartened that I bought a small can of Interpox gelcoat safe stripper to trial. Didn't do jack on the bottom paint and barely moved the topsides. Yes I followed the rules thick coating keep it wet, wait wait etc etc. There are at least 10 layer of bottom paint and one primer before you reach the gel coat. The topsides are one coat of paint and one coat of primer but this stuff is on there. I really want to take it off so I can see the condition of the bare hull and start from scratch with my boat. As for the bottom it really needs stripping with about 1/4" of flaky buildup.
ON the upside I did get the old thru-hull repairs finished. Put 3 layers of cloth/epoxy on the inside. Then followed by a bit of thickened to contour the hole and 8 layers of concentric cloth on the outside. Still needs a final fairing but I will do this when a tackle the "stripped" hull.
I guess my work is cut out for me. Hope I can get my wife to help!
Looking good! This is a nice lesson in Zen for you.
Posted a few updates on other threads of the work status on Arthur. Other jobs completed this w-end were shaping and coating the new sea-cock bases and building a base for the new transducer. It will just fit in the old transducer location but needed to be build it up on the inside a bit so it could sit on a flat surface. The new ducer is 2" wide vs. the old one which was 3/4".
I also took a few pics of the holes I drilled above the rudder shoe. These are weeping salty water. The upper most hole (upper right now shown filled) actually when right through into the bilge. The last shot shows the aft bilge area. The hole came out near the bottom under that clear tube. Is the void forward of these holes in that rise up in the right of the picture or is that the butt of the keel???
Andrew
The "step" in the aft section of your bilge is the end of the lead ballast. Pearson did a shoddy job fiberglassing this area on my former Ariel and I could see water leaking out of that "step" along the bottom of the bilge. I let it dry out completely and then coated it with thickened epoxy. This stopped the migration of water in and out. Your keel void/bilge looks great. It took me many nasty hours to remove all the gunk and two lead pigs to get it looking as good as yours.
I also coated the bottom section of the bilge with a lot of thin epoxy because I had water that was making it from the inside of the bilge out through the shoe. I have pictures on my old thread (Ariel #24) showing this. I don't know how it was doing it, but I did some experiments to prove it. Once I coated the bottom with about 1/4" of unthickened epoxy, I coated it with thickened. I never got around to fairing it and painting it with Bilgekote as I sold the boat, but that was the plan. My bilge was dry all summer on its mooring. Oh yeah, I also overdrilled the holes for the rudder shoe and strap, filled with epoxy and then re-drilled the original size. I also know for a fact that the original holes drilled by Pearson for the shoe and strap allowed water to enter the bilge. Lots of pictures on my old thread.
Keep up the good work!
Last edited by Tim Mertinooke; 03-16-2008 at 06:51 PM.
Well we worked through Easter and we are almost there. About 4 hours left of topside sanding and our little boat will be in its birthday suit. The botttom paint (all 10,000 layers!) have been removed (That's my wife Heather running that RO like a pro!). We both looked like smurfs this w-end! We are down to bare gel-coat. Hard to say what the original colour was. Looks like a blueish grey? Looks kinda fugly if you ask me (sorry in advance to all the blue/grey Ariel owners!).
Drilled a few more test holes and finally hit paydirt. The gusher drill hole position was forward in the glass encasement for the keel. You can see the two holes just to the left of the jack stand. That is where all the water came out. Interestingly the holes around the shoe have all but dried up now so I guess they were being 'fed' by the keel water reservior. I drilled a last hole more forward ( to right of jack stand) and blew air in to rid me of this aquatic intruder. We'll let 'er drip dry for the summer before sealing it up again.
Started to fare the motor well and also got the new 'ducer installed but forgot to take a picture.
The daily grind is nearing an end!
A.
Last edited by Westgate; 11-05-2008 at 08:16 PM.
Well it's finished. Can't say how many hours it took but Arthur is as Pearson made her, less some gel coat. Wasn't able to spend much time working on the boat this w-end as I had to attend a meeting.
We plan to begin the fairing process next weekend.
Nice work! And lots of it, apparently!
(I never get tired of seeing the full shape of an Ariel...)
Kurt - Ariel #422 Katie Marie
--------------------------------------------------
sailFar.net
Small boats, long distances...
keep it up man! Its worth it when it splashes!
mike A-233
Hey folks!
Work on Arthur is gearing up again. I have got the decks stripped of gear and I'm in the process of sanding/grinding. Tough going! I noted some core damage under the windows and around one pulpit base. I hope to tackle these over the next few weeks.
I am wondering what is the "best" material to use in a deck recore job. Balsa, Corecell, Plywood?
Also in a typical install on an Ariel what thickness would one use for the core?
I will try and remember to take the camera next weekend....
Many thanks!
Andrew
Last edited by Westgate; 04-14-2009 at 07:56 PM.
Andrew, here's a thread with all sorts of info. I'm very happy with corecell. If I recall, I used 9mm. It's in the following thread...
http://pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?t=43
Mike
Totoro (Sea Sprite 23 #626)
Thanks Mike!
Sometimes I'm thwarted not by forgetting to do a search but searching for the wrong words.
I follow Tim's site pretty much everyday. Watched Sea Glass transform. Would sure love it if he could paint my boat once I'm done with the grunt work...
Andrew
Tim is great to work with and unbelievably efficient. He was very helpful even before I decided to hire him to finish up the recore and paint the decks. At the rate I was going, I think I just might be planning to prime and paint the decks this Summer - if I'd stuck with it!
I have nothing but admiration for you folks who have the tenacity and wherewithal to see these jobs through. So hang in there and post lots of pics. We're here to root you on!
Mike
Totoro (Sea Sprite 23 #626)
I had the mast dropped yesterday. I noticed that one of the "sockets" that holds the spreader is badly cracked. Does anyone know where I can get a replacement? Don't mind buying new since it is an important part of the rigging.
Thanks,
Andrew
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