Commander 147

[carl291]

What was the appeal of this boat over the Commander that was for sale in Jax. FL ?
Are you getting your trailer from Sail Trailers in Col. GA? Those area couple of great folks, small boat sailors. They may have some insight into a mast raising system. When I mentioned launching an Ariel from a trailer to them and said I was skeptical They seemed to think it was no big deal.
It's a very good time of year to move a boat south.. Good Luck

[Commander 147]

The boat in Jacksonville was significantly worse off compared to this boat. And I did not pay any more for this one than I would have had to pay for that one. Yes I had to ship it down here but it would have cost me a lot more to bring the Jacksonville boat up to the same level of repair than the shipping cost me for this one.

Yes the trailer is coming from Sail Trailer in GA. I have dealt with Spence there and so far so good. I'll let you know more when I get the boat on the trailer and see how everything looks. I did talk to Spence about a mast raising system and I decided to go another way. I will post pics of my mast raising method when I have it set up.

I actually got a pretty good price to move the boat down here because so many boats are going north now. Hope all goes well and I see her in good shape on Monday.

[Bill]

I did talk to Spence about a mast raising system and I decided to go another way. I will post pics of my mast raising method when I have it set up..

Did you see post #15 in the Mephisto Cat thread for a tabernacle option?

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...ead.php?t=1552

[Commander 147]

I did see Rico's work and I was impressed. I already have the info on the hinged mast base thanks to Rico so I can buy one (Rico has sold the one he had) and plan to do an aluminum base similar to the one he did. I am very impressed with many of the things he has done to Mephisto Cat and hope I can do as well with my commander.

[Commander227]

Happy, Happy boat day!
Looks like you got a real beauty there. I love the picture with the PO sailing her ( I know its hard to see her look so happy with another man... but she's all yours now).
Good luck with the transport and trailer fitting, I hope it all goes smoothly.
Keep us posted.

[Commander 147]

The yacht transfer company delivered my commander to me today. We got her put on the trailer which included a few small issues that we needed to solve and she is in my back yard tonight. Next I need to construct the new boat house so I have a place to work on her.

[Commander 147]

I've decided to call commander 147 "Destiny". In 1977 I decided to move to Florida from Wisconsin. One of my goals for the move was to get involved with sailing and learn to sail. Not very long after I got down here I bought a 16' daysailer and I taught myself how to sail. I feel like everything from that time until now has been prepairing me for this time and this boat. So "Destiny" seems to fit.

Tonight I finally got the new boat house to the point where I could move her in and start in earnest on her repairs and upgrades. Here are a few photos showing the construction of her new home when she is not in the water. In the first picture you can see where the previous boat house was (just to the right of to Destiny) that I dissasembled and salvaged all of the parts for in the construction of the new boat house.

[captcraig]

Hi Jerry, Thanks for your reply on A 157. Its not mine yet but should be soon. There is a commander here in OKC at the OCBC. I have always admired the boat. Only interested in an Ariel over the Commander because I would like to try a little offshore stuff with one. Your boat is nice. I've not seen one with primary and secondary winches but I'm kind of a newby when it comes to these boats.

[Commander 147]

Well, things have not been going as fast on Destiny as I was hoping for because my Mom passed away the end of January and I have had to spend a couple of weeks in Wisconsin first dealing with the funeral and then with the estate. In addition a lot of my time at home has been absorbed with issues associated with it all. But I have made some progress so I thought I would do an update.

First, when I bought Destiny the previous owner had hit a rock with her and tore up the bottom of the keel. So I took her to the local marina so they could lift her off the trailer and set her on stands which would allow me to work on the bottom of her keel. I ground out all the damage and glassed it back in. Then I layed up 4 more layers of 1708 biax along the entire length of the bottom of the keel as additional reinforcement. I faired that out and at the same time faired out some of the original irregularities in the side of the keel.

Getting Destiny off her trailer also allowed me to get the old rudder off so I could start my electric drive installation. I have her back home now and have rounded up the parts I will need for the new rudder and the electric drive. I have the new shaft log, prop shaft, cutlass bearing, stuffing box, and prop. The rest of the electric drive I bought a long time ago with the exception of the barreries. In addition I bought the marine bronze to make up the new rudder shaft and had it fabricated for the new rudder. The picture of the parts (laying on top of the old rudder) is below. The 3/8" rod was drilled, tapped and brazed into the 1" shaft.

I plan to follow Chance's method of building the rudder. I hope I can live up the the level of quality of fabrication he showed us.