A family Ariel - that's a really great story. What a feeling it will be when you get to give your Dad a ride on your "new" Ariel.

A couple more cents: (from someone with a dead inboard Yanmar) Almost every wallet busting unpleasant surprise has been directly or indirectly related to the inboard. However, my Yanmar was old an tired when I bought the boat. Being that you'll be starting from scratch, you may have better luck.

You should also consider where you sail. Are you going to do some long cruises? Do you need to motor out of a channel or river to get to your sailing area? As Craig mentioned above, an outboard works for most. He's a good source too - he's taken his Ariel on extended cruises to the Bahamas and who knows where else with an outboard. There's a lot to be said for "simplify simplify".

I'm still tossing around my repower options. Rebuilding the Yanmar would probably be the most cost effective, but I'm kind of soured on the diesel. It was loud and stinky. I sail off a mooring and rarely used the inboard in the first place, which probably didn't help with its longevity either. Electric would probably be my choice at the moment if cost weren't a factor. This season, my auxiliary power will be an oar. As I said, I sail off a mooring so it shouldn't be too much of a change. Although, I must say, I was glad to have the inboard when I needed it, and glad it started most of the time when I needed it too...

You may want to get the A4 in good working order and see how you like it. Lots of folks swear by 'em. It worked for your Dad for lots of years, and you have a ready source of advice on how to take care of it.

In any event, keep us posted and post lots of before/after pics!