That photo of a family living together on a spacious Commander should inspire those couples who want to try it on an Ariel!
Have felt I couldn't make the grade with pardy perfection, if you know what I mean. Thanks for the address, will take a look. (Did take a look, looks like a great site.)
Theis
You write that you had went through about the same process. Does that mean you also found those large pockets of soft stuff around the screw holes on the inside of your boat? If so, did you just refill them with resin or 5200 and then treat the outside as mentioned? Tony G
After I had thoroughly cleaned the area, I just used 5200. My objective was to get as much clean surface area as possible for the 5200 to attach to. When the 5200 went through to the inside, I smoothed it out on the inside (leaving about 1/8" thick bead on the inside as a flange)
Question for you since you strike me as a very knowledgable and technical guy Do you have, or know anyehere where one could find, clear and accurate pics or drawings of an Ariel hull / deck joint?
Joe'
Admiral Bill is the one to ask. It would be good to have the official Pearson specs in a schematic form for this magical joint!
You may have read my objections to it in the text on these pages. It is a butt joint (NO FLANGES) with layers of matt holding the join together. There are obvious thickness differences over the years of production. But it is a mindlessly simple feat of engineering to say the least.
This miracle joint has evidently held the A/Cs together for nearly half a century! So far as I know no Ariel deck has separated from the hull in any shape or form!
I don't believe that any production boat (of course I don't know how other models of Pearson/Alberg hull/deck connections were made) has a simpler connect. Makes me wonder if all the doodah of bolts and turns and flanges and 5200 is really necessary. Except to keep the water out....which was not thought out very well on my Little Gull because the screws for the 1/2" 'rubbing strake' aka stainless steel trim were driven right into the seam causing a number of leaks. Things have radically changed.
338s actual hull and deck connect is little more than 1/8" to 3/16" actual laminate meeting edge to edge
with a varying thickness of polyester matt tabbing that in some places made the join around 3/8" thick.
You have to assume that this is a 'cold' joint as the deck and hull had to be existing befor they were glued, RIGHT? Polyester is not a glue!
Actually my hull deck joint had failed from the bulkhead forward (during the PO's tenure). two contributing causes... 1. soft foredeck 2. a trip to the beach in a storm.
attached is a cartoon of the joint:
Last edited by bill@ariel231; 06-05-2007 at 09:09 AM.
Bill,
Ugly but Beautiful!
Nicely drawn cartoon.
A real pleasure!
Joe,
Try the Search button up top here. There has been a lot of discussion on this subject and a number of fixes and solutions tendered.
I didn't know bill had such a *^#$@$$&$ problem.
Depending on the extent or your refurbishment a fix can naturally be done inside with considerable itch and labor. But a clever way to REbind top with bottom could be or has been invented that can be done from the outside.
Thank you for the drawing !! Deeper question. In the area of the main cabin, does the inner liner join at the hull / deck joint. You probably won't believe what I intend to do with that joint !!?? I will make a rouhg drawing tonight and try to add it to a post tomorrow. IF, repeat IF, it all works out right, it should be one of the most beautiful changes to an Ariel.
Joe
the cabin liner stops about where the balsa core ends (i.e. it stops 1 inch or so inboard of the toerail). That's right where most of us have the sail track bolted.
Does anyone have a close up picture of their hull to deck joint? The boat in san francisco that I was looking at has some minor damage along the joint on the starboard side that's about a foot long. The boat is wrapped with a small stainless steel rubrail to protect the joint, but it's obviously missing in the area where the damage is.
When you guys refit these things, do you just fill and fair the joint, or are you refastening rubrails to the boats? From most of the pictures I've seen it doesn't look like they get put back together with rubrails, and I kind of think they would look better without; it keeps em that much cleaner...
My hull to deck joint is no longer visible from the outside...
I took the rubrail off and made the color transition there instead. I agree with you. I also think it looks much better... But some folks choose to leave the rub rail on. Others choose to add a wood rubrail, which can look pretty good...
The joint has a bit of overlap so it is easy to repair, re-build. This joint is a weak point on any boat, but on Commanders & Ariels it is actually quite strong.
On this board you can find pictures of boats that have been on their sides on the dry for years, or gone onto rocks; ones that have fallen over at the yard, and ones that have done the 'bumper boat' in a marina durring hurricanes. The damage is alway much less than what you'd expect... (and often much less than on other boats!) and in most cases the joint has held strong.
i elected to replace a missing steel rubrail with a thin line of teak. it has protected the paint on the hull from a lot of scrapes around the fuel dock and other boats wandering about the marina....
keep in mind the original pearson joint was only glassed on the interior, the exterior surface was clamped by the rub rail. if you remove the rail, you will want to glass the joint on the exterior.
cheers,
bill@ariel231
caution... this thread is starting to look like a technical thread
Do you have, or know anyehere where one could find, clear and accurate pics or drawings of an Ariel hull / deck joint?
Golly, not that joint again!
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