I saw a very nice Ariel restoration in progress on the hard near the lift at Svendsen's Boat Works in Alameda yesterday. The stem fitting and large cabin ports looked like either new frames or restored originals. If anyone knows who owns this boat, I would be grateful for a return post and some dialogue with the owner/restorer on the process utilized in this specific restoration of the ports and stem fitting. No numbers or name were in evidence on the nicely repainted deep blue hull to help me give more clues.
Dropped by the boat yard and took a look. Nice topsides! Svend's will not give out information on boat owners, but they did take our information and our request that the owner give us a call. Here's the bow:
That's the boat, Bill. I didn't check with Svendsen's yard office, since I was in the yard to buy a part at the chandlery on Sunday in the rain. The blue tarp was not pulled over the boat then, but there should have been a tarp because the companionway hatch and trim boards had been removed and the smaller forward cabin ports also had been removed. Wouldn't you say from the blue and gold color scheme that the skipper must be a UC Berkley Alumnus? Does that narrow the search?
You took a great photo of the bow and stem fitting. The frames on the large cabin ports were equally shiny. This is a very nice Ariel restoration job in progress. Perhaps a new member of the Ariel Association will contact us, or perhaps one of our old friends is engaged in a restoration. Either way, it should, make an interesting story. By the way, the latest and last Svendsen built Folkboat is also there by the launch ramp awaiting its first splash. That boat is also worth seeing. The wooden lamination over the glass transom is a work of art.
I am told that the owner has contracted out most the restoration work to Svens. Joe and Scott have both spoke to the owner and what they told me was that he plans to spend 30k (that is not a typo) to restore the boat. They think it should be done by the end of spring....ed
I do love my Ariel, but you can pick up a Whitby Alberg 30 in good condition with an inboard diesel for a little over 20K. This will be a very interesting restoration to watch. I am very interested to see the results. I do hope the owner will share some before and after photos.
It is sobering to discover that the actual restoration cost on these forty-year-old boats may be triple to quadruple the market value of the finished product. Those of us who do our own work save a mess of money on labor costs, but the material costs are still significant.
Cabin Port and Stem Fitting Restoration
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