FS Katie Marie #422

[katie marie]

Ugh- this is so not cool. I bought this very unused boat in Baltimore. On the hard for two years. Dry as a bone. We went in, dropped about 6k on upgrades and whatnot. Dropped it in the water and took off down the Bay. We ended up as far as the Cape Fear River on the North/South Carolina boder. The boat is tied up at Wrightsville Beach.

I'm a parplegic- wife, the dog, and me were trying to get as far as the Bahamas- and then I was to put together a 'How To' book. In North Carolina disaster struck. I managed to set my left leg on fire. By the time I realized what was going on it was burned to the 3rd degree. Docs patched it up as best they could and decided the LAST thing that was going to happen to me was more sailing on my boat- so- my wife decided to pack us all up (she does stuff like that) and back in Germany we go. I continue to heal- and it will- but the boat sits- That's criminal.

Somone needs to buy this boat from me and take off south. I kid you not. All you need is groceries. The thing is absolutely cool. The cosmetics suck. There is much crazing of the gel coat on deck and some monkey decided to try to paint the hull once- wrong. But aside from that it rocks. If you want to go to weather for any length of time I suggest buying a new main. But, as it was to be down hill all the way? It didn't matter- i hung the 422 rag out there and it did just fine.

I think there is still pasta and canned soup on board- I had to leave a couple of hats and some shoes as well. If anyone has the time to keep going south or lives in the area...send me a note. I have no digital photos of what what we did- but a ton of print photos and stuff- if you want some cool mail from germany- send me a note.- hell i even have receipts.

Oh- also...there is a brand new (this is cooler than the ariel) wooden, Grand Banks dory...with oars....colored buff and green of course. It was built by the Apprentice Shop in Rockland Maine. We picked it up before we left.

The Ariel has a new Merc 6 in the well, two deep batteries- a new solar panel- the boat is a dream as it's never been raced- no one has drilled a bunch of holes in the thing- virgin!

alright- send a note to Wylie39 AT frontiernet (DOT) net. I'll send you an equipment list.

thanks- and I'll be back.

chris gibbs

[epiphany]

Chris -

I'm close (about 60 miles), will be glad to help. I sent you an email. Sorry, I called you Wylie in the email.

Kurt

[c_amos]

Chris,

I am very sorry to hear how things have turned out.

I am 45 minutes in the other direction from epiphany (to the north). I also offer my services to assist in any way I can.

I wish I had learned of your boat two weeks ago, I have a friend who has been trying to buy mine since I brought it home. He found a Triton two weeks ago, but there are others in the area who have come to admire these beautiful older ladies.

Maybe I can take a ride out to the boat this weekend (maybe tomorrow as I would rather sit in a dentist chair then be subjected to the Superbowl anyway).

PM or email me some info, maybe I can take some digital pictures and see if I can help you find a home for her.

Craig

[katie marie]

yea sure fellas, the boat is at the sea path marina at the beach- just over the bridge. The harbor master's name is Phil Jarret. He has a key- if you can weasle it out of him. he's a hell of guy too- so behave. maybe print this out and show it to him.

[epiphany]

Chris -

I sent an email to you at the address above. Sometimes the email server is problematic - if you didn't recieve an email from an address ending in "liquid-epiphany.com", let me know and I'll use my yahoo address/account.

[epiphany]

Katie Marie, Ariel #422, has been Sold!

After looking her over and speaking many times with Chris, we have come to agreement. Katie Marie will soon be moving south to Georgetown, and I'll be taking care of her from then on. I'd like to say Thanks to Chris, I'll do a good job of looking after her and "continuing the cruise".

[commanderpete]

Very Nice Cap'n!

Did you get the Grand Banks Dory too?

[epiphany]

C' pete -

Yes, I did, although I have her up for sale along with #370. The dory is a *real* beauty, and you can tell a fine boat, but sadly I have no need for her. I need to find her a good home with someone who'll take care of her. There are pictures of her at my website: Apprenticeshop Banks Dory
and here's a teensy thumbnail of one of them:



It's neat to see in her how the "shipwrights of old" made their boats. No stamped out plastic! If you look at the close-up shot of the oarlock mount on my site, you can see that the builders even aligned the screwhead slots. Neato.

PS - This is how I feel:

[mbd]

Let me get this straight - 'E', you are now the proud owner of TWO Ariels??

Question: how many boats does it take makes a fleet?

Carpe Diem Capt'n!

PS. LOL! Great GIF!

[epiphany]

mbd -

Hmm, "fleet"? My 10-years-in-the-making watercraft inventory at present does include - 2 Ariels, the Banks dory, a Mistral windsurfer, a Perception touring kayak, and a Walker Bay 8 dinghy. (Do surfboards count?) All pretty small vessels - perhaps just a "flit", then.

Hoping to reduce the "flit" by 2, and soon! When Katie Marie is all fixed up and ready to go, I'll have to reduce the "flit" to just her and the WB dinghy.

Katie Marie is the boat I've dreamed of since I was a pre-teen though, and marks the top of the list for sure!

[mbd]

I'd say you're certainly a "flit" owner! So would that make you an Admiral rather than Captain? Hmmm.

For those of us in the frozen just had another snow storm North, do post pictures of the new mistress please. #370 must be incensed!

BTW, what software did you use to make those drawings of #370 on your site? AutoCad or sumthin'? Very cool!

[Mike Goodwin]

Makes him a Commodore as head of the fleet ( commodore can be a captain or an admiral )

[epiphany]

Will get some pics up soon. Craig Amos took more pictures when we were there than I did, so they will be his pics (Thanks, Craig! ). Also, I'll probably be going back up there soon and will take more of my own then.

For the drawings on my site, I used the GIMP (Gnu Image Manipulation Program). It's a free graphics application much like photoshop. The "base" image was a photo TonyG posted a while back, showing his Ariel interior all stripped out. I "painted over" that photo with my ideas. It helps me to see how things might look for planning purposes.

Edit: Only bad thing about all this is that I'll miss meeting Mike, and that beer garden up in Mikes neck o' the woods.

[mbd]

Nice job! I know you've posted GIMP before, I'll definitely have to check it out.

I'm sure you fellas can make alternative arrangements to get together for some beers! This is a pretty creative group. Heck, maybe I'll come down and join ya!

[Mike Goodwin]

Come on Down! We got lottsa beer!

The GIMP is available in 2 flavors , original recipe for Linux users and Gimp for Windows or Gimp-Lite .