The album of Ariel #422

[CapnK]

Hiya C'pete -

I usually upload the pics to my own website, and then use the photo link button at the top of the text input box to specify which pics will be shown. The resultant code looks like:

{IMG}http://liquid-epiphany.com/image_to_show.jpg{/IMG}

but, in this example, the { } characters should be [ ] instead (If I use [ ] then that text wouldn't show).

IIRC, I have some photo gallery software in place on my site, if you or anyone wants to use that functionality to put photos into posts, or store some pics on the web, let me know, I have plenty of room, and can create user accounts to allow uploading.

A lot of web hosting providers now have one or more free photo gallery apps that can be added to a website. On the Com-Pac Owners website I used an app called "4Images", but there are easier ones out there that look a bit cleaner.

Boat stuff update: Made a nice set of hatch screens (both companionway and front opening hatch) using the Azek material and with no-see-um netting. Will get pics up soon.

[c_amos]

I'm using 3M's Marine Fiberglass Restorer and Cleaner and doing a section of the overhead every day.

Man, that stuff is working well. I had thought I was gonna have to break down and paint. If I can get the same results you are, I will put it off in favor of a good cleaning.

Are you using a powered buffer or elbow grease?

[CapnK]

Actually I'm using a combo of shoulder- and elbow- grease. I thought of using a power tool, but didn't want to be cleaning the compound off of the ceilings, windows, cushions, etc etc ...

I used the stuff on the outside of my old Com-Pac, it worked pretty well there, too. However, the oxidation was much worse, so it didn't quite come back up to as good of a shine as you see in the cabin liner pics. I also used elbow grease on that, so maybe a power buffer would have been the better way to apply it for that job.

[CapnK]

Took some time over the 4th weekend to do many little things to improve Katie's lot in life. One of the most eagerly awaited was installation of a hawsepipe for the anchor rode - the big bundle of rope and chain hanging off of the bow pulpit does nothing to enhance her sweet lines, so I've been wanting to make a path for it to go below easily. Here's what I did:

First, this is a side view of the cutout for the hawsepipe hole. We Ariel owners have a generous 3/4" thick foredeck, and Katie Marie has (thankfully!) nice dry balsa up in there.



Here's the hole in the deck. I thought I'd be more nervous than I was when I put the spinning, sharp drill bit into the virginal (tho' old, for sure) deck glass to start the cutout. Perhaps because I knew it was for the better, I didn't have too many nerves about it.



Here you can see that I gouged out some balsa around the circumference of the cutout, extending back under the holes where the mounting screws would go. I only drilled those holes through the upper skin; I figured that way I could see when the gouging was sufficient, without worrying about epoxy drips down into the boat at those points. I backed the main cutout with some paper taped to the underside of the foredeck.



Here is the epoxy and microballoons slurry in place, and mostly hardened. Before I added the microballoons to make the goo that you see here, I used a Q-tip and some of the plain (kicked) resin to saturate the balsa between the deck skins. BTW - epoxy makes the cotton come off of Q-tips pretty fast; I used 2 of them just to wet the edges of this small hole. After the balsa was wet out, I mixed in the microballoons to make a dry, peanut-butterish consistency slurry, let that sit for a few minutes in the pot, and then smeared it in. After I took this pic, but before the resin had cured all the way, I used acetone on a rag to clean up the surfaces around the hole.



And here is the new hawsepipe in place:



To give a better idea of how it sits in relation to other hardware on the foredeck, I offer this pic:



And last, an image to show you the progress I've made on the brightwork. It was all sanded back to bare wood, had 1 thin and 2 normal coats of epoxy applied and sanded prior to receiving the varnish. It's a bit dirty in this pic, but you can see that it came out pretty good nonetheless. Not bad for an old Cetol hand.

[c_amos]

First rate job Kurt,

And to think, I thought the brightwork looked good when you bought her~!

[mbd]

Verrrrry purrrty Kurt! Nicely done!

BTW, I'm sure you know already, but according to the Pearson Info Site, the run for the Ariels was from 1962-1967. I'm not sure how many were made. But the PO of mine had 1966 on the registration, although he was guessing at it. I'm curious about the year of mine as well.

I'm sure our resident experts can set us straight and tell us how many hulls were made and when ours were produced... Bill?

[Bill]

I'm sure our resident experts can set us straight and tell us how many hulls were made and when ours were produced... Bill?

440 Ariels were produced in the above noted time period. The only close evidence on each boat's production date is when it was first registered. If we could just find Mike Ford . . . he was in charge of "old" Pearson designs in the early 1980's and would likely have the answers.