It looks like #370 is going to find herself in my willing and yet-to-be-determined-capable hands. I won't go into motivation here; those of you sick and demented enough to have put yourself in a similar situation full well understand the deranged and highly unstable mindset of one who would subject themselves to the vagaries and demands of restoring a classic beauty like the Ariel. Suffice to say that my end purpose is not simply to have a beautiful boat which sails well, The Plan is to take said beauty across oceans to Far Away Places in style, comfort, and safety. That's all a bit down the road, at least a couple of years away, more likely 4-5.
In the meanwhile and as preparation for all of this, I've pored over as many threads as I could find on restorations. I've taken up list making - lists of questions, lists of materials, lists of suppliers, lists of tasks real and imagined that will need to be done. If this keeps up, I will need a List of Lists.
Being of an advanced age (coincident or not, the same as my own), #370 has the usual bevy of good old boat problems. Structurally foremost to my mind is that her deck upper skin no longer gets along with what used to be the balsa core material and the deck bottom skin. From what I am told (not having seen the boat in person), the divorce is quite successful, and the involved parties have only proximity in common. I am assuming ahead of time that I will be recoring the entire deck - I think it is a prudent assumption to have, based on my reading here. It is a situation that must be remedied before moving on to the other items needing attention
I'm sure I will have many, many questions with which to bother you all as I put life back into #370. My questions right now are fairly simple ones, to help me get a grasp on the idea of the restoration as a whole. I'm hoping that those of you who have already walked this path may let drop some pearls of wisdom for me to add to my growing stockpile of information overload. I appreciate in advance any help or advice you have to give. Here are some of my current wonderings...
I plan to make the refit and refurb of #370 comprehensive and complete, but am not like the owner who had allocated a budget of $30K for his restoration. #370 will be outboard powered, her systems will follow the KISS principle whenever and wherever possible. For example, I plan to forego the expense, maintenance, size, and design complexities of a marine head and holding tank system, preferring instead the simplicity of a Porta Potti (also in consideration is a marine composting head). There will be no shorepower hookups or wiring - everything will run off of 12V. I may or may not install a freshwater system and associated plumbing, including through-hulls, but I lean towards may-not. Basically, I have found that my needs aboard are rather monkish. Therefore, in my refit, I expect that my major outlay of cash will be for 3 things: sails, hardware associated with said and the rigging, and safety equipment. I can price out the sails and hardware for a rough estimate of what my costs will be, however, as I work up my pre-purchase budget, the one big-ticket item which keeps coming to mind are pulpits. Those of you here who have had bow and/or stern pulpits - would you care to share what your expenses were in getting these fabricated?
Those of you who have done a deck recore - can you ballpark an amount of resin it will take to complete the job? I have prices on core material, and am fortunate in that I can get glass and resin at wholesale prices, but am wondering how much I might be needing, in advance. I have no idea, really, what it is going to take - 5 gallons, or 50? Your opinions and experience on this would be appreciated.
This last question is nebulous, and I know the answers must as a result be highly speculative. Right now, as I sit here undusty and not cursing at a stripped out bolt that won't turn, it seems that I'll be spending $7-8K on the basics of the refit, including a set of sails (main, jib, genny - $2.5-3K) and an outboard($2-2.5K). I expect cost overruns to be as much as another $2K. Are these rough ideas out of line with your experiences?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. #370 is about 500 miles away from where I currently sit, and it may be another couple of months before I can go get her and start the whole process of restoration. I'm using this inbetween time to learn as much as possible to try and figure out what my best plan of attack will be.
Hope you all had a good holiday!
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