The album of Ariel #422

[Mike Goodwin]

I was told they started in late '62 , #45 was supposed to be a nov or dec boat .

[CapnK]

Here are some shots of the companionay hatch screens I made with some scrap Azek.

First shot looking out:



Second shot shows detail w/flash:



The top screen folds in half, so that the overhead hatch can close halfway in cases of inclement weather:



And the vertical pieces I made to the same dimensions as my hatchboards, so that I can use the solid top piece, allowing me to lock the boat up when I am away for the day, yet still provide lots more ventilation than otherwise (yes, locks keep honest people honest, and a slightly determined thief could get in if thy wanted, but it's a ventilation-vs-security tradeoff, and my marina is pretty safe, with 5 other liveaboards on my pier, someone is almost always around. )



External view of the screens:

[CapnK]

It's been blistering hot here lately (yesterday temps where up in the 120's in direct sunlight). In an effort to help keep the boat interior temps down, I rigged up a couple of tarps which nearly cover the entire deck with shade when the sun is overhead. The forward tarp is an 8x10, the after is a 10x12. It has helped a lot, even though it looks a bit odd. (Note the hanked on genny; I've been sailing 3-4 times a week, and hadn't pulled it off yet when I took the picture. I can go from liveaboard to heelable in 30 minutes, unlike all the other boats on my dock which rarely (if ever) leave.)

Whole setup:



CrewDogs diggin' the shade:



Looking forward from underneath:



And aft. I use my whisker pole to hold the corners out, providing much more shade that way:

[CapnK]

Katie Marie's previous owner is a paraplegic, and had bolted a car racing seat to the cockpit seat so that it would aid him with lateral stability when underway. It was a quick job, the holes were only sealed with 42/5200, and as a result, I had water penetration there. I drilled a series of exploratory holes to find the extent of the wetness some time back (the big hole led to the many outlying smaller ones), then kept them covered and let the project rest until such time as the weather permitted me to open the bad area up and let it dry. Here are my test holes:



The current hot spell is giving us a couple days of no-rain-possible, so this morn I started cutting after I got that first cup of joe into my gullet. It was bad, but not as bad as it could have been. I was really surprised by how well the skins were still bonded to the core, even though it was wet. I was also surprised to find that at least parts of our boats are cored with plywood. The upper glass skin is almost 1/4" thick in this area, and cutting it was no easy chore, and neither was getting the skin off. It took 2 BIG screwdrivers as levers, and a hammer to tap them in to break the skin free. The skin came off in 2 pieces; one over the plywood, and the other over balsa. The skin broke along the line of CSM which separated the two areas. Also broken were about 5 Dremel cutting disks, one Dremel 1/4" grinding disk (used as a cutter when the little ones just weren't working), and, worst of all, one blade of my grandpas old pocket knife, which led to the retrieval and subsequent usage of the 2 overlarge screwdrivers...



There's a real mish-mash of materials used in this area, and no shortage of what looks to be inadequately wet-out cloth and CSM. Still, it's incredibly strong.



It's drying now, I hope to get some epoxy and microballoons in there before the chance for rain comes back. Will post more shots as the project continues...

[ebb]

Interesting... and nice work there, Kurt.

338 has no balsa anywhere in the cockpit or the cockpit cabin side (which is hollow in that the liner has no backing).

Plywood strips were used to increase stiffness
under the deck
under the seats and lids
under the cockpit floor.
These pieces were added to the molding when it was upside down being made in the factory. Each strip is isolated and molded in with wads of mat.
Really surprised you have found such extensive deterioration. Wonder if a DFO was is there at some time. Doubt that Pearson encapsulated sheet or areas of plywood. Just an observation.

[frank durant]

Looks GREAT !! Love what you've done with the hatch and sreens. Nice and bright. The screens gotta be nice on a warm night. Would that happen to be a bottle opener handy there too.???....for pop of coarse.

[CapnK]

Ebb - Pretty sure that this is what came from the factory. Don't see any evidence of repairs from the past in this area, and the original non-skid in the area looks (looked) undisturbed. Katie has a few things different from what I've seen in pics of other Ariels posted here - such as no diagonal supports on the backside of the main bulkhead. Maybe they just got forgotten that day, or perhaps the workers were too busy trying to get to hull #440, so they could call it a day and go hit the bottle.

Frank - That is indeed a bottle opener for pop. My favorite flavor is what I refer to as "Barley Soda" (at least when in front of the youngsters).

[ebb]

yeah, the anti-skid grid couldn't be duplicated. The improvisation in the Ariel hulls is fascinatin!!!
Makes it easy to add your own riffs, so to speak.

Wonder why Pearson did that to yours? Rather weird, I think, the factory going to that extra trouble and fitting. Maybe they were using shorts from the bone pile??? You going to impregnate and glass over?

[CapnK]

Oops, ebb, just saw your reply. All I did for right now was clean and dry the area, then put the skin back down for now. I filled the voids w/a combination of microballoons and silica. Now that it is sealed, it can wait until I get around to addressing the exterior of the boat in a meaningful way.

[CapnK]

This is what I'm thinking to do (right now at least) with the aft area of the cabin:

Icebox below present location, sink moved off to starboard, just forward of icebox.

The roundish area where the sink currently is will be the stove. I wanted it where the heat from it can leave the boat as quickly and as easily as possible. I also wanted to keep it away from the icebox.

I'll have lots of stowage under the countertop to starboard. The weight of this will be countered by the cabinetry I am building into the v-berth area to port.

I'm giving serious thought to making a gimballed stove out of my Magma grill, since I don't like it much as a grill, but it will hold a wok nicely (I have the version which functions as a grill or a stove). It will still be useable as a grill, and possibly even an oven of sorts, though I need to experiment with that.

Here's my first rough "sketch":

[eric (deceased)]

meaning it was registered in california.how did it get to south carolina,looks like a nice marina...coulndt help but notice several empty slips....you mentioned you live aboard...where is this marina located...I am always looking for someplace liveaboard friendly

[Tony G]

Kurt,

I like it! That's tons of stowage in the galley. What do you have planned for the port side of the v-berth area that you mentioned? Any gimp pics yets? How about your ice box? Any idea on volume yet? I noticed a pretty standard opening for it, but, that could belie what lies beneath the surface. I've been giving some thought to icebox design-shevles, drains and stuff. What are you thinking? I have a feeling that everyone else on this board has alot more real world experience than I do when it comes to sailboats, so I like to get everyone's input, twice.

Come on, spill the beans!

[CapnK]

Hi Eric -

The PO was from Cali and had gotten the boat registered there, although it was up in Maryland at the time. That's an older pic - guess I need to edit those #'s off of there.

The marina is very liveaboard friendly (dog friendly, too ). It is in Georgetown, SC, here's their webpage: GLM . They are all great folks, come on up! Here's a pic of the area from Google Maps. The highway crossing the ICW and Bay here is Hwy 17, the marina is at th ebase of the left bridge, to the right of those pinkish upside-teardrops. We're about 45 mins north of Charleston, and 90 mins south of Wilmington. Good place, lots of room to sail, 12 miles to open ocean, and plenty o' hurricane holes just upriver. Slips available, and other than just liking the place and living there, I am not affiliated.

[Mike Goodwin]

Damn, I drove right by you on my way back from Charleston last trip .
I prefer the "back way", US-17 instead of I-95 .

[CapnK]

Tony -

Yessir, there's a lot of stowage there! What I am wrasslin' with at the moment is that the drawers, if they extend back to the hull, will be between 2 and 3 feet deep/long - huge volume, but big areas make it harder to get at want you want easily, so I am pondering different solutions to this "opportunity" (positive thinking, right? ) I did want them big enough to hold pans etc, and they will. In fact, I could fit *all* of my galley gear into just one of those drawers, so, more than likely it won't be just galley stowage.

One thought I've had is to subdivide the drawers, putting the stuff I use regularly at the front, and leaving an area separated by a mini-bulkhead towards the back for long-term food stowage (keeping in mind that my plan is solo cruising - hopefully long distances - I'd like to have 2-3 months worth of food aboard). That way I wouldn't need to pull a drawer all the way out to get at a butter knife. I have also thought to make the drawers not so deep/long, and to put in an icebox-style opening in the countertop to be able to get at the area in back of them, ie; tall storage between the back of the drawers and the side of the hull.

And yet another consideration: Height of the stock/current aft bulkhead shelf above the stock/current berth is 14". Raising that a bit will make it easier to work on the countertop when standing (even 20" isn't too tall, it seems), but finding the magic height that works well and feels right (visually as well as kinesthetically) is what my prototyping is for. I'm going to stick in a plywood countertop with rudimentary under-counter storage (read: plastic bins, and no cabinet doors) at about 20" height to start off with, and live with it for a couple of weeks. Then, I'll probably change it a bit, or fiddle with it in *some* manner to get it more right. I picked up a heap of scrap ply from a construction site the other day, so I have plenty of material to play with before I make any permanent type of installation.

What do you have planned for the port side of the v-berth area that you mentioned? Any gimp pics yets?

Nope, haven't doodled with that yet. It'll be pretty simple, though. Sized length-wise so that someone can sleep easily to starboard (and have room at the forward end), the cabinet will stand about 6" under the foredeck height, the top of it being near level to where the shelf is now. One thing I want to work into that space is a Pardey-style onboard workshop, so that when I'm out there, I have an area for working on things when needed. So I know that tools will be up there, and my Grandpa's old vise, and also bulk stowage. I like what you and Ebb have done with the hatches up front, but don't know that I'll get the chance to do something like that. It would be convienent for sail handling to have a gaping hatch right there.

How about your ice box? Any idea on volume yet? I noticed a pretty standard opening for it, but, that could belie what lies beneath the surface. I've been giving some thought to icebox design-shevles, drains and stuff. What are you thinking?

Have to have some background for this answer! Read on...

Well, I've been living with iceboxness on Katie for about 7 months now, and I've been reading and researching a lot to determine what to do about ice/refrigeration in the long term. Stateside, I like cold beer - cold, handy, and plenty of it. Most everything I read, though, seems to indicate that I need (and in fact, have begun) to regard cold food and beverage as a "luxury", and not a "necessity". This is an interesting concept. And after 7 months of living with the icebox (which I made and which is a vast improvement on the OEM Pearson version!), I've realized how much of a pain it is to have to worry about and keep up with refrigerated food and beverages.

Don't get me wrong - if I could find a system that would 1) keep things cool and/or make ice, 2) be *very* energy efficient, 3) be very dependable, 4) not require thru-hulls or make excessive waste heat otherwise, and 5) not need any kind of 1st-world pitstops to keep running, I'd be on it, as they say, like white on rice. But there in no product like that out there that I've heard of, short perhaps of something a NASA scientist has dreamt up. So the alternative is to use plain old ice. And I've found that, even stateside, having food/bev that *needs* refrigeration is a pain in the arse, when you are doing that via the importation of ice.

I've also learned that in refrigeration, as in many other things, we 1st worlders are extravagant, to say the least.

Most of what we have in the fridge really doesn't need refrigeration, or there are alternatives. Eggs will keep for months, if they've never before been refrigerated, and get turned 1/2 turn every other day. Condiments? Says "Keep Refrigerated" on the bottle, but even *mayonaisse* will be fine for several months at room temps if you use only clean utensils to scoop more out (or a squeeze bottle!). It seems that basically, the one thing which really needs refrigeration is meat.

So, the hassle of an icebox comes down to mostly - for me - storing meat, and beer. Ay, typical male am I!

My icebox, and my icebox requirements, have shrunk as a result of this.

My first icebox (see post #15 in this thread, back on page 1) was basically giant. That was planned - it's easier to cut down to proper size than to build up to it, right? I wound up cutting 6" or 8" off of the bottom of the first version after about 3 months - I just couldn't eat the volume of food it would hold fast enough, and throwing food away because it got warm is an expensive practice. Additionally, keeping up with the ice is like "keeping up with the Jones's" - a process that is never ending. I used not bag ice, but water frozen in plastic bottles which, like block ice, keeps longer than when it is all broken up. Even so, the necessity of swapping out bottles every two days - or of carrying *lots* of ice to the boat in order to go for 4 or 5 days of cold - is a pain.

I'm thinking 'out loud' and at length here to explain that the volume of my icebox will probably be smaller than generally acceptable, and I am learning to make the lifestyle changes to compensate for that willingly. Before I commit to a particular size, I plan to find out how large I can expect a common block of ice to be when I get it in foreign countries. My icebox will, I hope, be large enough to fit that, yet small enough to have it last 5-7 days while keeping some perishables cool. Once it's gone, it's room temp everything until the next port.

Already, though, I envy Chichester - he had it made with that keg in the bilge.

Icebox interior design - I plan to put the ice on a shelf in the upper back of the box. The shelf will have drainage to a bottle (if feasible - to the bilge if not), and the icebox contents will sit on raised ridges above a sloped floor. The slope in the floor will lead to a small sump in one corner to make mopping-out operations as easy as possible. A drain is an area where cold can also leak, thus the bottle idea - to trap the melting ice for use as drinking water, if water quality permits.

Phew - long post!