Ariel #24

[mbd]

Is that last pic looking aft under the cockpit? Where's your bilge??

Looking forward to seeing #24 come back to life. Keep the faith!

[c_amos]

It looks like the foam was mixed and dumped into the bilge to fill the void....

I wonder if that has anything to do with the bulge?

Keep the faith man, it will be spring someday, and you will be on the water and it will be worth the effort...

[mbd]

Tim, RE: the foam, check out Bill's response #5 in the keel voids thread...

[Tim Mertinooke]

Is that last pic looking aft under the cockpit?

Yes, it was taken near the sole looking aft toward the rudder tube. The foam that expanded out of the tube appears to be the "Great Stuff" you can buy at the hardware store. Great choice; open-celled, non-waterproof...thank you PO! I plan to remove it and assess from there. If there is an issue with the tube leaking at all, it will be corrected via proven methods not foam and a prayer as someone apparently did before I.

Where's your bilge??

I was hoping you guys could answer that. It appears as though the deepest part of the bilge was filled. This should make my bilge pump plans more interesting. You guys are going to get a kick out of this once I get started and snap tons of photos of the process.

Looking forward to seeing #24 come back to life. Keep the faith!

Me too! Faith will not be lost. I have waited a long time to restore a boat like this ariel. She will be re-commisioned this summer and will be used extensively after these minor hic-cups are addressed. My CD Typhoon on the other hand came to me in near perfect shape leaving little to do to her. It got to the point where I was making up projects just to work on her. I replaced the static ports with opening ones, added extra cleats, varnished an outragous number of coats on the teak, etc. Finally I have a floating vixen who needs my love. I have a feeling this relationship will not be one-sided like the Ty's.

[Tim Mertinooke]

In the Ariel the heel was molded as part of the hull and foam was subsequently poured into the back of the hull to fill this deep narrow area. It was then glassed over to prevent water from getting at the foam and to allow for easier cleaning. If you think there is water down in the back of the keel, I would drill a hole at the bottom below the foamed area, drain it, reseal it, and then
redo the glass job on the interior over the foam.

Mike,
This is hull #24, maybe the whole glassing over the foam idea wasn't part of the process yet. Drilling is certainly in my future with the possibility of a garboard type plug to drain at haulout each year. The plug I think is a prudent idea seeing how the temps around here can get pretty low.

[joe]

Hi Tim,
I wonder if someone was trying to stop a leak?? I wish you the very best of luck and many congratulations on your purchase!!
Joe
S/V Sirocco

[commanderpete]

"There is NOTHING--absolute nothing--half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."

or something like that

[Tim Mertinooke]

Made the hour drive to check out the boat a couple days ago when the temps were below zero. I must say that the more time I spend poking around this thing the more I love it. It strikes a perfect balance for my intended use...can't wait until summer. The bulge in the keel had some ice protruding out of it. I think the water expansion idea was correct. Does anyone know if the void in the aft part of the keel prone to water intrusion is open to the space between the hull and the lead ballast or is the lead ballast completely sealed from the void? I'm just trying to track the direction the water traveled to get a better idea of the what the abyss of my keel looks like. My plan is to add a plug at the bottom just in front of the shoe to drain the water that may collect every season. If it is all open down there, then the water that finds its way between the lead and the hull should drain from the plug aft of it assuming the boat is tilted back a tad. I think anyway...

I also picked away at the laminate covering the rudder shoe. It came off pretty easy with a screwdriver. There seemed to be a greenish grey fairing compound that was pretty well saturated covered by one layer of fiberglass which does seem to be non-factory as Ebb noted earlier. The shoe has a reddish caulk between it and the hull that was easy to peel out by hand. The shoe seemed just fine, no cracks, thin spots or corrosion that I could see and it is well attached to the hull with no play. The area did seem wet though with some evidence of water leaking out a little between the hull and the shoe where the ineffective caulk resided. The hull laminate was fine where the shoe was attached and didn't seem saturated. It's exposed to the air now so it should start to dry with the warmer weather coming, then I will assess what the next step with that will be. I wish the foot of snow we still have in the yard will just go away already.

[bill@ariel231]

Tim

"is the lead ballast completely sealed from the void?"

in answer to your question, no...

I opened up the keel on A-231 from the rudder shoe all the way to the ballast. no evidence that the lead was " encapsulated" from the void. Construction shown in some vintage factory photos shows the hull molded in one piece and the lead dropped in from above. (see photo, the shot is from below looking forward - the gray object is the ballast, on the face of the ballast nearest the camera is the foam stuck to the lead)

Different story on the first three years of the Pearson Triton the early boats have the void added on after the hull was out of the mold.

there were three sources of water intrusion into my keel... leaks around the rudder shoe, holes in the bilge from previous owners attempt to install a bilge pump and incomplete wet-out of the fiberglass at the forward most part of the bilge (under the deck in the v-berth).

cheers,
bill

[Tim Mertinooke]

Here I was fretting about what might be a 4" diameter hole in the side of my keel once grinding is complete and you show me a keel without a bottom. Misery loves company. Anyone who owns one of these beauties certainly likes working on boats. Everyone seems to have a drastic demolition somewhere in their history with these vessels. Thanks for the picture, it certainly answered my question.

[joe]

If there is all that room around the lead, especially, below it, what in the world is holding that huge lead casting in place??

[bill@ariel231]

my guess is it was held there by habit....

[bill@ariel231]

now that I think about it, the pearson factory photo of a hull layup that i've seen was probably an Ensign/Electra .. it's in the book "The Lure of Sailing" by Everett Pearson. Moderator Bill do you have this image stored away somewhere??

[joe]

[Bill]

. . . Moderator Bill do you have this image stored away somewhere??

Not that I know of.