Introducing Ariel #187 "Eight Bells"

[Tony G]

Oops! I beg your pardon. May I still refer to you as GG? The pleasure is all mine and not forgotten soon...

[ggarratt]

What size engine do you have? It does look big in the picture. I have a 6hp 4-stroke and have no problems closing the lid which is newly gasketed and therefore pretty well sealed. I do have a pair of scuppers which seem to be the same as the one's on your lid... Could it be something else?

I think it's a 10hp if I remember correctly. It might well be something else because I'm not sure the engine ever got serviced while she was with Outward Bound. Hopefully once I get it serviced it will run beautifully. Otherwise I guess I'll just keep the lid open!

The winches are pretty easy to work on. It may simply be a issue of old hardened lubricant which would be easily solved by a cleaning. It would be worth a look before buying a new one. There are posts on this board that describe how these come apart. As I mentioned, they are quite simple...

I wish I had thought to take the winches off before I got her all buttoned down for the winter. Taking them apart and cleaning them sounds like it would be a great indoor winter project. Now its going to be hard to get at them... the things you think of after the fact.

[ggarratt]

Oops! I beg your pardon. May I still refer to you as GG? The pleasure is all mine and not forgotten soon...

Haha, no problem at all... I just didn't want everyone out there thinking I was a guy and wondering who the girl is in all the pictures with Eight Bells! And GG works just fine for me.

[bill@ariel231]

GG

welcome aboard... the halyard wrap problem can be solved for small $$. if your furler is in good shape (foil is straight and the drum rotates it's worth keeping). The trick is to make sure the halyard is not parallel to the headstay (an extra swivel above the halyard block can sometimes solve that problem). One other thing to ensure is that the luff on the jib is long enough. A short hoist can aggravate a halyard wrap problem. Do you have the dimensions of your jib handy?

Cheers,
bill@ariel231

[ggarratt]

Thanks Bill,
I'm not sure what the dimensions of my jib are but when I get home this weekend I'll measure it and get back to you.

GG
The trick is to make sure the halyard is not parallel to the headstay (an extra swivel above the halyard block can sometimes solve that problem).
bill@ariel231

Thanks for explaining this. I looked up some pictures online and now understand what you mean. My problem definitely sounds like halyard wrap which is a relief. I was worried that something was mechanically wrong and that the roller furling would have to be replaced (this is my first time ever messing with fancy gadgets like roller furling). This sounds totally doable to fix.

[Commander227]

GG welcome, one A/C newbie to another. great site and people here huh?

She was donated in 2003 to the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School for use as a staff boat. I began instructing there in 2005 and she was the first "modern" boat I'd ever sailed on.

Great program, my sister was an instructor there in the early 80's, (after teaching dog sledding and winter survival at the Ely, MN. Outward Bound) now she's a commercial fisherman in Alaska.

I agree with c'pete, it sounds like halyard wrap, easy fix. you can install a restrainer, or for a temp fix you can climb the mast (watch those old halyards) and tie a short piece of line between your upper stays across your halyard.

Servicing the winches is easy, if you need anything besides cleaning, oil and grease let me know. I have my boats original winches that are in pretty good shape I'll send to you if you cover shipping.

I find I enjoy doing britework the most on warm evenings while swinging on the hook in a nice bay somewhere. as long as theres cold beer.

Congrats on a nice little boat.

[Commander227]

Gillian,
The winches were just returned to me with out explanation. I don't know if the address was wrong or where they've been the last few months but give me a shout back and lets confirm the address.
Mike

[ggarratt]

Hi Mike,
I sent you an email. It seems they must have been chilling in some post office for the past few months. How crazy!

It's almost time to get Eight Bells uncovered and start working on her. I have to get her in the water by the end of April which is very quickly approaching!

[Agarratt]

An update on Eight Bells' progress - but first, let me introduce myself. I am Gillian's Dad. I retired last fall, and when Gillian asked me if I would be interested in her buying a boat she knew about, it sounded like a good idea, so I signed on as Junior Partner (First Mate??). Apart from a little inland water sailing many decades ago, and a few days out on a borrowed runabout, this whole experience is all new to me.

Back to Eight Bells - she came through the winter snug and dry once we replaced the tarp after a Nor'easter. We scraped the flaking areas of the bottom, put on a new coat of bottom paint, got the rigging back together, and put her in the water. That was back in April, as we had to vacate the hard standing, but the wind was too strong that day for us to take her out on our first sail. With other things going on, that didn't happen until last weekend, when Gill, her sister and I finally got her going.

Our first discovery was that the halyard wrap problem with the jib was not cured, but one of Gillian's friends pointed out to us that we had the jib hoisted on the spinnaker halyard. Re-rigging it on the correct halyard, and making some other minor adjustments to the jib rigging, seems now to have solved the problem, and we had a good sail, beginning to experience how the wind blows around the islands and hills of mid-coast Maine, as well as its variability!

Eight Bells is on a borrowed mooring several miles away at the moment. We have a mooring almost within sight of the house, but it has been unused for many years, and we are not trusting it until we can get it checked out by a diver. Once it is, the boat will spend the summer there, where will be able to reach it easily to continue the needed work, of which there is lots. We haven't got the winches changed yet, and although the motor started up and ran fine and the lights work, there is no electric power to any of the electronics, so we have some sort of wiring issue. Restoring of the woodwork has got no further than buying a can of varnish and some sandpaper, and we haven't even thought about the cabin!

However, she sails, which is the main thing!

Tony

[Rico]

I see that the lovely boat has adopted a large portion of the family! Congratulations!
It looks like you are lucky to be in the middle of great cruising grounds for exploring... We'll be looking forward to some (more) pictures!

Welcome to the board and happy sailing!

[Tony G]

Another check in the success column. Congratulations and the envy meter is pegged.

Dito on the photos as I intend to live vicariously through others this summer.

[ebb]

SHE SAILS AND THAT IS THE MAIN THING

GOOD on ya! And thanks for the photos.

[carl291]

Eight Bells certainly looks more at home in the water than on the hard.. Viewing the photos ,the PO did some very nice mods to your boat. I think I speak for many here when I say we are waiting on the previous mentioned interior shots, lurkers here are looking for ideas to copy
Swinging on a mooring in Maine coastal waters,....... it's a beautiful thing!

[Agarratt]

We don't know what is original and what are mods - what were you noticing in particular?

Tony.

[carl291]

I was noticing the instrument mounting, especially the compass, the vents, the raised lazerette lid, the foresail furling system. All nicely done.