Ariel #414

[Tony G]

This is a great thread Mike. Everything from the 'survey' photos to the kids having a memorable blast. When you get the chance to read it begining to end its inspiration in a bottle for some of us. I don't know if I'll ever get that far North on the coast to bend elbows with you but South is surely in the plans. And yes, I do mean on the boat.

I just noticed in post #9 there apears to be light shining in from the cockpit lockers in the area of the foot well of the port quarter berth. Is that so or am I imaging it?

Any plans for what is going up front for ground tackle and associated equipment? Starting to finalize a sprit design here but not ruling out any other good ideas yet.

Looking forward to some new posts here.

[mbd]

Hiya Tony,

Long time no pics! (hint hint)

I just noticed in post #9 there apears to be light shining in from the cockpit lockers in the area of the foot well of the port quarter berth. Is that so or am I imaging it?

Nope, there is a hole cut through the bulkhead there - a POs mod. I intend on filling it when the time comes to better separate the cabin from the engine compartment. But, it has come in handy when dealing with the batteries. (The squirrel from last year appreciated it too...)

Nothing special at all with my ground tackle, something I'll need to address this Summer.

It was kind of fun rereading the thread. I've been in a serious funk this weekend when I finally determined my overly ambitious launch date was a bit too optimistic. But looking a year back, I'll still probably be able to get in before I did last year.

[mbd]

Launch tomorrow afternoon. Yippee!

[Tim Mertinooke]

How did it go?

Pictures?

[mbd]

Hey Tim. No pictures, sorry. But, launch day went very smoothly, thanks.

Yesterday was mast stepping day. I took the afternoon off and joined a couple of other sailboats at the club to do the deed. We waiting all afternoon for the wind to die down, and it was 6:30 PM when it was finally my turn. I took the launch out to my boat to head in to the crane. I opened to raw water seacock, turned the key and with great anticipation, pushed the button to start the engine. ...Nothing. No turning over, just nothing. It ran and started perfectly the day before.

So, instead of rigging the boat my next trip out there, I'll be bringing Nigel Calder, Don Casey and Mr. Manual to troubleshoot my starting issues.

BTW, nice looking website! (http://www.fuji32.com/page_home.html)

[Tim Mertinooke]

Good to hear the launch went smoothly. There is always that moment with me where even though I know it will float, I expect the worst.

I ran into a similar situation this spring running mine on shore. The throttle for my diesel needs to be set back to neutral in order for it to start. I would throttle down some and then turn the key off, then pull the stop cable to turn the engine off. I couldn't turn it over again unless I put the throttle back in the neutral position. I don't know exactly how it works, but it appears to reset something. Hopefully your problem is as simple solve.

Thanks for the website plug. Once I have more material it should fill right up.

[mbd]

Thanks for the thought Tim. I went down this weekend with your angle in mind, thinking I had missed something, but to no avail. Eventually, I DID get it going though. As a last ditch effort, before I started dismantling everything, I thumped the solenoid with a rubber hammer, powered up, pushed the button, and vroooom! Go figure. Looks like I'll be needing a solenoid.

Hopefully, the mast will go up THIS weekend...