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Hi All,

My baby is totaled thanks to incredible incompetence by a hauler and a mooring servicer. Sad days . Basically the deck and the hull are separated on the port side. It's been sitting for a couple years since the incident so it also had a little bit of water on the inside. It's only purpose would be as a parts boat at this point. Just want to make sure no one wants it before I scrap it. You can see some pics of the boat and the work I did in my refurb thread:

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussion/showthread.php?1970-426-Refurb-Rework-Thread&highlight=jurisg

If nothing else, someone should take it just for that rebuilt rudder - i seriously enbeefened that thing...

juris.grauds@gmail.com
6176200511

Just wanted to add something to this - I saw Rudy at D&R for new sockets. They aren't drilled out because they fit more than just Ariels, so you need to be prepared to do that part yourself. I ended up having to "slot" the bolt holes in one of the new sockets to get it to fit correctly, with a 9/16" drill bit. This was my fault for copying the bolt pattern on my only remaining good socket, rather than measuring off the holes in the mast. The other thing is that my spreaders didn't fit in the new sockets. Maybe sloppy casting or an old mold or something, but either way - make sure to measure the OD of your spreaders and ask Rudy to measure the ID of the sockets before he sends them. Maybe you can have him do the cleanup before purchase. Or you can do what I did - put your spreaders on a belt sander with coarse sandpaper and grind those babies down. There seemed to be a lot of material left on the spreaders when I was finished, so I'm not worried about the integrity of the part. I also needed to use a dremel tool with a sander drum attachment to clean up the flat spots and imperfections inside the spreader socket.  Everything is back together now though, and she sails great! When you put it back together, make sure the spreaders are angled slightly upward (pointing towards the top of the mast). If you put them on in reverse, they will point downward.

So I found out about DR Marine from an Ariel Association thread regarding Spreader Sockets, a.k.a Spreader Bases. I just returned from there, and boy - what a resource it is for difficult to find parts! I mean, Rudy has everything! Apparently he bought all of the excess inventory from several now defunct sailboat makers, including Pearson, O'Day, Alden, and several others. He even has teak doors that he's selling incredibly cheap (he mentioned that folks purchase the doors just to cut them up and use the wood for other boat projects). Anyways, I wanted to share his contact info and let everyone know he is, indeed still in business, and is a great resource for hard to find parts. I included a scan of his business card, and a picture of some of the inventory (including like 100 of the spreader bases I needed)!

Happy Sailing!

This is probably slightly off-topic, but since this discussion is sticky and it's an obscure part search I'm going to fire away. I am missing this part for my Ariel (see pic). It has a female threaded hole (with an insane thread that is not recognizably metric or standard) and an eye hook on the end of it. Does anyone know what this part is called and/or where I can get a replacement? Even if the thread doesn't match, I will just put a die on the male end of the railing cable and re-cut it. Thanks!

Bill, I don't have my manual with me (it's on the boat). Are the numbers you use as an index in the manual, or do you have them elsewhere?

She's in, and running fabulously. 426 is back in action and the rudder is holding strong. Took it for an epic sail on Tuesday night - the GPS was reading 7 knots on one good tack.

I have a classic story, and a question. First the question.

I want to purchase a Loos Rig Tension Gauge because I once sailed a Catalina 22' whose mast snapped off in a Gale. No one got hurt, but we got lucky. Does anyone have any tension numbers for the Ariel? How can I figure out what to Tune to? Unfortunately, the manual is on the boat so I can't check if the numbers are in there, but I don't remember seeing them.

Now the story. One of the last things I did before she went in the water was to check the sink drain. It looked good, but I was so nervous about it that I fastened a pipe clamp and some chain to it with a clip on the end. I then screwed a door handle to the wooden frame piece the sink is mounted on and connected them. Just in case.

When she got dropped in the water, I instantly began having engine troubles; it was cutting out after starting and running for about 20 seconds. After using my starter motor to get to the nearest dock, we determined the carb needed replacement - it was gumming up. In order to access it, we had to remove the entire wooden frame upon which the sink is mounted. You guessed it, as soon as we pulled the sink drain, water started pouring into the boat as predicted by the Association's manual. But, due to the mod I put on there at the behest of the manual, we were able to bungee the drain tube up through the hatch to one of the stanchions, keeping the water out of the boat while we did the work. Check out the image below.

Also, since it's her first time in the water in a couple of years, I have heeded the advice of the last newsletter (regarding ethanol's solvent properties) and have about 6 filters on board. I've already gone through three, which were FILLED WITH CRAP that the ethanol cleaned off the inside of the gas tank. As soon as the engine stalls once, I know it's time to swap the filter. I'll get past it eventually.

To the Association, thanks for all the hard work putting this useful information together. I absolutely love this boat!

Hi All,

I'm getting closer to my launch date, and still can't find a good resource for rigging advice. Does anyone have any high quality photos of their rigged up Ariel? Any handwritten instructions or anything like that? The previous captain of my boat is unable to guide me through my first season due to health reasons, and I don't want to mess anything up! Any info would be much appreciated, and could be emailed to me: JurisG@Ximedica.com

Thanks!

So after numerous consultations with experts, and influenced by my general abhorrence of fiberglass mat, I decided to use just 6oz cloth.

I got a few yards of 38" wide 6oz fiberglass cloth from Jamestown Distributors along with a Gallon of Polyester Resin, 4 oz. of hardener, a gallon of Acetone, and some "Captain's Blue" resin dye from New England Marine and Industrial.

When the Marine Tex we put over the straps and in the cracks had cured, we sanded everything down and cleaned it with Acetone. we then laid the rudder on a large piece of fiberglass cloth, and cut out the shape of the rudder plus about 4" extra to wrap over. We cut some reliefs and made a plan, and mixed up our first batch. 16oz of Resin was plenty for each coat. We put some blocks in the middle of the rudder with some double-sided tape to stand it up off the cardboard, and coated the wraparound pieces of fiberglass with resin to keep the cloth in place. We then flipped the rudder over and did the entire first side with a foam roller and paintbrush. We waited for that coat to harden a bit (about an hour or so), then repeated the process. We left the rudder under heat lamps and out of the rain for the night. You can see the results in the first and second pictures.

The following day, we came back and sanded down the side upon which we laid the 4" of extra cloth, leaving the side with the full coat on it untouched. You can see the results in the third picture. We then laid that side down on another full piece of cloth, and cut out an exact size panel, leaving no extra for wraparound. We flipped it over, and did two coats on this side, again leaving it under heat lamps for the night.

The following day, we sanded down any rough and bubbly spots around the edges. The worst spots were the area where the rudder posts should rest, and the prop cutout. After some deliberation, I completely blew those areas out with a Dremel. We decided that there was absolutely NO WAY the brass rods would fit into the radius if we left the fiberglass in place. We decided to hit those areas with a strong coat or two of evenly painted resin only.

We then cut out a number of ~4" strips of fiberglass tape, which by the way was a godsend. The edges are "singed" so the cloth doesn't unravel when you try to work with it. Using the acetone, I wiped the edges in order to make the resin tacky again. I then laid the strips around the edges with slight overlap, using the tacky resin (almost like spray mount) in order to keep them taut. We then mixed up one more batch, and covered all the cloth tape and holidays (mostly the outer edge, crown, and prop cutout) with a coat of resin. We also used this opportunity to coat the rudder shaft areas with some resin. You can see the results of this step in the fourth picture.

The last steps will be to do some touch up sanding, cut out the hardware pockets with an X-ACTO knife, put all the hardware back in with the shafts, Marine Tex the pockets and shaft-rudder junctions, Cover the hardware pockets with some fiberglass cloth tape + resin, and slap on some bottom paint. I'm pretty psyched with how it's coming along!

[Lastly, I'm still looking for some kind of guide to raising the mast and doing the rigging on a Pearson, if anyone has any leads on such a thing. Thanks!]

Some rudder updates -

I've stripped all of the bottom paint off and taken a sander to it. I also took a dremel to the spots that were looking a little rotty, although the meat of it is looking good. I then clamped the three planks together (the only hardware still left in there are the pins between planks) and routed out some places for straps. I then installed the stainless steel straps with stainless hardware, and plastered it over with Marine Tex (see pictures). I will dive into fiberglass next weekend because the Marine Tex needs some time to cure. And dont' worry, I didn't put Epoxy into the hardware holes (not yet).

Does anyone have any hints on what type of fiberglass to use? For instance, there is fiberglass mat (looks like fiberglass particle board almost) vs. fiberglass cloth (looks like what they wrapped my broken wrist in when I was 12). I've gotten conflicting recommendations from different folks. I think I'm leaning towards the woven cloth simply because it looks easier to use.

Lastly, I'm still looking for some kind of guide to raising the mast and doing the rigging on a Pearson, if anyone has any leads on such a thing. Thanks!

-Juris

I would agree with you, except that I know from experience that the prop is seized on to the shaft. I spent 2 days with MAPP gas, brass punches, mallets, prop pullers, etc trying to get that thing off. Trust me, it's not going anywhere. The pin was just to make me feel better about it, and if it spins off - well hey, there's always a sail to get me home!

Sorry for the lack of updates; I sent my phone for a swim in the bilge and lost all the pics of our progress!

In any case, attached to this post you will find pictures of how I have dealt with my broken prop shaft. The bearing had no play, and I spoke with the mechanic who has done all of the work on #426, and he said he just did the stuffing 2 years ago - he recommended I put it in the water and run it this year because it looked good. Therefore, I decided to put a pin through the prop and shaft after slowly drilling through it, peen it over, and cover it with JBweld. I also filled in the void left by the sheared prop shaft.

I also want to add that I cleared all the stuff out of my side compartments in the cockpit, and can now "access" the back of the engine, stuffing box, etc. BUT, I simply can't wiggle my 6'5" frame in there. Also, I'm not sure an access hatch would do much for me since my gas tank is right where I would want to put it. Every time I want to use the hatch, I would have to remove the gas tank and move it to the side. MAYBE a project for next year. For the time being, I have a very good mechanic in the South Shore, Massachusetts area, who is experienced at wiggling into the cockpit compartments and knows the Atomic 4 in and out. Anyone who is interested can contact me for his information. To get it started, we needed to do new points & condenser, and a new fuel filter, along with a new battery.

I purchased some new hardware to put my rudder back together from Jamestown Distributors (//www.jamestowndistributors.com) and cleaned up the old stuff with a grinder for what I couldn't find. Jamestown has a vast selection of brass and silicon bronze hardware. I also purchased some fiberglass supplies from them. The rudder steps I've gone through so far are:
1) Remove the rudder from the brass shaft (see previous post in this thread). Leave the prop alone unless absolutely necessary!
2) Strip the paint off; sand it down; Take out all possible hardware, but leave the pins in place, holding the 3 planks more or less together.
3) Clean up the hardware, buy new pieces for whatever needs replacement.
4) Take a dremel to any rot (cutting wheel, sanding attachment, grinder are all useful) especially between the planks.
5) Blow out the stuff leftover between the planks with pressurized Air.
6) Trace the rudder on cardboard with sharpie, marking the spots where the holes for hardware are (to be filled with Marine Tex).

The next steps I think I will be taking are:
7) Put the hardware back together
Add some countersunk stainless steel straps to reinforce the planks and hardware
9) Do a few layers of fiberglass
10) Use the tracing made in step (6) to cut out the holes for Marine Tex
11) Do the Marine Tex and then Re-Glass over the holes
12) Dremel away and put her back on. Slap some bottom paint on with the rest of the bottom.

We have also been attacking the Teak with a rotary sander because someone put Varnish over it. We are doing it over with many layers of cleaner, brightener, and Teak Oil.

I'm hoping to have her in the water by July. Does anyone have any leads on some kind of reference material for doing the rigging? Is there a guide out there somewhere? I've helped to rig up a Catalina before, but never a Pearson.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some finished rudder pics!

That site looks like an excellent start when I'm in there - but my question is ariel-specific. How do I actually get at it? Do I go in behind the motor? Rear Hatch?

I've seen the old salts at the boat yard taking a jig saw to their hulls, taking out a square piece, doing the job, and re-glassing it. Is this what I'm in for?

Thanks for the input, all.

Is there a section in the manual for replacing the stuffing and hose? I don't have it in front of me, but I also don't remember seeing it when I flipped through.

Also, I was under the impression that replacing the whole shaft was a major headache. I mean, you have to wrangle in behind the atomic 4 to do it, right? I'm not even sure how to get in there yet.

Current plan of action is to start the motor up and see if it spins clean (indicating that I didn't break or bend anything integral to motor operation). If so, I think I'll drill and tap the end of the prop shaft and run a bolt in with a washer on it, which I will weld to the prop. I'd like to avoid replacing the stuffing and shaft.

As far as N/S vs. E/W, the rig could have lined up either way; The reason for the alignment in the pic was so we could beat it on either side with mallets. I took that pic when we were done breaking it - it was lined up pretty well when we were really working it, although you are right - a slight misalignment was probably the cause.

Unfortunately, after removing the handle, gudgeon, and bearing, I tried to remove the rudder (by pushing it, still attached upwards and then downwards into a trench), but it would not slide by the Prop. I tried every which way, but I'm sure it would have required some brute force, and probably some undesired bending of either the rudder shaft or prop shaft to attempt removal with the prop attached. Therefore, I tried to remove the prop, failed, and finally simply disassembled the rudder from the shaft. So, the blow-by-blow of what actually worked was:

1) Remove handle, gudgeon, and delrin bearing.
2) Dig a trench under the rudder (unless the boat is up high or on stilts or something).
3) Drill out the heads of the pins holding the rudder bracket with a large drill bit. Remove the bracket by prying it off and punch out the pins with a hammer and punch (after chiseling the boat paint and maybe even cleaning it up with a dremel that has a wire brush attachment).
4) Push the rudder up (lift it out of the rudder shoe) and drop/turn it until you can get at the three bolt heads holding the rudder together. They should be well shaped and coated with bottom paint...
5) Take a dremel with a cutting wheel and make the flathead screwdriver bolt heads deeper and more usable. Clean up the area around the bolt heads with a wire brush and make sure the paint is "broken" around where it needs to spin.
6) Use a chisel/punch/flathead and a hammer, and dig out the marine tex bondo-like filler from the two spots it's in - see the pics above (the holes are where the filler was). Dig first nearest the stern and move towards the bow to avoid damaging the hardware.
7) Unearth the bolts from the bondo.
This part's a 2-man job. Use a HUGE flathead screwdriver (with a hex shaft - not a round shaft) with an adjustable wrench on the shaft and have someone hold it on the appropriate bolt. Use a wrench to slowly spin the nuts in the rudder holes (not too fast - don't strip the bolt heads!). Once they're moving, you should be able to spin it with your finger. Once the nut is off, slide something (I used a big, crappy adjustable wrench handle) between the end of the bolt and the wood of the rudder and bang the bolt through. If it's not removable with your hand after that, use a big pair of pliers to remove it the rest of the way.
9) The top bolt is the worst; it's got a nasty hook in it and apparently screws right into the rudder with no hardware - I actually think I "caveman'ed" that one off so you're on your own there.
10) Since the prop is still in the way of the rudder shaft, the shaft will stay where it is and simply be re-bolted to the rudder with new hardware once I'm done restoring the rudder.