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Hey kids--
The Mighty Houdini--the boat with the incredible engine-tuning, mast climbing XO, aka The Nearly Perfect Wife is now for sale. Houdini is in splendid condition. She is in the water in Kemah, TX (Galveston Bay complex) and is ready to go where ever you want to.

I went crazy and bought an Alberg 30....it's coming down from North Carolina and I'm gonna make her shine like the Hoo....Please help me send the Hoo to a good home (meaning someone who is obsessive about boat care.)

Asking $9500.00

Thanks all.

GWC

Those little crazes and divets and spots where a guest dropped a sledge hammer 25 years ago? They disappear this fall. Why? Because...take a deep breath, now, ye adherents to urethane--The Mighty Hoo gets RE-GELCOATED on the main deck and cabin top. Researched, researched and researched again--found technical docs at West Systems wherein the question long pondered was tested in a lab. To wit: will gelcoat adhere to epoxy? The answer, in short form, is yes (if properly prepared)--at least to the tune of 1000 to 1200 psi necessary to divorce the two.
And---here's the big reason my enthusiasm for the project went into cheerleading territory: my buddy (an old-boat restoration guy of local note) regelcoated his Westsail 32 a couple months ago: MAGNIFICENT! BRAVO!
Back with more pics when The Hoo is done...

Ok--so check this out. New covers for my obsessive and over-wrought varnish job on Houdini. Just couldn't stomach the ravages of Old Man Sun. Better to spend money than to agonize over a small spot where the varnish is starting to chafe.

But wait,there's more!.... :eek:

Wanted to let everybody--particularly those Ariel owners on the Gulf Coast know about a little project of mine. Would enjoy feedback and correction from the luminaries here assembled.

http://mightyhoudini.blogspot.com

Good sailing all.

GWC

Fellow Ariel Devotees and Luminaries--
I plan to replace the counter-top on Houdini. Wanted to use Silestone, custom cut to proper dimensions. Anybody done this in Silestone? Results?
Houdini, #407

Don't know how many Ariels had the little modification that mine had--by way of an expanded step down into the cabin. But the previous owner's work on this was as sturdy and practical as it was homely. Had to take care of that, since it looked like a wart on a pretty woman's nose. Check this out. Very Japanese, no? Very Zen.

Now I gotta stain and varnish it. And inlay little stars where the dowels show along the outside slats.

Yes, Grasshopper.

Aye--that compression bracket is a custom job from a local fab shop. Simple enough. 2 pieces of 2" angle iron (stainless), with threaded collars at each end. Then you take 1" stainless tube, thread it, and insert. Holes at the center of each tube allow you to torque it into proper tension. Voila! No mast compression. Although it does a number on your noggin if you happen to forget it's there.  :confused:

So--saved the companionway to the last. Here's the before--it'll be a week or so before I have the shiny "after"....

Been getting alot of side-long looks from the Alberg 30 captain one slip over lately. Then a couple of chicks show up to tell me how "cute" Houdini is..everybody says this stuff is to blame.

Thanks all for the compliments--Ebb: the water line is where it is as a function of the previous owner's decisions. I just let it stand. I suppose it is a bit high, but the boat has made well-laden trips to Louisiana, all over the Texas coast, and at least one long haul to Belize. I have never gotten her loaded-up enough to settle that extra 2 inches or so.
Mr. Durant--if ye like varnish, ye might have more soulful satisfaction to come. Just finished a total rework of the interior, but haven't put the photos in. All interior teak has a mirror finish--just so the Executive Officer could avoid the trouble of finding a mirror in the morning. :eek:

More braggin-shots of Houdini getting some work done. Ted M.-I think you would approve.

Been awhile my good brethren of the noble Ariel. Attached are some pics to do the Ariel devotee proud. Note the Executive Officer's relaxed disposition--nothwithstanding her maiden voyage into the sometimes nasty Gulf of Mexico. Note also the Sea-Dog, Nick, who, at one point decided to have words with the porpoises. Note above all else that lavish varnish work.

Question: if a fellow in a small sailboat is busy taking these pics instead of heaving-to or otherwise reducing sail how likely is it that he is sane? Anybody out there ever sail a Commander or Ariel that hard? Results?
GWC

Houdini (A-407)

In my NAVY days, we did some of this exciting cruising into the gaping jaws of death. I particularly liked the day a bunch of forktrucks broke loose in a forward cargo bay. Made great pinballs. Big 10,500-pound pinballs. :eek:  My idiot division officer told me to take a bunch of boatswains mates foreward and order them to hold down and re-gripe these playful trucks. I offered him the honor of being the first one to lay-hold of one of our hopping, drunken leviathans--because I was certain some of the men might have doubts about their own abilities to accomplish the thing. The physics of the situation seemed to suddenly and subtley insinuate itself into his planning. He decided we needed to be somewhere else for a while. Nothing quite like a heaving ship to teach you about g-forces transferred through a deck plate.
Can't blame the division officer, though. His degree was in Animal Husbandry.
Arrrrr.
GWC
Houdini (A-407) :cool:

Look at that! Those round-eyed port lights are so damned salty I can't even blink. Yesssir! Now I smell styrene and have begun to itch a little. Even the Nearly Perfect Wife agrees. About that tiller--might I suggest a most noble and tough and rot-resistant wood: bois d' arc, aka osage orange. Members of  my family have fence posts of the stuff more than 120 years old. Just won't rot. Beautiful stuff, too, when sanded to a glassy surface and varnished. In the sun it will eventually turn a purple-black. Bright yellow to start.
Good job, sir.
Houdini. Ariel #407