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Though I can no longer sail solo, I still am oncerned with someone getting back on board in the open water.  I carry a gunwale mounted aluminum boarding ladder which I can use for intentional swimming (not falling overboard.  I also carry a web ladder in a bag mounted to the life lines (the lifelines run from the bow plate to theend of the gunwale at the stern.  The bag containing the web boarding ladder falls about where the winch mount is.    I try to get it as far astern as possible to keep the ladder from swinging under the boat as little as possible.  Neither the web ladder or the swim ladder has any value if the boat is under way.  The unanswered trick is how do I control the direction of the boat/speed if overboard -particularly since I use an autohelm) I don't know.    I do relay on a handheld portable VHF to call for a maydayand rely on a tether to keep me connected to the boat.  I also carry a block and tackle that can be connected by a crew member between the D ring on my pdf and a horseshoe ring on the boom with alocking cam cleat to haul me out of the water without the use of a ladder, if necessary.  The horseshoe ring also serces to hold one end of my preventer.  I guess the preventer could also be used as a hoisting mechanism.

I also carried on my pfd about 50 ft of llight line that line that I could have used to hold me to the boat as I released one end of my tether and slid back to the dingy.  I could have easily started to climb aboard the dingy even though that endeavor would have sunk it.  A dingy full of water is too much for the Ariel to carry as a load.  The Ariel would have likely stopped and mostlikely have then come upwind luffing as well.  That done, Once on top of the dinghy,I could have inched forward along the dingy gunwales and boarded the Ariel.  Not elegant but  doable in my better years.  The bottom line in any case is that a man overboard is a mayday sitution (forget your pride in favor of saving life and call for help).  Fortunately, in my better years, I never experienced an involuntarily MOB so the routine was only tested under benign sea conditions.  I did try the web ladder in rough conditions and getting up again was tough and questionable whether a weaker/tired/cold individual could succeed.

Thank you all for your kind comments.  The day sailing on Lake Michigan was a wonderful adventure for me, assisted by a couple of very much appreciated friends who helped convince me I could do it, and encouraged me to go for the gold and made sure I succeeded.    Frankly, I didn't sleep much the night before, ruminating over whether my adventure was more bravery or stupidity.  But it did work and worked well.  the Ariel is a wonderful vessel for those that have lost some of their mobility.  And she is so much prettier on the water with sails flying than forlornly sitting on a trailer in a boat yard ringed by other boats whose owners either lost their enthusiasm, suffered health problems or who have left us.  Now the challenge is to get out a couple more times before this beautiful weather turns.

I have found the zinc Yamaha sacrificial anode will last a couple years in fresh water, less than that in salt water.  In fresh water a magnesium anode should be used but Yamaha doesn't make them unfortunatelyso I have to be certain to keep the lower unide and propellor painted so the aluminum doesn't become the sacrificial anode.  I only use TriOx bottom paint as it doesn't react with the aluminum andis slime/algae resistant.

You might try using a powder coating or going off shore (I dob't know where.  Also, the people that chromed the nameplates for the assn  a couple years back might still be around,  '''i would go there first but you'll be up againdt a not unreasobnaBLE minimum chsrge, I would expect.  Good luck.

My Saturn Aqua meter has a built -in inclinometer  My previous compasswas a disaster.It would dampen and then freeze as the boat heeled.  As a result my indicated direction would wind up being the direction '






I was headed when the craft was last laid over  I would wind up in Waukegan when headed for Chicago.  The fix was to buy a new compass specifically designed for a sailboat..The previous one that didn't work was cheaper and designed for a motor boat.That is why it did not have an operational inclinometer.  Hope this helps.

My Saturn Aqua meter has a built -in inclinometer  My previous compasswas a disaster.It would dampen and then freeze as the boat heeled.  As a result my indicated direction would wind up being the direction '






I was headed when the craft was last laid over  I would wind up in Waukegan when headed for Chicago.  The fix was to buy a new compass specifically designed for a sailboat..Theprevious one that didn't work was cheaper and designedfor a motor boat.That is why it did not have an operational inclinometer.  Hope this helps.

recollection is that the CG looks at measured displacment so that the fraft is from the aft end of the keel to the deck.Solsken is net 6. Hope this helps

As I recall. it was the Interlux wood sealer available at West

I loaded up the wood with sealer(4 or 5 coats asI recall)put on bottom primrt and bottom paint.  Swatchesof the bottom paint have come off at years end, but the mshogany is stilll solid after about 10 years in fresh water(Emersion in fresh water is hrder on mahogany than in salt water, or so I understand.The wood should not be encased in glass because the woodwill rot in my opinion- particlarly if the vessel is hauled where it freezes

I mounted my sealed AGM battery in a Group 24 plastic box on a shelf mounted to the aft side of the bulkhead between the aft end of the port berth and the forward end of the port lazarette - about a foot below the deck.This position doed not affect balance, is out of the way, and remote from gas and fumes and not subject to flooding.The battery cables then go through the bulkhead to a master on/off switch mounted on the forward side of the bulkhead t to the port of the sink.
It has worked well for the past several years

When I replaced the shouds on my Ariel, I sent the shrouds, with turnbuckles attached, and left the measurement issue to the rigger.

I've used the blue ones for one year (Airel). Good luck.  I've gotten ffour years out of the gray covers but they are a pain if you go into the boat while the boat needs to be covered.  This year I have given up and am getting a formfitting canvas cover for use with the mast up.  The others are a tough haul with the mast up.  This cover is designed to be for fitting, and will let me work on the inside under the cover while it still covers the boat.  This cover is not inexpensive, but compared to a shrinkwrap plastic cover, it should pay for itself in two to three years.

You are right it is in the balance.  The key difference between the Ariel/Commander and other boats in this regard is that the A/C has a full keel, starting largely just aft of the mast step, and a rudder after that keel.  Other current vessels, such as the Hobart racers, have a fin keel about where the mast step is, and a deep spade rudder at the far end of the hull, which provides for much more leverage than the A/C rudder gets.

With the A/C keel design, the bow can fall off very easily, while the stern stays in place.  The other guys tend to pivot around the fin keel.  The A/C rudder doesn't have the leverage to counteract an unbalanced foresail.  The positive side, of course, is that the A/C design is more stable and less sentitive to the helmsman sneezing at the wrong moment.

Another difference is that more recent vessels hae a higher aspect ratio.  The key to heavy weather sailing is to get the sail down, thereby reducing torque.  On the A/C, if you bring it down only 40% (about the practical max), there is still a great deal of sail up - along the boom but the peak of the sail is way down.  Do that with a high aspect rig, and 40% still leaves the head way up in the air.

So, returning to the A/C, the key is to balance the rig to the best of your ability.  Since the mast is forward of the center of resistance, a reduced main, with the luff beng diminished, and the outhaul being shortened, still balances.  Put up a jib in addition, and the reduced sail at the outhaul with more sail up forward, creates an imbalance and draws the A/C to leward, perhaps uncontrollably.  Drop the main entirely, while flying a 70% storm jib, and everything is way forward of the center of resistance (the balance point) and your directional options are extremely limited.

When heaving to, the jib is actually backwinding the mainsail (Heaving to is not much more than coming around without releasing the jib sheet - that is how it is done - and what results is you go into irons).  The mainsail is trying to force you upwind, and the jib is trying to force you off.  The two are balanced fighting one another, with the help of the helm held hard to weather.  the result is that you remain going slowly 20 or 30 degrees off the wind with both sails full so they don't bang and the boat largely upright.

A couple points.  I don't think what you are doing is heaving to.  You are shortening sail.  To heave to defintionally, I believe, you need both sails.  One backs the other.  What you are doing is shortening sails until there is too little mainsail to drive the boat upwind and around.

You really need to balance your boat with a full main - particularly in the Great Lakes where you can get an unexpected violent blast.  You won't always have time to double reef.  Double reefing comes after you have heaved to to steady your stiuation.

You may have a different combo for each of the levels of sails.

I have found with the Ariel that a full main and a 100% jib balance well in a heave to.  I can also balance the 100% with a single reef main (80%).  I don't think I can heave to in anything other than playing around with a 170% genoa.  That big sail becomes a lateen rig when the main is luffing

I haven't tried the balancing yet with a double reef (60%), but I suspect my 70% storm would work OK.

When it really gets violent and I have time, I do what you did, get rid of the jib entirely, double reef the main, and sail the boat - Generally on a beat.  If the wind is super violent, I can luff the reefed main - but that still is not heaving to.  That is sailing.

Yes, there is.  You can use Vasoline.  I have also used wax paper.  The glas sort of sticks to the wax paper, but the wax paper doesn't stick to the second surface.  You can also buy a bottle of stuff the pros use from West (the Glass people, not West Marine, although West Marine carries it)  It is a liquid that you brush on and it works very well to prevent adhesion.