Messages

Found these today, maybe someone can  use them.

Regards,
Dan

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140074156954&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:US:2

Not even Rod Serling could top this.  How 'bout some Beantown members to watch her for us....  This boat is one tough monkey.  Good eye, Captain.
Thanx for the update.
Dan

FWIW, I fittted a Simrad TP22 to #199 and it worked very well.  Set the socket into the starboard cockpit locker cover with a 1/2'' thick hardwood block epoxied underneath for backing.  Had the remote, and many times sat on the foredeck and steered.  Also, I wired it to feed from the Garmin 76, and it would sail to a Go To point with no problems.  A strong performer, it was dependable for me, and I found factory support to be, well, supportive.  It worked best flying as large a genoa as possible, which the Ariel liked anyway, as that setup reduced it's weather helm.

I also had read the reviews, and was wary, but had no problems.

I also fittted it to my 30 foot Flyer, and it works ok, but with the outboard spade rudder, it has some difficulty with the weather helm under anything but light winds.  Under power, it is fine.

ps:  I DO miss that sweet Ariel.

Dan

I talked to the marina today.  Mind's Eye was "picked up by the insurance company and trucked out, don't know where".

Sad end to a proud Lady.

Dan

Capt,

Sailing in November!  Life is good.

What size genoa is bent onto that furler?

It sets well in a fall breeze.

Happy T day,

Dan

The eBay closing date has happened, with no apparent bids.  Not sure what happens now, but it don't look none too good for this Ariel.  Stay tuned....

Dan

Kurt,

As of 1500 hrs. today, I called the marina and the yard man (and me) all agree the boat is seaworthy.  The insurance company pays the 5 days excess storage charge.  Another  option is to launch the boat into wet storage for the winter, which is $25/ft. including bubblers, and they have many available slips for that option at that marina.  If you call and talk to them again, leave your name and number - they will help you nab Mind's Eye.  Ask for Regina.  Also contact me this evening.

Dan

Only one day left to bid, one dollar, before this Ariel will be seen no more.  Nobody needs parts?  OK....

Dam Shame,

Dan

Funny you should mention that, Captain.  See the "Sad Ariel in NJ" thread by C'Pete.  An Ariel did survive that very same storm, quite well, and she is looking for a new home.  A buck'll get her.  Ebay. Tell yer friends....

Meanwhile, we hoist!

Regards,
Dan

This Catalina was lost during Ernesto, from our club mooring, like Mind's Eye.  Only she didn't make out so good at the bridge.  I shot her interrment, here's a few frames...

Made me really sad.
Dan

Went to my yard yesterday and shot these.  Ignore the date on the photos-digital misstep.  A little glass damage on the stbd. quarter, some bumps and bruises, but not bad overall.  She will float nicely - clamp on a motor and take her home.   She is well equipped, laz plug, cabintop winches, great rudder, shoe and keel, backstay adjuster, etc. and she DID NOT SINK.  Blimey.  For the price of an Egg McMuffin you have a classic winning Ariel.

It's in a great yard, but getting crowded fast.  I'm sure they will work with a new owner.   I will even kick in a 15 hp evinrude that was on my #199 Ariel for a few bucks.  Just please do not let this fine boat end up like the formerly pristine Catalina in the photos that follow this thread.  Email me for more photos, info, etc., I live a mile away from the yard.

If the end comes for Mind's Eye, there are MUCHO parts and fittings that can be had, and it's all good.  Speak now, before Davy Jones has at it.

My fingers crossed,
Dan

This Ariel is Mind's Eye, and a few years ago she was the overall Club Champion at the Raritan Yacht Club.  You read correctly - she was conned by a brilliant skipper, who sailed her beyond her rating and spanked many fine racers.  She was passed down to another club member who did not race her, and she soldiered on as a cruiser.  During Ernesto, she broke away from her mooring and hit the railroad bridge you see in the background of the picture.  After slamming into the girders for a few hours, the 40 knot east wind forced her under the bridge steelwork and up the Raritan River, now shorn of her mast and rigging.  She finally blew ashore onto a mud bank about a mile up the river, along with a few other boats, about thirty yards upland from the normal high tide line.  

After a few days a floating crane was able to reach her and she was refloated and remoored, and some of her spars were recovered.  She was refloated two boats over from my mooring, and although scufffed up a bit, she is very much alive and repairable.  She is now on the beach in the same local boatyard as my "new" Pearson Flyer, with no visible structural hull damage.  She is one tough Ariel, surviving a wicked storm that broke loose 11 club boats, sunk one (S2 9.1, never found) and destroyed six at that bridge, blew out seven badly furled genoas, dragged several moorings and damaged another dozen hulls, and left several washed up on the beaches and banks.

I sat in my pickup and watched helplessly as yacht after yacht was blown into that bridge, and gutsy local firemen and a few salvors dragged some of them away, but the wind just did not quit or let up, and the rescuers were forced back to shore.  My former Ariel, #199, was moored in the same field, but her pennants were secure and she rode through that storm with her regal bearing intact, no damage at all.

I truly hope someone rescues Mind's Eye - this thoroughbred has earned a second chance.

Dan

We ran across this Ariel in a yard in Glen Cove NY this summer.  What is interesting is how the owner dealt with the notorious keel voids.  He simply faired in a garboard drain plug, which he left out during storage and inserted prior to launch.  Unfortunately, no number plate was on her, and no owner available.  But an interesting approach to keel water.

Dan (former #199 Ariel)

Brian,

If you come out to NJ to see Guy's nice Commander, or get him to send you some pix, I will throw in my spare Evinrude 15 hp long shaft, rebuilt lower end and pump, vertical pull start, winterized with tank, for $100.  It was in my Ariel till I replaced it with an electric start Nissan, but I do not need it, and will deal.  Just a thought - it'll be a dependable kicker to get you started.  I live about a mile from Guy, and can send pix.

Regards
Dan

At the dock, after the main was lowered and gasketted, we simply hooked the main halyard shackle to the tack hook and gently raised the boom to the upper end of the track using the main halyard winch.  We then set the small slider (looked custom made) thumbscrew to hold it there.  Gave us more headroom in the cockpit, so's you didn't clunk your beverage bottle on the boom and spill any.

Capt. Amos - that little block on the front of the mast just below the spreaders is for the spinnaker pole topping lift.