Houdini Ariel #407

[george copeland]

closer look for you, Ebb

[george copeland]

Here's where the guests hang on when they are getting on and off the boat.

[Bill]

George, what is the distance from the cabin top to the underside of the dodger?

[marymandara]

George, I like your Sea Hood. Your making, your installing, store-bought, previous owner addition--?

HOUDINI has me baffled!



Dave

[ebb]

Capt George,
The dodger's a humdinger,  especially the color.  The most non-military kahki I can imagine.   Will copy it for 338.   Including sail cover,  seat covers,  maybe even the cushions down below!

Would like to second Bill's question:  height of dodger over the companionway - with this:  what is the height off the cockpit deck at the companionway?

When Rob goes below does he grab the handles and swing over the bridge deck and go thru the opening with his feet in the sink facing forward?   Yet,  coming topside Rob must face aft.   This must be a no brainer for you and Rob,   but I'm wondering what the best direction is for descending into the salon?
For the past three years I've gone down a temporary 2X4 ladder facing forward.   It's the psycological correct way for me and I get to see somewhat where my feet are going.   But OSHA wouldn't like it a bit,  and the ABYC one day soon will have us post a plaque on the hatch about the safe way to face.

Because of my size and knowing that ease of using the c'way relates directly to pleasure,  it is something I've really thought about.   This is not the thread but I think I'm going to have to permanently tilt the boom up over the cockpit - which will tend to keep my head on its shoulders, allow a slightly higher dodger, and a more erect 'gressing thru the hole.

Great photos!   Great dodger!

[george copeland]

Lots of queries to address here... I'll do some measurements and get back to you. About the sea-hood. That was a custom job done by one of the local fiberglass luminaries. He got the camber in the cabin-top perfectly. Held in place with 5200. Non-skid top.

[george copeland]

Here-go, kids: Houdini's dodger clearances measure as follows: On the dodger itself, the clearance between the bridgedeck and the rear support is 44". Clearance between the forward support and the surfaces of the hatch cover slides/runners is 15 5/8"....as for the bimini: Clearance between the forward support and the cockpit deck is 64". Clearance between the cockpit deck and the aft support is 61". The bimini includes snaps along starboard, port and aft trim pieces just in case you get too hot one day--or need to block the view of others into this area of the boat for some reason--and to those snaps you attach other pieces of boat canvas. You can, in short, make a little sea-going patio or outright tent in the cockpit.

[Tony G]

George,
I was anxious te get some hard numbers on a dodger.  Just by chance, were you a contorsionist in a past life?  It might just be too early in the morning for me to bend like that.  I suppose if a solid frame is there to grab onto it would make if difference.  I just tried it with some wire held in place 16" above the main hatch and it was tough.  Hey! I'm still young!
I really like the idea of enclosing the cockpit to 'get away' from the neighbors or just to add another room.  Do you already have the canvas or screening made-up for this purpose?  (You know what's coming next)   If you do, how 'bout some pics:D
I just looked through Sailrites cataloge and I didn't even know that there were dodgers offered with an aluminum frame.  I'm assuming you used stainless but tell all.
Thanks, Tony G

[ebb]

Thank you,  George,
the measures aren't a surprise, as my research suggests,  for habitation on a small boat.  Your meausrements are very helpfull  for my purpose - which, as I said, may well be a self designed hard wind screen combined with a shop canvas and tube back much like yours.  Only up a little in the rear.   I'm salivating at the thought of sitting in the cockpit in a snug tent on a stormy day with a mug of raspberry tea (trans:  Moylan's Kilt Lifter Ale)  studying Letcher and Fitzgerald.   With the Mustang in its bag!

Fitzgerald's book is well worth owning for us A/C skippers.  It is mostly about tending your boat without the iron spinaker.   Good stuff to know,  like how to SAIL into your marina slip.  HA!  It's written in a refreshing rawbone no nonsense style with many insights and tips on small sailboat handling.  The style is as if it was taken off a conversatioal forum with all the casual typos and put into book form.   It is a classic and deserves a place on the short shelf.

Hope this is a compliment:
but when I look at your first photo
I hear Randy Newman's piano
and his song to a lady about
"keeping your hat on!"

That's a fine babe and a fine dodger!

[george copeland]

Answering several  questions: the trick to getting in and out of the companionway is to have the center panel unzipped and rolled up. Otherwise, might have to slide down there on your belly. And, of course, all the tubing is stainless steel. On that note, have been threatening to pull the cabin portlight frames and have them copied in polished stainless steel. How would that look?
As for Lecher and Fitzgerald---where might an avid reader of all topics sailboat find these worthy tomes?

[marymandara]

"Wind and Tide" is in current print, and you can buy it from Amazon. Letcher's two excellent books "Self-Steering for Sailing Craft" and "Self-Contained Celestial Navigation with H.O. 208" are both out of print but available from used booksellers and the like...last I went looking for a hard-to-find used book, Amazon had a setup where you could order from any of a number of used booksellers that listed thru them. E-Bay also have a good number of booksellers to choose from as well.

Best.
Dave

[Scott Galloway]

On behalf of the dodger, and weather boards notwithstanding, there have been plenty of days when I was sailing my Ariel close hauled alone in the fog and was shipping a fair amount of water over the rail and some also up on the cabin top. I don't have a sea hood, but the water doesn't come into the companionway from under the hatch under these conditions. It runs aft wards beside the hatch and spills off the top of the trunk cabin into the cockpit. But since my boat is heeled to 40 degrees plus. The water spills 40 degrees off center directly onto either the galley or the chart table depending on the tack.

Under these conditions I am generally toasty, warm and dry in neoprene cuffed "Third Reef" foul weather jacket that I purchased from West Marine for $39.95 at a boat show, and my more or less waterproof bargain basement nylon trousers. But if I decide to go below to find out where in the fog I am, using my GPS at my hart table, I don't want to have to remove the weather boards.

Don't tell me to get a Garmin 76 GPS and carry it on my body in the handy-dandy Garmin carrying case, I have already experienced some grief at the hands of that less-that-rugged all weather unit. Garmin either needs to market a hard case for it or a flip down screen protector. A waterproof battery compartment would also be nice. I keep my slick little Garmin 76 below right next to my hopefully dry paper charts, which I endeavor to use if conditions permit me to do so.

So a wet cockpit is OK with me, so long as I am dry in my foul weather gear or in my Mustang coveralls, so long as the temperature is below 60 degrees, but a wet cabin is no fun. Sealing yourself off from the cabin in the wet room of the cockpit is no solution if you have a nav station below. So, I vote YES to dodgers, but NO to extra large wind-break dodgers that ruin the look for the boat. George please post a photo of yours with canvas on, so we can check it out.

I just want to keep my electrical panel, chart table, and settee cushions below dry and still have access to the cabin. By the way, I don't have a dodger and I probably never will, because I haven't met an Ariel dodger that I liked. My Father had a dodger on his 35-foot cutter rigged sloop, and when we were at sea, it was indispensable. Before he purchased the dodger, we spent a lot of time with the companionway hatch closed tea-less in the rain.

Finally as to Ebb drinking his tea and steering, one of my favorite places on my boat in cold weather or at night is sitting on the threshold of the companionway while leaning against the leeward side of the doorframe. Since my boat likes to drive, I only need to touch the tiller from time to time when close hauled. If it is too wet, I can't do that, because spray drains off of my body into the cabin. With a dodger, sitting on threshold in wet weather would be no problem. May I have my tea in one of those Navy mugs now?

[george copeland]

Decided I'd post a photo or two of my Engineering Officer at work on the noble Houdini. The EO likes things electrical. Though she folds up nicely for stowing in the starboard cockpit locker, where she often tunes my A-4. Yes, life at sea is the life for me....

[george copeland]

Yes, gents, every Ariel Captain needs a gifted EO and Nearly Perfect Wife---be careful when you introduce her as such, especially to any lurking Marina Amazons. They begin to hang around, then, looking for recruits to the darker goings-on in their fiberglassed Gomorrahs....

[george copeland]

For security during these uncertain days, we have manned the quarterdeck with this foul-tempered and piratical beast. His name is Nick.