Ave maria #350

[willie]

Of course the bugs like it, and the wind blew some cottonwood balls up the creek, but it's turning out fine. All the sanding and fairing might just be worth it! There's still some dents here and there, but hey, she's almost 40.

[willie]

And i picked the midnight blue. Figured i'd most likely be sailing in the winter, so a little extra heat will be nice. Work on the boat in the summer, sail in the winter. Sounds like a plan for Oregon.

Here's the rudder, waiting for a certian bronze cast piece....still....

Sorry Dave, had to do it!!:D

[willie]

Ah heck, one more won't hurt. I love looking down the keel...:cool:

One more coat of paint ought to do it. Hopefully the bugs won't be too thick, or the cotton, or the wind, or who knows what all. Fun working out doors. At least we have good ventilation!

[commanderpete]

.......Gasp......

She's beautiful.

A white bootstripe would really set it off,  but a pain to keep clean.

[willie]

Thanks cmdrpete! White it will be, on the factory scribed marks. They were still there, under it all.

So is there a way to do the boot stripe without having to mask it off twice, top and bottom? It's covered now, doing the bottom paint and top sides. After another coat of blue, off comes the tape, then tape top and bottom outside. What a pain. I thought i'd pull a fast one and just overlap the blue and red bottom paint, then mask off the boot stripe. Wrong! Couldn't find it! So we sanded some more, and did it right. I have to say i'm getting a little excited to see her sailing. Wow! What a boat. Thanks Carl.

Since this is the gallery, i'll find another picture!:D

[willie]

Decided i had to share this one, getting ready to see if she still floats Tuesday.  Have a little touch up to do, and last details, but she's looking good. Guess i'm just a little biased.

[Tony G]

Willie,
Very Nice!  I was just thinking of e-mailing you this morning for an update.  Wow!  You left coasters work like lightning:D   And launching on a Tuesday-not even waiting for a weekend.  I'm both happy for you and envious of you.  I take it the rudder shoe worked out fine?  And most importantly!! TAKE PHOTOS!!!
Tony G

[ebb]

Super!   Nice waterline, too!


Not to get too technical.
What kind and whose paint did you use?
And how was it going on, aside from what was bugging you?:cool:

[willie]

All went according to plan. Don't remember which plan, but she's off the trailer, finally, (no more step ladder!) and at the slip.
I could go into more details, but i'll just say, I'm one happy Ariel sailor!  HOO-RAW!!:D

[willie]

This was fun. hopefully never again. Actually it wasn't THAT bad.
The 19 knots with 25 gusts made it fun though. :rolleyes:

[willie]

Factory scribed marks, under all the paint. After removing the excess baggage in the bilge, she sits rather well.

A friend took a couple shots of our maiden voyage to the slip, will post when they come in.

When the Navy divers are done picking up F/A 18 Hornet pieces, we'll be getting to know each other better. The marina at Arlington Oregon is a little crowded with dive boats, etc. after the marine aviation accident a couple weeks ago. Two dead marine aviators, and two Hornets in the Columbia and surrounding area.

 So we had  quite a crowd of shipmates at the launching, and all with comments on how much they loved the boat. Good time. And good help!;)

My thanks to all here for support and help in getting her back in good shape.

[mbd]

Just a quick 2 cents from a has-been list-lurking high and dry Ariel wanna-be: HUBBA HUBBA!  

You guys are an inspiration!   A mighty "thanks" for the fine pictures and for the glimmer of hope at the end of these toddler-full years...

Mike

[george copeland]

Ave is looking fine, my friend.. very nice work indeed. I second Ebb's question about the finish brand and any notes that might be pertinent. In fact, I just started a new thread on that matter, since I am now planning to take Houdini one step further into that completely impractical world of the over-improved old sailboat. Extravagance becomes its own virtue in these matters--besides, Alberg is due this kind of respect in a world now awash in masted clorox bottles. Yesssss.

[willie]

Thanks for all the compliments boys, to answer some questions,

Final paint is Pettit Easypoxy, midnight blue. 3 good coats. light sanding with 320 on the d/a between coats, to remove any imperfections--fisheyes, bugs, cotton, you name it. Under the easypoxy is about 5 coats of Pettit ship'n'deck, dark blue. I didn't like the way it was finishing, so put the easypoxy over it. So she's blue pretty deep. With my young crew, and my own inexperience, that will be good. Under all this, i put on 2 coats of Pettit easypoxy white undercoater. It's a soft high build primer, fills imperfections, easy to sand off. Fills the paper pretty bad though. I was glad to be done with it. This was all sprayed on, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the evening, whenever the wind wasn't blowing too bad. Used a NAPA gun, water trap on compressor, about 35 lbs. of air. I'm an amatuer, and it seemed to work ok for me. Just put on a light coat, sand it down the next day, and put on another one. No problem. A couple stiff Capt'n Morgan's works too! Glad it's over with.
Below the w/l, i took it down to glass, after rebuilding the keel/shoe area, taking out thru-hulls and glassing in....then decided to put on an epoxy barriercoat. Got it from National Paint/Bluewater Marine. She had a lot of spots that were a little rough, pitted, pin holes. I brused on straight epoxy over the bad areas, after curing, sanded smooth, got rid of the blush. She'd been out of the water for 6 months in easten Oregon, low humidity, so figured she was pretty dry. Plus i'd punctured her in about 8 spots around the bottom, so decided to go ahead with a barrier coat. Used 4'' rollers for it, and started applying Bluewater Marine copperguard 56 with slime control extra. It's about 1/2 the price of pettit trinidad sr by the way. The boot stipe is exactly where Pearson put it, found the scribed marks under all the old paint. It's an lpu brushed on.  
Now i want to work on the deck. The last owner did the grey on the basketweave areas, and it gets too hot. Want to do the whole thing white. The grey is a light coat, brushed on, any hints/suggestions for paint? Think a one part lpu would do.
Guess that's about it. I emailed pettit for info. on what to do with the fresh paint, no answer. My local body and fender man said i shouldn't do anything to it for about 6 months, let it cure, then put on some wax. Any other thoughts?:rolleyes:

[tcoolidge]

I painted my decks and cabintop with EasyPoxy five years ago and it held up well but is starting to show signs of wear. I figure five years on a frequently used boat is reasonable. Next time I'll put on three or four coats  instead of the two I applied and probably get a few more years between paint jobs. At the time I was possessed by the irrational desire to go sailing instead of work on the boat and got in a hurry. It goes on easily and comes out nice. It's not perfect but for the amount of work it takes you get a good finish. You can make it as nice as you've made your hull if you want to do the prep. It stands up to normal wear and tear better than I expected and hasn't been damaged by flailing shackles or anything else it's run into.  I applied mine with a roller and tipped out any marks with a foam brush dampened in thinner and was a happy camper when it dried. On the nonskid watch out for paint buildup. It tends to fill in the grid and make the nonskid lose it's grip. I also put a flattening agent in the cabin top paint to cut down the glare. A shiny white cabin top and a shiny white deck can be blindingly bright and much harder to keep clean.
Of course a two part would provide an even better finish if you want to spend the time and money. I'd rather go sailing.

Tom