Ariel #24

[frank durant]

Thats a fine looking boat...well worth your efforts.Please keep us updated to your repairs and mods.Always interesting to see peoples ideas 'come to life'. They are fine sailing boats. Have fun

[mbd]

Congrats and welcome aboard Tim! Looking forward to tracking your progress on A24! She's a beaut.

PS. Love the Mark Twain quote on your website too...

[c_amos]

Tim,

Glad you found your way here from the Classic Plastic's site. I think you will find some of the same folks here. There is some great info to be found here.

They really are great boats, and she will be well worth the time you spend on her.

I look forward to watching your progress on the repair.

Good Luck!

[Tim Mertinooke]

Here is a picture of A-24's rudder. The shoe feels solid so my plan is to grind off the loose glass then reglass. If the shoe's integrity is in question, then a replacement shoe is in order which will be a much more substantial repair. I'll post what it looks like after grinding which will paint a clearer picture later this month when the boat is transported to my yard. Tim

[commanderpete]

Nice boat.

Don't think we've seen any reports of the keel busting out like that. Not a real biggie though. Have at it!

I'd take care that the repair is fair and symmetric with the other side.

Bottom looks smooth. That's a bonus

[Tim Mertinooke]

The PO had removed all of the bottom paint before his last season in the water. There is one coat on most of the bottom with a few hard to reach areas with more. This was a bonus for the close-up inspection of the hull and having done it with my Typhoon last winter I can say I'm glad he did it not me.

Yeah, the bulge was the only thing that made me the slightest bit apprehensive before purchasing. After much research, I feel confident that with some grinding and a good careful layup, in the end it will just be a bad memory. Fotunately it happened in an area where the opposing force was the lead ballast so the bulge was kept to one side. Had it froze somewhere else and compromised both sides of the hull, well, maybe A-24 would have been someone else's dream. The whole story will unfold soon and for those who seek out pixels of others breathing in fiberglass, stay tuned. Tim

[CapnK]

Congrats, Tim! Overall she looks great! I wonder what caused that bulge?

You mentioned you read about it at another site - where was that? I'd like to see what they said...

Can't figure out what would have caused it, unless one of the drinken Portu's of Pearson manufacturing fame dropped a steel/iron tool down next to the ballast before it was glassed over, and then it later swelled while rusting, causing that. It will be very interesting to see what you find when you fix it up.

Topsides look nice and shiny! Katie is jealous,

Welcome aboard, you're gonna love sailing her.

[Tim Mertinooke]

Here is a link to the topic with replies.

http://triton381.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2319

[ebb]

When you start grinding, if it smells sweet, it's polyester. Don't think epoxy would have broken like that (like what is swelling?), nor gotten so bulbous looking. If it is epoxy, it'll be very interesting to see what it is hiding.

338's Factory shoe was very corroded on one side - mostly because the DFO's rudder post was made with highly alloyed s.s. propshaft - that's what I think anyway. Really hard and showed zero corrosion.

Rudder shoe should be made of nearly inert silicon bronze, along with the rudder post. But it's possible other copper alloys were used.

[Tim Mertinooke]

I am pretty sure it has not been previously repaired. The PO has owned the boat since 1974 and he was the second owner. WHen asked he told me that he hadn't tried to repair it so it is probably the original laminate.

I have seen the diagrams and have heard of the ills that come with the infamous voids. Is it possible to have water make its way in between the lead and the laminate from the voids, or is the lead pretty well sealed from the voids found fore and aft of it? My grinding finger is twitching...can't wait until she gets home.