Ariel was not in bad shape, however all boats need maintenance and every now and then a major overhaul or refit.
The initial list of bits to be done was as in the list below, however as always the list is organic and grows.
• Floor Boards and Cockpit Sole
• Sheer Capping and Rubbing Stake
• Keel Band
• Undiscovered stuff
I have captured some of the refit in the posts, however below is a brief view of the refit.
Floor Boards and Cockpit Sole
The floorboards seem to be original and need to be placed and as the cockpit sole is bonded to the floorboards these too will need to be replaced. The entire sole and floor boards were stripped out and re built. The floor boards were made up of an I-beam of Iroko and 18mm marine ply. The I-beam was sheated in epoxy and glass cloth, therefore sealing the entire floorboard form any bilge water. The cockpit sole again is made of 18mm marine ply sealed top and bottom with epoxy and with glass cloth and epoxy on top. Peel Ploy was used to give the upper surface a good grip.
Sheer Capping and Rubbing Stake
The sheer and rubbing are of southern yellow pine and I planned to replace with Iroko. I stripped it back and apart from the transom end it was in good shape. The transom end was therefore replaced with southern yellow pine to match.
Keel Band
The keel band runs form the stem all the way to the stern. It was heavily rusted and broken in 2 places. It is fixed with through hole stainless steel bolts, backed with flat iron wrapped in denso tape. The denso tape had held up very well and has protected the flat iron form rust to a large extent.
I replaced the entire lot with 316 Stainless Steel and bonded with Sikaflex 291i. I also had a bob-stay fitting re fabricated in 316 Stainless steel.
Undiscovered Stuff
There was not much undiscovered stuff. During the cockpit sole refit I had stripped all internal timbers. This included mast step and bullheads.
Externally there were gel coat dings that I stripped back and re filled. I was unable to find any structural damage. On the starboard side where the beaching legs would lay there looked to be some stress lines. I layered up glass cloth on the inside byway of increased reinforcement as a precaution.
Other stuff
Seats
Ariel did not have any seats, as we were going to be a boat to mess about with the kids I added some seats.
VHF & Electrics
Conscious of safety concerns I added a VHF and made a VHF mount on the aft locker cover, with a VHF antenna on the transom.
Ariel is an open boat and we do get rain in Ireland. I therefore plumed in an Automatic bulge pump.
Ariel of Greystones 