Pearson Ariel #24

Tim Mertinooke · Post by **Tim Mertinooke** » Sat Dec 23, 2006 5:34 pm

I have been on the search for a while for a boat to replace my CD Typhoon so that I can cruise the New England coast with my wife and 4-year-old son. After much review and contemplation, I settled on the Pearson Ariel. Knowing that all boats are a compromise of some sort or another it fits my needs perfectly; trailerable, seaworthy, Alberg design, standing headroom, enclosed V-berth, small so that maintenance is reasonable, and most importantly my son and wife love the design after seeing one today. Phew, on that last one. I had considered a Triton, but living two hours from my mooring and wanting to take the boat home for winters it had to be trailerable within reason and the Triton is not in my humble opinion. In comes the Ariel (mini-Triton.) After searching for a week online we came across one 54 miles from my home in Western Mass. She is on a custom roadworthy trailer in sailable condition with many goodies like a brand new dodger and cushions. She has been out of the water for the past ten years in the yard of her current owner covered. She certainly needs some spit and polish, and there are a few things that will need to be addressed before splash time in the spring. One thing is re-glassing over the rudder shoe because the glass that is around it is cracking and pieces could be flaked off. The shoe itself was not movable when I gave it some love taps with a 2x4 and it appeared to be secured well, but re-glassing in the spring will happen for sure. The rudder I believe is fiberglass sheathed wood and there is a small place that is delaminating and that will also need to be ground out, filed, and re-glassed. The deck has a few small spots that are soft including a one square foot area around one of the stantion bases near the bow. Last and certainly not least is what I consider the most pressing issue and that is a small bulge with some cracking near the base of the keel a foot back from the forefoot. The whole area is about six square inches in area and my guess is that the infamous "void" in the keel that water has been known to migrate had water and the expansion did the trick. The other side of the hull opposite the bulge appeared fine. It is well below the bottom of the bilge, so my plan is to grind out, dry for the winter, then fill and glass over in the spring. I took some pictures today and will post them as soon as I dump them on my computer. All-in-all I think this will work out great and I have a very good sense of what I am getting myself into buying a boat from 1963. My plan all along was to restore an old beautiful boat while concurrently sailing it with my family. This Ariel seems to fit that bill. I am the third owner and the gentleman from whom I purchased the boat has owned it since 1973. I have a good sense of its history and she will be returning to the waters this summer that she plyed for almost that long. Once everything is finalized and she is in my yard in the Berkshires I'll take some photos and live up to the image-happy reputation I have earned with my Ty postings. For now here are some photos from the ad where I found her. Consider your brains tapped as I begin work on this beauty.

Tim

MQMurphy · Post by **MQMurphy** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 9:30 am

Nice boat - congratulations. Looks like a manageable project.

s/v Faith · Post by **s/v Faith** » Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:47 pm

You will not be sorry with your decision.....

As the owner of Ariel #226, having worked on her and sailed her for the last 3 years, I am still very pleased with her.

You might take a look at http://www.pearsonariel.org Good owners forum.

Congrats!

Post by **Tim** » Tue Dec 26, 2006 5:01 pm

Congratulations, Tim! Look forward to hearing (and seeing) more.

MikeD · Post by **MikeD** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 1:40 pm

Congrats! I had considered that boat a few years back as well. I know another person on the forum here has looked at that boat also.

The owner said he had it painted "Cadillac" yellow at a body shop, which I thought was a very creative idea. Seems like a cheaper alternative to marine paints and gives you lots of options, as far as colors go. I'll be curious to see how the paint job has held up and how well it was done.

There's been a thread here lately on boat names. When we were considering this boat, my wife came up with a name I thought was very clever and would have put it on the transom in a heartbeat: Canariel...

Welcome aboard!

PS. Beautiful Typhoon, BTW!

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 3:55 pm

"cadillac yellow", I love it!

I really do love that soft yellow as a topsides color. For some reason, I didn't quite think it would work on the triton, but I know a C&C 33, a Typhoon, and (I think) a Wanderer in that color and they all wear it well.

Post by **Tim** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 5:56 pm

The light yellow in marine paint nomenclature is normally called "Fighting Lady Yellow". It seems to be a bit trendy right now.

Speaking of auto paints, does anyone know of a website that contains color chips of automotive paints? I spotted a color a year or two ago that I would love to duplicate, but have yet to find out what it's called. I can't find it through any normal type searches. All I have is a pretty distant "spy" photo of the vehicle in question.

Figment · Post by **Figment** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:56 pm

From what I understand, automotive paints are innumerable, yet meticulously cataloged. For "factory" colors, if you know the make model and can guess the year of the vehicle within a year or two, any body shop or automotive paint shop can easily track down the color info.

If it's a post-factory paint job, all bets are off. I painted a car about ten years ago, and I chose the color from a book of chips that had to be 5" thick. That was volume one of six.

Mark.Wilme · Post by **Mark.Wilme** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 11:32 pm

Do you have the spy photo ? Maybe someone can identify the vehicle for you.

Post by **Tim** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 7:08 am

Mark.Wilme wrote:Do you have the spy photo ? Maybe someone can identify the vehicle for you.

Oh, I know exactly what the vehicle is, and its year. The photo will remain secret, I'm afraid. Sorry for the cloak and dagger.

It must not be a stock color because it doesn't turn up in the appropriate search for the model and year of this vehicle. Maybe my photo will be enough to create a custom color from someday. Meantime, the search for an actual color code for this paint shall continue.

I guess the sheer volume of paint colors available prohibits their display online. Someday I'll go to a paint shop and check out the books of color available. For now, it's not a pressing need.

Summersdawn · Post by **Summersdawn** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 1:03 pm

If you can bring the photo into an automotive paint shop, they can scan it and the computer can create a recipe for the colour (provided it is a good clear picture).

Rachel · Post by **Rachel** » Sun Dec 31, 2006 11:47 am

Congrats, Tim!

I think I might be the aforementioned other person who looked at your boat. That was in November 2004 on a day when it was just *pouring* down rain; not a great day to be checking over a boat.

I thought the name was great, although it just barely fit on the transom. I have a few photos I took that day; if you'd like me to send them to you, just let me know.

--- Rachel