Namesake

The Ariel was a clipper ship famous for making fast voyages between China and England in the late 1860s.

The Ariel was a full-rigged ship of 853 tons net register, measuring 197.4 feet x 33.9 feet x 21 feet. She was designed by William Rennie, and built in 1865 by Robert Steele & Co., Greenock for Shaw, Lowther & Maxton of London. Like most tea clippers she was composite built, of timber planking over iron frames.

The Ariel is most famous for almost winning an unofficial race between Foochow, China and London with the first tea crop of the 1866 season. Premium prices were paid for the first consignment to reach London. The clipper Fiery Cross left Foochow on 29 May and the Ariel, Taeping and Serica on the 30th. On 6 September Taeping docked twenty minutes ahead of Ariel, and about two hours ahead of the Serica. The Fiery Cross and Taitsing arrived two days later.

Taeping, Captain McKinnon, owned by Captain Alexander Rodgers of Cellardyke, Fife, drew less water than Ariel and was able to tie up in the London docks twenty minutes ahead of Ariel, Captain Keay, 99 days and almost 16,000 miles out of Foochow. Taeping divided her winnings of 10 shillings per ton with the crew of Ariel and Captain McKinnon divided the captain's £100 with Captain Keay, who hailed from Anstruther.

With the completion of the Suez Canal the tea trade was taken over by steamships and most of the clippers transferred to the Australian trade, carrying general cargo to either Sydney or Melbourne, and returning with wool - for which a premium price was also paid on the first shipments of the season.

The Ariel sailed from London for Sydney on 31 January 1872 under the command of Captain Talbot, but failed to arrive. Around August 1872 the remains of a teak-built ship's life-boat carrying a brass fitting with the gothic-scrip letter A were found on King Island in Bass Strait. It was believed to have come from the missing vessel, which, if the assumption was correct, probably foundered in the Southern Ocean after rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

Health Insurance

In response to a comment to our previous post, I will expand on the difficulties in choosing health care coverage. For us, we have always been fortunate enough to have coverage. We had student insurance, the U.S. Navy, and I have always worked for large companies which have provided good plans. It has been a point of great frustration for us for many years that our Congress and elected leaders or potential leaders will not address the health care crisis in this country, not so much for our benefit but for those less fortunate. For example, our oldest daughter does not now have coverage. The good news is that this coming March she will qualify for coverage with her new employer after reaching her first anniversary.

Each open enrollment period we do examine all the options and do the math. When high deductible plans with HSA's were introduced we were initially excited, but on closer examination we found they were more or less a break even for us compared to other options. It really comes down to your individual situation.

This year we did change plans from a PPO, local to this area, to more of a traditional type insurance which includes a network. This is to leave open the possibility of COBRA coverage for awhile after retirement. Since we will not have a permanent address we wanted a geographically expanded network . We are lucky that our doctors are in the new plan as well. At retirement we will consider all the options and a high deductible plan is certainly in the mix. We plan to stay in the US for most of our first year cruising so the international plan option is not available until the second year. International Medical Insurance

Setting a Date

This has actually been the hardest decision for us to make. It is a balancing act between saving for retirement and leaving soon enough to be reasonably fit and in good health. The financial advisers warn those contemplating early retirement that medical insurance until Medicare kicks in at the normal retirement age is extremely expensive.

Neither of us has retiree medical insurance. Linda lost hers when her employer totally revoked the benefit and in its place made a small addition to her 401K. I lost mine in one of the many corporate reshuffles I have otherwise survived. I could work just another year plus and again qualify for retiree medical insurance, but that would delay our departure by two years, since we could not leave until the fall of the following year. It sounds enticing but the trend has been to shift more and more of the premium burden to the retiree and I do not have the confidence that the program will not be dropped in the future anyway.

In the end we decided not to wait for this benefit and to struggle through the gap with individual insurance plans. It is not so bleak as once we leave the United States and as long as we do not spend more than 60 days each year in the US we can get international coverage at much better rates. Since this is our plan anyway, at least for part of the gap, it is a good fit.

So then what happens in 2007? I will reach the 30 year anniversary mark with my employer. This is special because I can then draw a full unreduced pension. The timing could not be better. My anniversary is in August and we want to leave in September.

Linda is already retired. She retired at the time we moved to Massachusetts from Ohio. She no longer had a career as such, but a job with little advancement opportunity. During one of campaign periods for an increase in the local school levy, they restricted school buses to the state minimum of outside two miles from school. We lived just within the two mile range so Linda gave up her position in the Trust Department and accepted a part time position as a bank teller with the same employer to be closer to home and to have more flexible work hours. Within a couple weeks bus service was resumed, but the change had been made and she was never considered for a position in the Trust Department again. As time went on she was assigned to branches further and further from home. It was an easy decision to retire when relocation provided another good excuse.

For me I am not so anxious to retire as I am to pursue our dream while we can. For the last 10 years I have been a consultant configuring SAP software. This is project work which by nature is very demanding with long work hours and a very high level of travel. It is also extremely rewarding as the teams, conditions, and challenges are constantly changing. If we did not have this dream I would not even think of early retirement.

Counsels from Water Rat

From The Wind in the Willows , a classic of children's literature written in 1908 by Kenneth Grahame

`This has been a wonderful day!' said he, as the Rat shoved off and took to the sculls again. `Do you know, I`ve never been in a boat before in all my life.'

`What?' cried the Rat, open-mouthed: `Never been in a -- you never -- well I -- what have you been doing, then?'

`Is it so nice as all that?' asked the Mole shyly, though he was quite prepared to believe it as he leant back in his seat and surveyed the cushions, the oars, the rowlocks, and all the fascinating fittings, and felt the boat sway lightly under him.

`Nice? It's the only thing,' said the Water Rat solemnly, as he leant forward for his stroke. `Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing -- absolute nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,' he went on dreamily: `messing -- about -- in -- boats; messing -- -- '

`Look ahead, Rat!' cried the Mole suddenly.

It was too late. The boat struck the bank full tilt. The dreamer, the joyous oarsman, lay on his back at the bottom of the boat, his heels in the air.

` -- about in boats -- or with boats,' the Rat went on composedly, picking himself up with a pleasant laugh. `In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not.

Look here! If you've really nothing else on hand this morning, supposing we drop down the river together, and have a long day of it?'

Boat Tour – Guest Cabin

The guest cabin is on the port quarter. This features a double berth which extends under the cockpit. We have changed this area significantly from the original design. Island Packet included a small sink which was in a slide out drawer under a lift up top in the cabinet. While interesting and functional, this just wasn’t a practical use of the space for us..

We removed the sink, water supply and drain lines. We re-routed the hot water line to the cockpit shower which was previously cold water only. This involved adding a mixer in the cockpit to regulate the water temperature. We converted the sink drain thru hull to be used for the generator exhaust water. We then built a teak desk which also slides out just as the sink did, but also has leaves which fold out to create a reasonably sized work area. The desk was designed primarily as a station for the laptop computer. When the laptop is not in use it is stored safely in the desk compartment.

We finally added a chair for the desk. This chair uses a pedestal system which allows for easy removal leaving a plate which is flush with the cabin sole. While guest are aboard the chair is stored at the helm in the cockpit. Guest, of course, now use the sink in the single head on Ariel.

This compartment also includes a hanging locker. While rarely used as such this space is used to store a tool box and a wet/dry vacuum both of which are too bulky for other storage areas but are now readily accessible.

Generator Installation

Probably the biggest project we have undertaken was to install a generator. We get many of our ideas from the Island Packet Discussion List, a forum to exchange ideas via email, hosted by Sailnet.com and from Islandpacketphotos.com a site hosted by Hayden Cochran also an IP owner. We had been searching for a small generator at a reasonable cost. We were drawn to a 4.2kw generator made by Entec West. The size and price were right, and they are very supportive of owner installation and maintenance. We made the decision and traveled to the Annapolis Boat Show to see the model first hand and to place our order. We started immediately to create a space for it on Ariel. We decided the best location was directly under the helm. This is on the centerline which we felt was important since the generator with sound enclose weighs 234 pounds. This space was already occupied by the hot water heater. We took a radical approach and moved the hot water heater all the way forward to a space under the berth. It just fit through the opening. This meant re-routing the water lines and running electric for the water heater to the new location. Normally the water is heated from one of two sources. While the engine is running the engine cooling system will provide heat to warm the water through a heat exchanger. The second source is 120 volt AC electric which is provided by shore power or a generator. We decided not to route the hot water from the engine all the way forward, but since we now have a generator we could produce hot water anytime from 120 volt AC electric. The space now occupied by the hot water heater is not readily accessible, as it is under the mattress, so we felt is was an easy tradeoff to make.

The generator needed a good solid base so during the winter a base was constructed which would beef up the existing platform that previously supported the hot water heater.

Most of the work in doing the installation was around all the supporting services. A new thru hull was installed to provide cooling water. Just after the thru hull a new strainer was installed to filter out any debris that may be drawn in. A new fuel line was required and well as a fuel return. We design a fuel system that included a fuel filter identical to that the support the main diesel engine. We also designed a manifold that permits the main engine or generator to use either fuel filter. If one fuel filter becomes clogged we can immediately switch to the other, continue on and then change the dirty fuel filter.We also had to install the cables from the starter battery to the starter motor. The generator shares the same battery for starting with the main engine. We added the control panel which is mounted in the cockpit. This particular one will shut down the generator if problems are detected, such as overheating or low oil pressure.

We added the electrical wiring which required a set of circuit breaker controls which prevent sourcing 120 volt AC from shore power and the generator at the same time. W e added the exhaust system which required running the exhaust through a water lift muffler and then routing to the transom where a new exhaust port was added. Marine engines mix the cooling water and the exhaust. We knew this would create a splashing sound but decided to try the system one season before deciding if we needed an air water separator. The air water separator does exactly as the name implies. It separates the air and water and then routes the exhaust air to the transom exhaust port and sends the water to an underwater thru hull. The following year we added this feature. While the generator has its own very good sound enclosure, we decided to add another layer of sound insulation to the area where the generator would be installed. Finally we lowered the generator into place, using a chain fall attach to the spare halyard. This operation went smoothly and after making the final connections and bleeding the fuel lines, it started quite readily. We have been very pleased ever since and are very satisfied with the sound level. The unit which produces 35 amperes which can power everything we have on board, but not all at the same time. We added a ampere guage at the electric panels so we can control our consumption and the load on the generator Accces to the generator for maintainence is through the star board cockpit locker. The sound enclosure is removed as shown in the first photo to provide access.

Tucked Away for Winter

Ariel is now ready for its final winter in the Northeast. It is a required ritual in the north to prepare for winter and of course in the spring to re-commission for another season. There is actually quite a list of tasks all of which are extremely important to avoid damage from freezing and severe weather. We had a custom cover made the first year we had Ariel. In addition to keeping the freezing rain and snow off, it also protects it from the sun and from boat yard hazards such as paint overspray. We remove all items that could freeze, many of these are items from the head and from the galley. We put antifreeze (pink pop) in all of the systems. The engine, generator and air conditioning units all use sea water for cooling. This seawater has to be replace with antifreeze. The water tank and the hot water heater are drained and the antifreeze is run through all of the fresh water lines. This antifreeze is non-toxic so in the spring the lines are flushed and are ready for normal use. All other systems are also winterized in the same fashion. These include the head, wash down system , and sump pumps. We then open compartments and place cushions on end to allow air circulation. On the exterior we get started on maintenance to the bottom. In the spring we will put on new coats of bottom paint. This is paint with a high copper content which helps prevent marine growth. The propeller (Autoprop) is greased to force out any water which may be inside the hub. We scrape the few barnacles that have accumulated. Barnacles attach to anything metal which means the prop will have several. Once all of this is done Ariel is pretty safe left alone. We check on things about once a month during the winter. This gives us a chance to see if any water has accumulated in the bilge and if not frozen it is removed. We also run the battery charger to keep the batteries, which are left aboard, topped off.

Those are the tedious details of putting Ariel away for another winter. But this year is very special for us as this is the last time we will go through this process. The alternative to all of the above is to take the boat to a warmer climate. So stayed tuned as next year we will do just that. Now we have the long winter to endure. We will turn our attention toward cruise planning and start putting some more details around the dream.