The
mast is square sectioned of spruce-looking
wood with external halyards and a two inch square wire chase up the middle. Never had any
rot but I have been liberal with CPES and
epoxy every time its been off the boat. It is deck-stepped in a very heavy s/s support. Under the
deck is an substantial arched support of laminated ply and the framing of the
head and handing locker create a box structure below this. The
head door has never binded so I know the stay
compression doesn't flex the deck.
The
cockpit size is smallish - a self-draining foot well of about five by three with the seats a little less than six feet, seats at deck level with high coamings for backrests and to keep green
water out. The companion way sill is at deck level so the front of the foot well ends as a bridge deck. The size and drainage are such that I have not worried about taking a full cockpit of water from a boarding sea. The double-ender design has always seemed to keep following seas from breaking on us more than a time or two. A good one person cockpit to brace into and be able to reach all the
sheets. A second person is acceptable if they have a reason to be there. More than two people not good except at
anchor.
The
bilge is too flat over the encapsulated ballast (concrete and s/s machine punchings below a
fiberglass covering). I have mostly
solved that problem by "digging" a 10" by 10" sump into the ballast at the low point of the bilge (sealed with epoxy) and mounting the primary
bilge pump in the sump.
Engine access is as good as it could be in a 32ft sailboat. The entire front of the engine is exposed with the engine box joinery is disassembled (designed like a jigsaw puzzle - no fasteners required). There is about a foot on each side of the engine. The back of the engine, tranny,
exhaust and stuffing box are reached thru a 24"
aluminum man-hole cover (heavily dogged) in the bottom of the footwell. There is a
teak grate that covers the whole footwell and effectively hides the
hatch cover. I am having more problems working in the "hole" than I did 30 years ago, but can still do it.
The hull form and the weight guarantee a stiff boat. It takes about 10kt breeze to get to a 5-8 degree heel and then it stiffens up hard. Probably won't see 15-20 degrees of heel until 25-30 knots unless you are overpowering the boat. The
outboard rudder and tiller allow you to really feel for balance and trim accordingly. We use an
Autohelm 3000 autopilot and the unit moves very little and not very often in most
wind and wave conditions. Never had a hobby horse that was more than wave pattern dictated, i.e. not undamped.
Not asked- but the ice box is not adequate OK size about 5 cu ft - but just ripped it out and found only two inchs of plain white styrofoam under the
stainless steel skin. Explains the three Adler Barbours I have killed over the years. Going to Seafrost holding plate system and so will need to beef up the
insulation a lot - which will be a trick without really modifying the cabinetry. (following the Aerogel thread with intense interest)
Also not asked -
headroom is about 5' 10" except in the
galley area where a dog-house takes it to about 6' 3" (I am 5'8" so never been an issue) Not all the
Aries have had the dog-house aft in the
cabin so than would be an issue for people carrying excess height.
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions