AMY BALLENTINE STEVENSARIEL II
ended in the mid-1950s, Ariel II found herself back in
the waters of Long Island Sound and Connecticut before
eventually finding herself again on the Florida coast.
Let’s fast forward the story a few years to an indistinct
classified advert for an aging wooden live-aboard in
Florida. This is where Benjamin and Deborah Baker
began their journey to visit, purchase, and restore
a well-deserving Herreshoff classic.
The Baker family was not new to classic yacht
restorations and had previously restored another
Herreshoff design, Teaser (ex-Paddy, Tiana),
a Newport 29 built in 1926 at the Herreshoff shop in
Bristol, Rhode Island. The Bakers found Teaser in the
early 1990s in storage at Ballentine’s Boat Shop (BBS)
on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She, too, was in desperate
need of full restoration, and Steve Ballentine and crew’s
attention to detail, craftsmanship, and experience with
Herreshoff designs were a perfect match with the Bakers’
restoration philosophy. Once
restoration work on Teaser was
completed by Ballentine’s, she was
relaunched in 1994 and now sails
the waters of Buzzards Bay,
Massachusetts, each summer.
At the time of her purchase in
1999 by the Baker family, Ariel II’s
condition had been heavily modified
from her original design, both
mechanically and cosmetically.
Her interior cabinetry had been
altered to fit non-marine appliances
and her exterior profile drastically
altered with the attachment of a
disagreeable flybridge. I should say
the term “flybridge” is rather
generous in this case; the structure
was merely a canvas bimini top that
had been covered in fibreglass and
given a bit of plexiglass for the
forward-facing windows. One
of those windows would have
to be removed by the crew to allow
the helmsman to see anything other
than foggy, cracked plastic.
Over the decades, her engines
had been changed from the original pair of Sterling gas
engines to the extreme GM 671 diesels, and finally to
the more reasonable Cummins 4 cylinder diesels that
remain in use today.
Ariel II’s large size prevented any reasonable
transportation over land to Ballentine’s Boat Shop, more
than 1,000 miles north of where she was in St Augustine,
Florida. The decision was made to make the trip north
via water and the Intracoastal Waterway. At 68 years
old, Ariel II’s less than stellar condition meant crash
pumps needed to be kept running nearly continuously
during the trip north. Along with the bilge pumps’
operation, a unwelcome community of cockroaches
and spiders made life on board a bit short of luxurious
for her delivery crew.
Upon her safe arrival in Massachusetts, Ariel II was
hauled and the complete picture of her condition became
more clear. Her condition was found to be much worseT
he decade after the American market crash of
1929 was undoubtedly tough on the yachting
industry. Even the venerable Herreshoff
Manufacturing Company (HMCo) in Bristol,
Rhode Island, saw a sharp decline in new orders. With
a few notable exceptions, the construction of new
sailboats continued sluggishly, the majority of contracts
being 12½s, S-Boats, and smaller racing dinghies.
In comparison, the building of new power yachts ceased
almost completely, with less than two dozen built
throughout the 1930s; many of those smaller launches.
One of the few motor yachts built during this period
was Ariel II, a 46ft (14m) power cruiser style yacht for
William E Woodard of New York in 1931. Woodard
(1873-1942) was an accomplished mechanical engineer
who specialised in steam engine technology. Throughout
his career, Woodard established more than 90 patents
in North America and Europe while he was employed
by some of the larger locomotive
companies of the time. His final
position was with Lima Locomotive
Works, where he developed the A-1- later known as the Berkshire –
locomotive. This new steam engine
proved to be a great advance in
steam locomotive efficiency.
Ariel II was designed by Sidney
Herreshoff (son of HMCo founder
Nathanael Herreshoff), and was
a slight modification of an earlier
HMCo yacht, Stroller (HMCo
No.388, built in 1928/9). Like
many yachts of the same period,
Ariel II was drawn with relatively
simple, yet elegant features. From
her nearly plumb bow to the gentle
tumblehome aft, her profile
illustrates classic character and style
and she remains easily recognisable
as a yacht of that period.
As the suffix in her name
suggests, Ariel II was not Woodard’s
first yacht; that was a smaller
flat-top cruiser named Ariel, which,
according to family, he owned until
Ariel II was launched. According to Fred Sayles,
grandson of Woodard, both yachts would have been
used in the waters surrounding Long Island for day
trips or short cruises.
The details of Ariel II’s life after the death of
Woodard in 1942 until she was discovered by her
current owners, failing, but afloat, in Florida, are a little
sparse. However, a handful of previous owner
descendents have added a few pieces of the puzzle. After
Woodard’s death, the boat was sold to a number of
owners through the decades and she hailed from ports
running from Massachusetts to Florida. During the early
1950s, Ariel II was owned by William Durkee of Boston,
Massachusetts. Durkee’s grandson, Chuck Benton,
remembers family stories of cruises north to Maine,
Ariel II’s summer berth far up the Charles River in
Boston, and at least one fall passage south to Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, to winter. After Durkee’s ownership
Above: For the
re-launching
ceremony, the
owners wanted
to recreate a
scene from the
original
commissioning in
Bristol, RI, found
in historical
photos from 1931