Pearson 365 and 367

Currently at $305. Check out the rust on the driveline, impressive!
Dale

When I got our boat one of the first things I had to do is pull the engine.  To accomplish this I fabricated a U-shaped bar that was used to lift he engine with the main boom and slide it back, up, and out of the boat.  We recently had a water softener fail and a subsequent water issue and ran across my refit notes. Included in this notebook was a sketch of that lifter if anyone is interested.
Dale

We pulled Maruska Saturday.  I finagled to be the last boat out of the marina for the season.  I would have stayed in longer but the docks had to come out.  Although we did not sail her all that much I spent 3 to 5 nights aboard a week since it went in on the 2nd week of August, especially the colder and snottier it got as that is my favorite. In my bunk, a good book, some background music with the heat on toasty.
I did get the majority of the trailer rust treated and painted this summer.  Top is done except for the red/white striped area. Next year I will flip the trailer over and do the underside to keep it from dissolving.
I also redid the bottom this year.  Took it down to the gelcoat, barrier coated it and topped it off with VC17.  It has a faster bottom than many of the "race" boats in our area.

I am considering upgrading my primary winches.  I had them rechromed way back when but they are beginning to show their age once again. I am planning to stick with non powered. We see way to much damage from powered equipment.  I would appreciate your feedback on the subject...

1) What size and make does your boat currently have?
2) Are you happy with them?
3) If you were to upgrade what size would you consider purchasing?
4) What manufacture would you go with?

While we are at it how about your mainsheet winch?  Same questions.

Thanks in advance.
Dale

Its been 9 years since I turned the key on my own marine retail business and much has happend since then. Of course alot hasn't happened since then as well, mainly due to the compression of time.  Over those long short years both my wife and I have lost our parents, sold our family home and all four of our kids have moved out and own their own homes. 

Between life, the business and the continious home improvements projects  for the kids, sailing has taken a back seat.  I do sail, mostly in a 1962 beater Oday 17 Daysailer 1 on the odd holiday Sunday afternoon.  I also provide onboard insite and advice to our customers that race as do 3 of my 4 kids.  Each kid plays an important role in selected customers boat race programs.

In the past 9 years our 365 has been in only once for a very short season. Covid did no one any favors unless you were well connected and we continue to struggle as a result.
As with any year it is a bad look to have ones own boat floating while a good customers remains on the hard.  From the first hint of warmth until right around now, we stay just a bit busy no less that 12 hrs a day 7 days a week. 

This year people have been particularly needy but this 4th seemingly sees us over the seasonal hump so to speak.  One factor is we have never seen so many boats remaining on the hard at this point of the season. Covid too has much to do with that as well as one can go down the line of idle sitting boats noting so and so has passed or their spouce is in the hospital or they are now without a job.

I have begun to find moments in between other peoples boats to get aboard my own. At first it's just a ladder up to plug her in and a look see checking for water below. Then I got in a good powerwash and I have begun the ritual of restoring the brightwork.  Her starboard side is looking wonderful as I work my way around the deck. She will need a good hull buff and wax with the next few stolen moments before she floats.

I did have an oportunity to just sit on deck and look her over the other evening while waiting for the incomming rain, and I couldnt help but fall in love with her all over again as I did 18 short years ago.

We get aboard all kinds of boats in our business and I have yet to have one of them turn my head like our very own 365.  Over the past 4 weeks alone we have put together and sent down the waterway some very interesting boats such as a Tayana 37, Hodgeon 59, Feeling 546 and a multi million dollar custom 86 ft cat that had 3200 sqft of living space.  Dont get me wrong, they are all beautiful boats, but without real advantage at least from my point of view. 

We talk to owers all the time that don't use their boats because they are to big, too heavy or to expensive. The 365 in my mind suffers from none of those issues. We live in a town where newer Beneteaus are everywhere. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with them so to speak, but you can't even tell one from the other except by their hull color and that is limited it seems to white or gray.
The 365 still has everything we were looking for 18 years ago and still meets all of our requirements.  I put untold work into her and not a lick of it was wasted effort. She still is a looker and a sanctuary even if for a few stolen moments waiting for the rain to come.

Dale Tanski
MARUSKA
Hull #40
Cutter Ketch
Buffalo, NY

I check on this board almost every day and as of late it has been very very quite.  I know for us northerners it is the end of the season and we are busy putting our boats to bed for the long cold winter.  As for you southerners the hurricane season is winding down and coming to an end. For you the wind is about to come back and your season will be in full swing. For those of you in between so to speak, you have yet another season depending how far north or south you are.
I hope we didn't lose any boats during the past storm season. I am always curious on how owners ended up after a bad storm.  We have had several customers lose boats over the years which can be a bad thing and for others a good thing.
Let us know what is going on out there!
Dale

Have any of you, or does your boat have an installed opening port into the cockpit area from the galley area?  I was sitting on the boat below the other evening and thought it wouldn't be a bad idea.

If so, how do you like it?  Would you do it again?  Is it a problem while sitting in the cockpit area or leaning against the rear cabin bulkhead?  What size do you have installed?  Would you go bigger/smaller? 

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

Dale

So... We haven't had the boat in the water in over 6 years.  The boat finally goes into the water in the last few days of August and on the very first time we go out for a sail on September 1st, the Buffalo News takes our picture!  No, we were not racing, we were just spectating and cheering on some of our customers.  It was indeed a gorgeous night for a sail.  I am waiting patiently for my check...

Dale

Anybody loose a boat or have any major damage form that last bit of a blow?  I don't know how you guys do it.  We get snow, sometimes lots of it but it melts all by itself.

Dale

Now that I have the boat floating, I have been attending to the many of little the items that need to be checked out.  This summer has been a hot one up here in the Buffalo area for all of August.  Everyday has been in the mid 80's with high humidity. I know for many of you that is not hot but for us northerners those temps are something it takes a lot to get used to.  I have never been a hot climate person so for me it seems even worse.  I also suspect that since acquiring Lyme disease last spring the heat has become more of a personal issue for me.

So... I have had this small (7000 btu) Ac unit knocking around that I was asked to remove from a customers boat.  In an effort to make my boat reasonable inside, I perched it up on the port side V-berth cushion, and ran a hose from my head faucet for the IN and ran a long hose to the galley sink drain for the OUT (my head sink drain goes to the shower sump system).  That small 7000 btu unit does indeed make the boat reasonable to spend time on.  I looses ground during the heat of the day but regains ground at night satisfying the 70 degree set point of the thermostat I stole out of our showroom (we don't need heat this time of year). I simply run a hose from the condensate drain on the units drain pan to a 1 gallon plastic jug on the floor.  I have been collecting on average one gallon of condensate per day on average. 

My question is to those who have this incredible luxury aboard, did you opt for one large unit or two (or more) smaller units, and where did you shoe horn them in? The kicker is that the price differential between smaller BTU units and larger units is very small, which makes the installation of one large unit more cost effective.  I am thinking that adding another unit would provide redundancy, add flexibility and cover more of the boat evenly by having two location positions.  I like the location of the current unit as I can close the V-berth door and "freeze" that area if needed.

I know I should be sailing the boat but puttering in the AC has been very nice.  Hopefully by next week we will have a reduction in our temps and my requirement for a reasonable working conditions will be much less.  Please let me know what has worked or not worked for you.

Dale

As many of you know, since I bought Obersheimers Sailor Supply, 8ish years ago and I became a business owner, nothing has been the same. 
I realize that it is now August 9th, but I am very excited and in the home stretch as far a getting Maruska back into the water.  It all started when we made the decision to keep the boat out of the water "for a season" while caring for my ailing mother back in 2011.  That decision was an excellent one as we provided 24 hour care that would take us until the end of the 2013 season.

Then it was the business.  Overwhelming at best, walking into a business that was also on life support took every ounce of time I ever dreamed of having.  Maruska went from hopeful to out of mind.  The good news was that she was safe and sound in her boat barn, but like all good things, that also came to an end.  It has been three years now since we sold our family home, all 31 acres and the boat barn.  On her trailer, away she went to a friends marina where she sat outside both summer and winter, sun and snow.

In the fall of 2019 we had the opportunity to replace the slip we gave up oh so many years ago and we took it.  The thought was to get the boat in the water the following year, but Covid killed that dream along with 60 percent of our business.  We had rebounded the business after years of hard work, and it went deep six in a matter of weeks.  New York of course was one of the most draconian states when it came to regulations and deceptions. 

The positive was the ability to sit back and look at the big picture.  We had what it took to build and run a business in one of the most business unfriendly states in the country. I say "we" because today we are a true family business.  My son runs the sail loft and rigging department.  My oldest daughter handles the phones and sales floor. She also posts real-estate listings in her spare time for a good customer of ours.  My middle daughter works the store weekends scanning our customers for her financial advisors job, and she does all of our off the deck up the mast work in the evenings.  My wife does sail repairs, canvas and keeps customers in the door when things get busy when she is not at her special needs teachers aid job.  I do the vast majority of our service work which includes fiberglass, core repair, painting and gelcoat repair.  We do custom machining, woodworking, electrical and marine plumbing.  This of course is mixed in with my full/part time position as a preventative maintenance manager at a local plastics manufacture.  Hey... you have to do what you have to do. Mix in daycare for our very first and only grandchild, and our store is a wonderfully hectic place.  It is all hands, all day everyday.  Watch out, don't step on the toys, all the lowest product hooks are bare, and yes that is a swing!  We have all never worked harder but, it is a where we go one, we go all kind of thing. 

Not everybody has the opportunity to see and work with their kids everyday. (my youngest daughter lives around the corner from the store and entertains the grandkid almost every morning)  Not everybody probably wants to, but we sure do!  Not everybody has hundreds of customers they can call friends.  Not everybody is doing what they want to do everyday.  It's not all fun and games although we do try and keep it light.  We have "purged" more customers this year than all the others combined.  Post covid has made the nice people nicer and the borderline impossible.  Sometimes you have to loose a cow to save the heard.  We have found putting up with a known pain in the ass customer is often carried on to customers that deserve better, so there is the door!  So many people have never been told NO before.  So many people actually believe they are as special as amazon and the news media has convinced them that they are.  The biggest myth we have found is the "customer is always right".  Hobie Cat has canceled our dealership (they said we didn't sell enough boats even though they haven't had any for two years) and Quantum is now saying the same thing!  See ya! All opportunities...

We haven't regretted a moment.   We pray for a better year each and every year, and have come to the realization post Covid, that if it wasn't meant to be... oh well.  Money is worthless. One day in our life with family and our customer friends under one roof is priceless.  We had a fantastic house, but it was just a house (I do miss the barn).  We had a great life but this is better.  We use to have more money, but the cost to get it and keep it just didn't pay.

So... Maruska's teak is freshly varnished, the port side hull is buffed (one more half to go) I need to drop new batteries in and we launch!  Better late than never.  I only hope we can figure out where all of the pieces go, and I should probably test start the motor before we splash.  Every item has been stolen time, using her will be more of the same.  Customers frown on the fact that your boat is in and theirs is not, for what ever the reason.  I have sailed only once this season so far, three times total last year, all for customers.  Here is hoping for some miles under her keel this fall but what ever it amounts to it will be appreciated, good or bad.  Appreciate what you have, it can all be gone in an instant despite your best efforts.  It is better to have less and use it more, than to have lots and use none of it.  Stick to your core principles and hold tight.  Never be afraid!  Never give up! Big changes are coming!

God bless and good sailing...

Dale Tanski
Hull #40
Maruska

Found this in my travels.  I suspect it is not listed under a broker so not on the major web sites.

https://buffalo.craigslist.org/boa/d/chaumont-pearson-365/7330525753.html

Dale

You should take the time to read my response to Jordan's post regarding VHF equipment as I shared a occurrence of a MOB that three of my kids were involved in a few Wednesdays ago. 

That hopefully once in a lifetime event changed their lives in how they approach leaving the dock. They were brought up well aware of safety protocol as our 365 has the required Coast Guard safety equipment aboard in addition to:
Safety harnesses
Personal strobes
Personal whistles
Personal survival knives
Handheld flares
In addition the boat is equipped with jacklines, fixed VHF, (2) handheld VHF's, masthead tricolor w/strobe, MOB pole, (2) MOB strobes.

When we race we all wear Mustang Hydrostatic inflatables.  Mustang is the only maker that provides this type of technology. Hydrostatic means that the vest must be exposed to water and be under a certain amount of water pressure before it activates.  They are the only automatic vest that does not inflate all by itself.  Typical auto inflate vest have a spring loaded piercing pin that is held back by a water soulable wafer.  The wafer dissolves when wet, and the spring loaded pin is allowed to strike the CO2 canister releasing the gas that inflates the vest.  We have seen several cases where the wafer dissolves over time from high humidity and auto fires. In one case it blew the hinges off of a hanging locker when it self inflated. We have also had customers that have had theirs deploy in rain or boarding wave.  Hydrostatic because of the submerged pressure requirement does not have this design flaw.  In the case of the MOB situation my kids were involved in that vest did not auto fire at all soaking wet.  It was a standard West Marine non-hydro vest. He was lucky to manually deploy and it worked. Please note, I am not picking on West Marine. They didn't make the vest and there was no indication of who actually did which is a pet peeve of mine.  West does sell a West branded hydro vest currently, and it clearly says Mustang Survival right on it.
Mustang I consider they best of the best.  They are the gold standard and are supplied and worn by the Coast Guard and military.  I also consider them one of the most comfortable to wear.  Like seat belts, once they are on you wont even notice you are wearing one. 
We suffered a spreaders in knockdown in our J-22 several years ago, and the spinnaker got wrapped around the masthead wind vane.  With the kite hung on the end of the mast the boat would not self-rite.  All aboard had Mustang Survival vests on. My son slid over the rail and stood on the keel but the boat would not stand up.  I decided that the spinnaker would have to be removed from the top of the mast before we could continue...so I exited the cockpit and made it all the way to the spreaders before my Mustang inflated. I had totally forgot that I was even wearing it!  At that moment the spinnaker unhooked itself, the boat righted, the sails filled and the two remaining occupants scrambled to douse the sails and stop the boat as it accelerated away while my son and I both floated with our inflated vests on.  All ended well but it taught us to expect the unexpected.

Because of the unexpected please take the time to inspect you safety equipment and onboard safety protocol.  Replace what is questionable and add what is missing.  If you have an inflatable take the time to inspect the CO2 cartridge

If you are considering a vest please add Mustang to your list.  I tell my customers that you may only get one chance to save your life by the choice of life vest that you wear.  Wear is a key feature.  The old saying hold true that is you have a $10 dollar head you wear a $10 helmet.  What is your or your loved ones life worth?  If you wear a fanny pack vest currently, throw it out.  When they go off you still have to put it on to survive and putting on an inflated life vest in 4 footers can't be easy if not all but impossible. 

My kids were shook up by the event they went through.  None of them are snowflakes, quite the opposite.  They all realized that the MOB was lucky and had the events that played out been even slightly different, they would have lost a crew member and friend.  The boat collectively adopted a buddy system where each is responsible for the location and condition of somebody else.  They are typically a crew of 12.  The boat reviewed their safety protocol and equipment.  Ironically the boats MOB pole was at home in the garage. It is currently back on the boat.  They upgraded their equipment and others on their crew did the same.  Because the incident occurred as daylight diminishes this time of year, visibility was not that great.  Had it all happened 20 minutes latter, things would have been worse.  A water activated ACR personal strobe is around $25. What's your excuse. 

Because my son wrote a detailed recount of the MOB for our local club, several other boats crew have approached us regarding safety equipment.  It turns out that this season in a fleet of approximately 70 boats, this was the third MOB that we have become aware of. None but this one were advertised, as I suspect there is a certain amount of embarrassment that is associated with such an event.  In 2 of the 3 cases, the boat that lost the person was not the boat that recovered the person.  In one case the boat picking up the MOB sucked a spinnaker sheet into the prop during pick up and the engine stop was so abrupt that it bent the prop shaft and tore the prop strut from the hull.  Expect the unexpected. 

We once picked up an ejected crew member of a J-22 ahead of us. While trimming the chute, it unloaded then reloaded and while sheeting the crew member fell over the side when a huge amount of slack caught her off balance.  We adjusted course, and grabbed her without stopping by the life jacket swooping her up and over the rail.  She was young, strong and light, that was fortuitous. We finished the race while she trimmed our kite.   

If you have questions or would like additional advice please feel free to contact us.  We are always more than willing to help.

Dale Tanski
 

I just thought I would throw out some information from behind the scenes so to speak.  The Corona thing has laid waste to many supply chains across the country and globally.  I tell customers every day that the supply chain is broken, and by all visible clues it is not going to get better in the marine industry any time soon. 
When we reopened in May, pretty much everything was available to order.  Today is a much different picture.  50% of everything we order is no longer available and it is getting worse every day.  Typically as the summer season nears an end, this happen every year, but no where to this extent. When a customers needs something we do not have in stock we now check our distributors first before we say "sure we can get one of those for you".
Our distributors used to say, check back in a week or two for availability.  Recently they have become more realistic and are saying "you may not see that item until next season".  We have even been told as of late that "you wont see that as the company is gone".    This happened in a big way in 2008 when 42% of all marine related companies went out of business.  When people come in to purchase an older matching part, I say to them that "if it was manufactured before 2008, there is a 42% chance that it is now unavailable".  People hate drilling new mounting holes for some reason.
So... if you are a live aboard or long distance cruiser, grab what ever spare parts you need now.  Most of you will probably say "too late" as much of them are already gone.  I was in our local West Marine the other day and they are empty as anything labeled West Marine is China based and there hasn't been a shipment out of China since before Christmas because of the Chinese new year shut downs and then Corona.  We tend to carry quality over price type items, and most of them are non China based so we are in much better shape. 
As an example, we carry Taylor fenders which are very well made and have a one year burst/rupture guarantee. These are made in America and are still very much available.  In the case of fenders we also carry the cheapest fender we can find to compete with West, and these aren't worth buying but people insist. They would rather spend hundreds on repairing damage to their hull rather than spending $50 on a good fender.  We also carry Polyform, another great US company. 
Rope has been an issue for us this season as well. We normally sell 25,000 feet a season and stock a rainbow of colors and patterns.  This year finding line has been an issue and we have almost emptied our back room of excess spools of stock.  Now we could sell Depot House quality cordage, that has a much higher margin per foot, but we just like to sleep at night.  The cheap low quality line also doesn't splice well or at all and the majority of our line sales require a slice.
It appears it is only going to get worse as time goes on, so if you need something grab it. 
I was talking to the hardware store near us the other day, literally a mom and pop old fashioned squeaky floor place.  They are my first stop when I need something non marine related, and they said spring was rough for them acquiring stock but things were getting better.  They also handle more domestic names and that maybe a factor. I do know that many of the hooks in the hardware departments in the Home Depots by us have been empty weeks.   

Dale Tanski
Obersheimers
Buffalo New York
Maruska
Hull #40

It's a long story, but I had an out of town customer contact me that purchased a 365 ketch that needed a mainsail to get the boat home call me looking for a used main.  One thing led to another and I ended up selling them my own personal mainsail. 
This all happened about three years ago but as many of you know my boat hasn't been in the water for years due to family issues, lack of a slip and most of all, business obligations. 
So... at the end of last year we acquired a slip and made the decision to launch this year.  Covid upset everything and shut down my ability to acquire a new mainsail this spring as planned, so I find myself with a boat about to launch and no main. Does anyone have even a rag of a main for a ketch that I could purchase to get by this season?  I know what you must be thinking, we own a sail loft and can't come up with a sail for our own boat.  Yup, that is exactly the situation I find myself in.
A Catalina 30 is close, perfect on the foot but 2 feet short in the hoist, but we don't even have one of these laying around. We do have a nice used Chance 30-30 main in stock, but it is over 2 feet short along the foot and a couple of feet short in hoist.  I guess in 30 knots it would do nicely. Everything we have in used inventory is way too small or way too big. We don't keep many of our customers cast offs unless they are truly usable due to storage space limitations.
So if you have anything I could use let me know.

Thanks....
Dale Tanski
Obersheimer Sailor Supply
Buffalo, New York
Maruska
Hull #40 

If you could, what would you be working on right now?  What kind of projects?  This can't last forever. 

I need to paint the bottom this year, but the problem is I might take it all the way down and switch to Interlux VC-17 bottom paint instead of Interlux NT ablative.  You have to put it on every season but VC 17 is so ablative that the front of the keel and rudder are often bald at the end of the season.  You never have to sand or scrape again... ever!  It is teflon based so it is very slippery as well.
Other projects for me will be revarnishing some of the teak and finish adding ash ceiling boards in the V-berth. The port side is done and the starboard side is started.  It looks so much better than that slab of white fiberglass. If I have time I need to replumb the forward water tank, we haven't used it since we first launched.

Dale

Over the years we have (my daughter for the most part) has been up, worked on aloft and inspected many rigs.  This is the time of the year where we head down to the marinas to eye ball many of the rigs that will spend the off season on the ground.  My son Eric, who is our main rigger, can spot a broken strand form 30 feet.  We have saved many a rig from future failure just by a simple look see. 
If you are taking your rig down for the off season take the time to look at each and every piece of gear up there.  This investment in time can save your boat from unnecessary issues from a lost fitting or broken item in your standing rigging.  Remember, when a mast comes down it is the weakest link that starts the whole event.  If you do not feel you are at all competent, hiring a rigger for a professional opinion can be a great investment.   
Just food for thought...

Dale Tanski

So...
This years sailing season is winding down (for us up north anyway).  Some of you I am sure did more this season than just work on your boat.  If that was indeed the case, where did you venture, how far was that from your home port and what is your all time favorite destination and WHY?  We want to know!

Dale Tanski
Maruska
Hull #40
Staysail Ketch

Who is heading to the Annapolis Sailboat Show next weekend?  As you all know, it is one of the very best and certainly the largest in the water sailboat show this country has to offer.  The weather with the exception of Monday is looking very nice, although we have attended in the rain and that was just fine as well.

Dale

As many of you may be aware, I have been somewhat absent from the site and have not been sailing our 365 for the past several years.  Obersheimer Sailor Supply has been doing well and we continue to grow and get better at this thing called a chandlery.  We sold our house last year which was a incredible thing to have experienced, 39 years in the same place. Still looking for things I know I kept but can't seem to find.  Two kids married, two to go and so it goes.

The Pearson hasn't been wet for about six years, in fact I gave our slip up about four years ago. The business put a time crunch on that activity. We did keep sailing, racing the families J22 and on customers boats.  We started looking for a slip again last year but government overreach has made availability of a suitable slip hard to acquire.  In Buffalo the number of slips has dwindled rather than increased.  This week however we were lucky enough to purchase a share in a privately owned marina and Maruska now has a place to float. So... starting next year we will begin leisure sailing all over again.  The ability to store the boat indoors on site at our past house also added to the time away from water, as it was an out of site out of mind kind of deal.  The boat was transported on its trailer last fall to a near by boat yard after we closed and she saw the great outdoors for the first time in all of those years.  She has been homeless sitting there ever since.  I went aboard a couple weeks ago and with the exception of little varnish she wintered Ok.  I actually took some time to roam her decks and sit behind the wheel, it had been a long time. Such a nice boat, a nice boat indeed. 

We are looking forward to float her in the spring and get the masts aloft once again.  I will have to purchase a new main as I sold mine to a customer a few years back that needed one NOW. I still have not shelved the idea of cruising and leaving her in Maine for a period, but one step at a time.  So, I suspect you will see a lot more of my ramblings on the site in the coming months as I turn my thoughts to launch season.

Good Sailing
Dale Tanski
Obersheimers, Buffalo NY