Pearson 365 and 367

Hi,
I have a Max Prop 17" 3 blade.  My light wind performance is pretty great, but I have a big drifter for really light airs. I've been in 4 kts of wind and doing 1.5kts, barely enough to inflate the drifter. However I'd never spend the $ on a Max Prop myself.  Compare a campbell sailor against a regular prop, and you'll see that for roughly the same price as a new prop you can decrease drag without the complications of a feathering mechanism. Also, spend some money on a drifter or asymmetrical. If the air is really light and I'm anywhere in the downwind quadrant than the main usually shadows the headsail anyway, so I take it down.  Considering how much my drifter overlaps the main, I have to be well reaching before I put the main back up.
Best of luck!
S/V Tardis, P367 #26

Hello all,
After 9 lovely years of living aboard a sailboat, and the past 4 years on Tardis, I'm moving ashore. I assure you all I haven't lost my mind, and this is a temporary (2 year) move. My work is sending me to Australia, and it looks like an adventure so I'm going. In the mean time I am dry storing my beloved Tardis up the river in Demopolis, AL. I have had to undo some of my recent additions for storage (solar panels, inverter) as well as empty out the boat completely and give it a good cleaning. I will certainly miss my boat, and sailboats in general, but hopefully in two years I'll be back on the forum planning my next project, hopefully with Tardis no worse for the wear.
Cheers,
Mike Sytsma
Pearson 367 #26, S/V Tardis

Thanks for the ideas!
Less than one week Battleship Tardis is shafted and is operational!  I took it to a driveline place that only does driveshafts, cost 180$ which isn't bad!  The rubber madness inside the Walther shaft is an oldschool vibration reduction technique that is no longer in vogue, in fact the guy at the shop thinks it's a terrible idea because as the shafts get older they tend to wallow and damage seals on both ends.  The new shaft is a smaller diameter thickwall tube rated for a 300 horse motor.  He lathed free the old splined end and reused the portion that bolts to the transmission coupler, so the interfaces are perfect. 
I bent the bow rail back into shape with a come-along attached to the dock in about 10 minutes.  I have to buy a new anchor roller. 
Cheers!
Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis Pearson 367 Cutter #26

Hello all,
<Trip Report>
This weekend I sailed from Niceville to Panama City, departing after work Thursday and arriving early AM Friday.  I motored about 5 hours, sailed the rest via drifter in light winds.  I slept almost all day then had a good walk on the beach.  Back to the boat for dinner, then I went barhopping and was quite disappointed in the scene, heading back to my boat by midnight. I slept in late and my uncle James was dropped off by his family, and we sailed off the anchor over to Shell island, more walking on the beach and flat seas.  The wind increased and by the time we hot back to Tardis we were in a fair chop.  Rather than anchor inshore like sane people, I suggested we anchor offshore because it looked so flat earlier.  I got offshore only to find sleep was impossible, so we had a boisterous sail back to Destin, averaging 7 kts all night long!
</Trip Report>
< Mechanical Incident Report>
We got to the Destin Pass and the wind was on our nose and current going out, so I fired up the diesel and lowered the sails.  Everything was OK until I was exactly underneath the bridge and I heard a terribly loud banging from inside the boat and we had lost power.  I did what I could but ended up impacting the wooden bridge walls causing minor damage to the toe rail and ripping out my water vent fitting. If I wanted to get home the same day I needed to be on the other side of the bridge, so I solicited a tow from some fishermen who after 5 minutes of towing me decided they had enough and dropped the line.  I would have preferred a bit more towing action, and actually I was about to raise sails!  I was left in a terrible position, drifting back into a bridge with no time to get the sails up. I put out 200' of scope in 26' of water, and that put me in a position to impede traffic underneath the bridge, or if my anchor dragged a 2kt current and 15 kt wind would blow me into a bridge that is only tall enough for my mast in its center section.

Now I have the opportunity to see what the problem is.  The tubular drive shaft had been severed because the transmission shift cable had been laying on top of it for who knows how long and had worn the tubular metal thin.  It just chose a hell of time to fail!!! So I need to make/find/buy a new shaft asap because I'm sailing to Dry Tortugas after Thanksgiving!
</Mechanical Incident Report>
<Vessel Collision Report>
So here I am anchored in a bad spot, and fishing boats anchor on both sides of me to totally obstruct bridge traffic.  I guess they figured I was doing it they might as well too. There's also only law enforcement present in the summer around these parts.  My uncle and I are inside the boat tinkering with the drive shaft when we hear the VHF go off regarding a big boat about to hit a sailboat at the Destin bridge.  That sounds like me.  So a 100' oil supply boat is trying to get through this barricade of small fishing boats and me.  He's trying to line up but he's fighting a 15 kt wind and a hell of a current, so I watch in terror as he drifts into me.  He guns his engines full throttle and starts accelerating.  Black smoke obscures his monstrous transom, and I look up at three stories of black steel. The captain knew his boat, and he passed me with only a softish kiss of an impact from my bow rail against his stern flank.  This kiss ripped out and ruined my empty anchor roller and bent my bow railing a bit.

As this was occurring I was expecting 1) my anchor rope rode to get sucked into his prop 2)rip the cleat out 3)pay out to the end and rip out the inner stay 4)my boat drifts into bridge 5)mast meets bridge 6) mast falls over 7)boat beats up bridge and vis. a vis. 8)I finally decide it's safe to drop my second bow anchor which was ready to go but I was justifiably afraid to go near because of the aforementioned carnage.
</Vessel Collision Report>

Luckily, my rode was not severed or otherwise molested, the big boat got by safely. No other vessels were harmed in the making of this story.  I'll need a new anchor roller but the bow rail isn't bent that badly. The big boat is paying for everything.  I got a tow from the fishermen who were anchored next to me and I sailed home.  I have a few things to fix.

I saw the other threads about fixing the tubular drive shaft.  Did anybody do this and what was the solution?  I didn't see the posts in previous threads.

Cheers,
Dr. Capt Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis, Pearson 367 Cutter # 26

Hello,
I have worked on composites professionally on small UAV's for a while and wanted to add my 0.02$
Kevlar on the inside won't do much, and anything poking through has already done serious damage and will likely delaminate the 1 or 2 layers of kevlar from the glass. Kevlar on the outside of the hull will decrease friction and possibly mitigate damage, but you'd need at least 2 layers of thick stuff to delay damage due to boat-type impacts offshore.  For dock-type impacts it would do wonders! Kevlar is strong and slick, and hitting a dock you inevitably slide up it.  The kevlar will take the sliding much better than glass, but you'll still need new paint.
If I were doing the same I would want my anchor locker to not drain mud down the bilge.  I always wash my chain and rode but sometimes muddy water gets down there.  A previous boat had the locker drain to the sea.  It wouldn't work too well on our boat, but perhaps there could be a third option like a dedicated sump with separate bilge pump...
Cheers
Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis, Pearson 367 Cutter #26

Hello Della and Dave,
I searched Ebay for suitable masthead and nav lights.  I think I spent 10$ for the all-round masthead bulb because it has like 60 led's, but I also bought 2x others for 3$ each.  The nav lights were more common and were about 1$ each so if the salt kills them I won't be upset. The spreader lights are Par 36 LED replacement bulbs I got off amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CBYCZT2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). If they keep functioning then I'll be happy.  They are incredibly bright and only burn 1.4A combined.  They really light up the deck and make nighttime sail handling safer, assuming I'm offshore and don't immediately require night vision. Also when I have visitors at night I just leave them on, 1.4A is nothing.  I think Dr. LED is terribly overpriced, at a 10X to 30X price increase over what I see on Ebay. The quality can't be that good.  Ooh and a little trick, drip candle wax over the bulbs and that should reduce corrosion.
Cheers!
Dr. Capt. Mike
S/V Tardis, Pearson 367 Cutter #26

If you want to regain a neat bit of space, look to the shelf underneath your chart table. You can cut out the floor of that fiberglass shelf and put in a liner to regain a few liters of volume.  My neighbor did that on his 365 with a rotozip and a vacuum cleaner.  He took the fiberglass piece he cut out and attached teak trim to the top, so the ragged edges are covered.  He sewed a sunbrella liner and screwed it flush onto the fiberglass.
Dr. Capt. Mike
SV Tardis, Pearson 367 Cutter # 26

Hello all,
I wanted to point anybody interested to my blog which has trip reports from my 1100 nm trip from Destin to Dry Tortugas and back via Florida's West coast on my Pearson 367 Tardis. This was my first major offshore adventure and everything went swimmingly. I also recently did a week trip to Port St Joe over a week which was a good but cold trip. http://svtardis.blogspot.com/

As a result of my trips I've had a chance to re-evaluate my boat and decide what I think important in life. I live aboard full time and really hope to do annual trips down south which my job seems to permit. In the not so far future I would really like to sail to Europe but I would prefer to not do it solo and good crew is hard to come by  .  This has led me to add the following things to Tardis since I returned from my sailing trips:
Replacement of EVERY incandescent bulb with LED: Spreader lights, nav lights, anchor lights, interior lights, etc.  I also have spares onboard
Addition of 4xCaframo fans to the interior
Replacement of VHF with Standard Horizon GX2200 MATRIX AIS/GPS Fixed Mount VHF Radio and RAM mic
Addition of EPIRB, outfitted ditch bag
Replacement of engine muffler, addition of no-water exhaust hose overheat sensor.
Replacement of old Raytheon Pathfinder Radar and C70 chartplotter with new Raymarine e7D chartplotter and RD418D digital radar.  MY AIS VHF and autopilot will be connected to the chartplotter
Replacement of Xantrax 1500W modified sine inverter (which smoked) with Go Power 1500W pure sine inverter
Replacement of all lifelines with 1x19 SS rigging that is not covered by the vinyl
I made new 4" cockpit cushions out of Textilene fabric and dryfast foam
4x new speakers for boat stereo system inside and outside
Voltage booster for Ham HF radio. It had problems TX due to low battery voltage, and this fixed everything and reduced signal noise!
Replace Windex at masthead

As you can see, I've put a good bit of money and effort into my boat after my trips, but I feel more than ever that the boat is in good condition and is ready for another major trip. It also makes me immensely happy to have a vessel that is so nice and capable. This is literally the boat that I've been dreaming of for years and after completing a decent trip with no problems I am very excited about my future. I look forward to a summer of weekend trips East and West, and I hope that by next winter travel to Cuba will be allowed easily.

One thing that I'm seriously considering is removing the clubfoot boom and going to a free jib with some sort of tracks. While it is immensely convenient to have the boom, that is the location that I want to put my dinghy as it is not safe while offshore in the davits.  I sailed my trips with it wedged cattycorner on the cabin top which was not ideal. I will put serious thought into this before I remove anything. I learned that the staysail is for upwind use only when also flying the big jib, and I learned that my drifter is my favorite sail to keep moving in frequent light winds. On the other hand in heavy winds, rolling in the big jib is my first reef point, and the little jib is perfect to keep the boat balanced.  I'm looking to buy a bigger drifter or asymmetrical with a sock.

Dr. Capt. Mike
S/V Tardis, Pearson 367 Cutter #26

Little update,
Since I installed the solar rig I could sell power to my neighbors.  I haven't used the battery charger once since my last post.  My batteries don't get below 85% and I am using power with reckless abandon. I live full time at a dock, and I run all lights and other things off the batteries.  The past few weekend trips I left the inverter turned on and despite flagrant use I always had ample power.  I was toying with the idea of stressing my inverter and using the AC water heater but that is a little crazy.  Anyway I am very happy with the production levels and I suspect it will do well throughout the winter.  Even with 4 days of overcast it still charged a few amps.
Cheers!
Mike Sytsma,
S/V Tardis 367 #26

Hi,
I have a 367 cutter with a self tacking jib and haven't been able to heave to properly, although I've only tested in up to 20kts.  I spent about 2 hours last weekend playing with things and couldn't get the angle right, even after successive reefs in main and playing with the sheeting of main and stays'l.  Next time I'll try main only.  Can anybody with a cutter suggest a method?  I'd rather not do learning the expensive way.
Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis, 367 #26

Hello all,
I just upgraded my solar capability, and I wanted to share my rig on my Pearson 367.  The ketch owners might be jealous of my bimini configuration which appears well suited to an install like I've done, as the panels are unobstructed and out of the way. 

I started with 2x 120W, 12V used Kyocera panels, one of which was toast.  I had the functioning panel plugged into a Xantrex 60A PWM charger, and the setup did ok.  It generally pumped an amp into the batteries which was offset by the 3.5A out for the fridge unit, so roughly 4.5A in good sun.  This meant I could go from 5 days without charging to roughly 10, with power rationing in the evening. 

Anyway I just installed 2x 255W, 24V Lightway panels connected to a Blue Sky 50A MPPT charger.  Now, I'm aware that this is quite overkill but the panels were far less expensive at about 180$ each than even cheap 12V panels.  Conveniently, the panels are the same size as my bimini so I'm happy how they act as a rain guard (bimini fabric leaks), and they only weigh 17 pounds each more than a comparable 12V panel.  I strung the working 120W panel off the back of the bimini and tied into my davit stiffening bar.  I found I had far more power than I needed on my main bank of 4xTrojan T105 6V batteries from the 2 big panels, so I plumbed the small panel into my starting battery.  I might remove this eventually to save weight on the bimini.  I live aboard at a dock, but I've had my AC battery charger deactivated since I installed the rig.  The batteries drain down about 10% every night (I monitor with a Victron battery monitor) but are quickly recharged, even though it's been very cloudy and rainy lately.  I suspect these will work perfectly in the winter.  I've seen as much as 25A going into the batteries which is pretty good, and I also suspect it could be better if the batteries needed it.  So for a boat to sit at anchor, I feel like it's plenty of power to run all my lighting, fridge, laptop and really anything I might want to run off the inverter.

So, adding 90lbs on top the bimini is not something I'd generally prefer to do, but I've stiffened the frame up considerably and run a cross-support so my stiffeners bear the load instead of the bimini frame.  I haven't been in anything nasty offshore yet, but big motorboat waves don't seem to perturb the system much.  I think continued wave action may necessitate modifications to the design from a fatigue perspective.  If a big wave lands on top it might also be a bad thing.  I'm going to use grey sticky butyl and a strip of plastic to watertight the gap between the panels.  I absolutely need to drill holes where all those little worthless pintle set screws are and replace with thru-bolts or rivets, and that's on the todo very soon list.  My main regret is that I can't dismount the panels and bring them inside through the companionway (39" wide) if there's a hurricane, but I'll probably put them in somebody's garage and hope for the best.

Anyway I'm going on a 5 week cruise down to south Florida this winter.  I hope my efforts were not in vain, and that the system performs well in offshore waves.  If the whole bimini SS tubing thing fails me, I plan to build a double arch out of a wood like fir and then glass the hell out of it.  I actually wish I would have done that instead, it would have cost far less than the SS tube and fittings, and I'd have much more control over the load paths and would feel better about its structural strength.
Mike S
SV Tardis, Pearson 367 #26

Pictures available here:
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BytoKu-zUfyrZV90RVJtQW1LTlE&usp=sharing

Hello all,
I have a Manson Supreme 35# with 100' of 5/16" chain attached to 250' of 5/8" 3-strand.  I didn't have the 10:1 scope out I would have preferred because that would have put me in danger of hitting another dock on one side and running aground on the other.  I generally trust the Manson supreme quite a bit (It's similar to the Rocna) but in this case it was very thin mud and the anchor tripped due to 180 shift in the wind.  When the anchor tripped it remained clogged with firmer mud as it skipped over the thin mud.  If I would have had a few more boatlengths to drag it probably would have reset but the anchorage was very tight.  I've finally repaired the windlass and all is well once again.
Mike
S/V Tardis P367 #26

Over the week of President's day I sailed to Pensacola Beach and anchored up happily in little Sabine.  It was nice and peaceful, but Friday night I dragged anchor and ran into a dock and boat.  In the process of cranking in my anchor, the windlass failed and would only crank in one direction.  After returning I had a short list of repairs, and the windlass is a marvelously simple thing.  Internally, it's 2 bicycle chains attached to a rocker arm, and they both go over a ratcheting sprocket like you'd find on a single speed bike.  The chain is attached to the lever with quick links, one of which failed.  One chain leads directly to the sprocket while the other chain goes over 2 rollers to reverse itself, as both sprockets ratchet the same way.  I went to a bike shop and replaced the quick link, and where the chain goes over a roller it had bitten into the mild steel.  The roller was likewise galled against its shaft.  So I made a new shaft and lathed off the ugliness.  I'll use the other roller for the loaded section and put the damaged roller in the return.  The big reason this failed is that there wasn't any lube oil in the casing, something I hadn't even looked at since I bought the boat.  I'll take this as an opportunity to rebed everything with butyl and replace the bolts that hold the inner forestay down.  If anybody has problems with this type of windlass, I can help.  I think it's unnecessarily complicated but at least it's simple and uses common parts.
Mike Sytsma
S/V Tardis
P367 #26

I have the same prop on my 367.  I have never had that problem.  Make sure it's clean as the flat blade design makes even slight barnacles become a problem, and naturally make sure it is actuating properly in both directions.  Also don't discount the possibility of the noise coming from the transmission or Vdrive.
Mike S
S/V Tardis
P367 #26

That was indeed a beautiful job.  I found a friend with a tile saw.  I might be next, but I doubt my workmanship will compare.  However I really love the way you minimized the grout lines with the 2' tile.

Mike Sytsma
Pearson 367 #26
Boracay Star

On my near-term todo list:
Finish plumbing 2 replaced fuel tanks so I can use both (currently running on one)
Stiffen bimini and install mounts for 2x120W solar panels on top
Replace 2x outer chainplates
Bow washdown pump
Rename the boat with the USCG.  S/V Tardis soon...