Pearson 365 and 367

Welcome to the Club. I too am new and learning, but I will offer advice when I can. Congrats on your new sailboat. 

I have a project that I need to finish before putting Passage in the water in May. My wife bought a Natures Head composting toilet. We knew that it was a full size toilet, but didn't realize that the 365 Ketch had a portion of the bathroom where the toilet sits up on a step. I am not familiar with fiberglass work and am woried about removing the step to fit the Natures Head. Has anyone else done a project like this? I know that the new toilet will be a bit bigger and stick out a bit, but I am worred about cutting into the boat. Is anything under that riser? How do I seal the floor after cutting away what is currently there? It is too narrow for the new head to fit on completly.

This has been very helpful. Thanks everyone. I think that we are going to go with Quantum just because of the service that they provide and the follow up and customization, but it's just soo darn expensive.

We plan to sail around the Great Lakes for the next 2 years and then we plan to head out to the east coast and sail down to the Caribbean/Central America. After that we don't know, but going around the world isn't out of the question either.

We tend to try and think very far ahead and research things, but I think that when we close sails, it will be with High Aspect Dacron. We are budget sailors, and also plan to be live aboard cruisers. Keeping this in mind, we are trying to balance cost with quality and longevity. Our boat is not new and was neglected by the previous owner for 3 years on the hard, thus it has a lot of work to be done. We are doing a lot of the work ourselves to both better allocate the funds and to better understand our boat. If you would like more background on our plans or what we are doing feel free to check out our blog.

I know the importance of having good sails, but what I am having difficulty with is really understanding the reasons why there are soo many price differences from place to place. As with other things in life, I am willing to pay a bit more for quality, service, and convenience, but I am seeing such a variance between companies regarding cost that I'm struggling to understand what goes into sail cost. For example, we got a quote from a local rep from Quantum & another sailmaker (Hong Kong) at the Annapolis Boat Show that is less than half what the local guy quoted, including shipping (see below).

Quantum
www.quantumsails.com/      
Sail            
Mizzen (2 reefs)   $1,226         
Main (3 reefs)   $2,614         
Genoa (2 reefs)   $2,662         
Code 0 Drifter   $2,787         
Shipping   $210         
Total   $9,499         
            
Hong Kong
www.hksailmakers.com
         
Sail            
Mizzen (1 reef)   $500         
Main (2 reefs)   $1,050         
Genoa   $1,560         
Code 0 Drifter   $770         
Shipping   $350         
Total   $4,230         
            
While they did quote us for fewer reef points in each sail, it's for high aspect 8.3oz Dacron so I don't think that the number of reefs account for the sails being less than half price. Price is really a determining factor for us at this point considering that we could put that other $5200+ towards rigging, teak work, or other necessary repairs. Could anyone help us understand the difference in pricing, and/or let us know if you know anything about either of these companies before we make a decision?

Thanks,

Inline your info on Warp drive from Challenge. I also just got a quote from Hong Kong sailmakers who we ran into in Annapolis and they are quoting half the price of Quantum. What's the deal if it's the same thing? Has anyone used Hong among or know anything about their reputation?

These are the prices that I got from Quantum Sails. What do you think? How do they compare to others?

CW 1000 8.62 HA Mizzen W/ SailPack and Mast track $2,254.00
CW 1000 8.62 HA Mainsail W/SailPack and Mast track $4,077.00
CW 1000 8.62 HA Cross Cut Genoa w reef points $2,662.00

V3 Spinnaker AWA 90 - 160 AWS 9 - 20 kts $2,075.00
V0 Drifter Spinnaker AWA 40 - 120 AWS 0-10 kts $2,197.00

Hydra Net 350 Mizzen W/ SailPack and Mast track (1) $2,787.00
Hydra Net 350 Mainsail W/SailPack and Mast track (1) $5,286.00
Hydra Net 350 Cross Cut Genoa w reef points (1) $4,310.00

Can anyone post a picture of theirs here? I am a visual person and would love to see it rigged in all of it's glory. 

So, I have been giving a lot of thought to my sails as of late. I consulted with Quantum about some offshore sails. I feel that sails are the biggest purchase that I will ever make for my boat. Since we want to become live aboards and will need reliable sails to move from place to place I was thinking about the kind of material that would best suit our needs. Finally, after going over the finer points of more sail material that I ever thought I would with the guy from Quantum I widdled it down to the old standby "Dacron" and the new girl "Hydranet". I liked the sound of Hydranet because of its durability (resists mildue & tearing) and it is supposed to last longer than Dacron. Does anyone know if this is true?

Replacing all three sails (Genoa, Main, & Mizzen) is not cheap - somewhere in the neighborhood of $10,000-$12,000 before we do any negotiations. This is about twice the price of Dacron. Is it really that much better?

But recently I have begun to think - do I really need to replace all three sails with Hydranet? I mean my spinnaker is made of one material, as is my drifter - why am I dead set on the same material for these other three sails that all have different purposes. Does anyone have suggestions & reasons for using various materials for each sail? Also, what about the cut of the sail (cross cut or tri-radial)?
Thank you in advance for any input.

This is a helpful thread. We are looking at options for the non-functioning unit that came with Passage. We aren't sure if we want to devote amps (or $) to refrigeration in the long term...Does anyone know if there's a plug in the bottom so we could just convert her refer into an icebox? It looks like there is in the foreward starboard corner, but it doesn't seem to actually go anywhere...

Thanks for the warm welcomes already! Passage is a ketch. There's a photo of passage in our profile, and she also has her own facebook page, with lots of photos. Feel free to check it out!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/SV-Passage/244104428942364?sk=photos

Hello Everyone-

My husband David and I bought our Pearson 365, S/V Passage (hull#324), in May 2011 and are enjoying her for the short Chicago summer before using fall-spring start our refit in earnest. We plan to cut the docklines and head south in 2013 or 2014. We just joined this forum and are looking forward to hearing others' successes and challenges!

~Brodi Cole