Pearson 365 and 367

I recommend it too! Thanks for the help Pete.

Laelia has recently completed a single handed round trip from SF Bay to La Paz, Mexico. Return trip was non-stop from Cabo San Lucas to SF Bay - 31 days up wind with no equipment failures. She was equipped with a circumnavigation in mind but age and family circumstances have cut it short. She is now for sale - lying Alameda, CA.

See broker's listing at http://newerayachts.com/

I have been out of town for a week so this reply is a bit slow.

Thanks to Pete, I have a working SA0D installed. I got out for a short day sail including some motoring and all seems to be working well.

I got my new damper plate from R&D. One of the really good things about it is that it stands out farther from the face of the flywheel than the old part. It looks to me like the transmission shaft should fully engage the splines in the damper plate.

If anyone else is interested, I got the part from R&D marine. Their products are listed by PYI on the web site at http://pyiinc.com/

Here is a photo comparing the old and the new part.

I pulled the transmission after following the tried and true procedure of applying a comealong, lots of PB Blaster and repeated, savage blows from the rubber hammer. I had to leave it sitting overnight with the comealong pulled up tight to make it come loose. This morning, a couple more licks from the rubber hammer did the trick.

The teeth on the transmission shaft are badly worn and the splines in the damper plate are sheared off so both will need to be replaced. I think I can handle all that with help from one of my neighbors here in the marina. All I need is the parts. Carl Seipel (formerly owner of Pog) has offered to let me cannibalize his old transmission but he says the teeth on the transmission shaft are less than perfect. I would like to find a new or like new shaft if possible. Does anyone know where I might find one? The tranny is a Paragon SA0D. Engine is a Westerbeke W40.

Ralph

It has been a while since I posted here. I have done a lot to Laelia to get her ready to go cruising. Added a Monitor wind vane, some new sails, replaced all the standing rigging and had the masts rewired. An of course there are the 1001 little details to make the transition from a weekend SF Bay cruiser to an offshore cruising boat.

Dec 31, I left Alameda and sailed down to San Diego - not much wind so it was a slow 8 day trip. I don't like to use the engine unless it is really necessary. It is an accessory for getting into and out of slips or other tight spots.

I think the engine and transmission are aware of my dislike for them. They have been more trouble than any other single issue. Now the Paragon transmission has turned obstinate once again. I was out for a day sail a couple of days ago to test out some adjustments to the self steering. When I started up the engine to get back into the slip, it was obvious that something was wrong. At 1800 rpm I was getting 2 -3 knots. When I shift into reverse, it sounds horrible and there is not much thrust from the prop.

I figured it was a matter of adjusting the clutch so I pulled the plate off the top of the transmission and adjusted according to the engine manual that came with the boat. One big thing bothered me - before and after adjusting the clutch, I could put the transmission in gear, grab the prop shaft and rotate it. When I put the transmission in gear, I can see that it is pulling the clutch plates against each other. The plates rotate when I rotate the prop shaft.

When I start the engine, the prop shaft rotates when not in gear until I find the magic spot that is truly neutral (this has always been true). When I put it in gear, the shaft rotates and I can see water moving out from under the stern.

I can't tell if reverse working or not. The prop shaft rotates the right direction but I suspect there is a lot of slippage cuz the boat doesn't move much against the dock lines. I looked at the instructions for adjust the reverse bands but the pictures don't match up against what I see when I look at the actual transmission. Here is a picture. How do I adjust the reverse band pressure?



Also of great concern is the ominous rumbling and clanking I hear. I don't recall hearing that before. The rumbling sounds like a bad bearing somewhere in the transmission.

I would love to replace the Paragon with a Velvet Drive but I am doing this cruise on a shoe string and the string is getting awfully short. It may not be possible to afford a replacement.

Maybe I have to go cruising engineless...

Thank you in advance for your replies and advice.

Ralph

Wow! ... and I thought I was taking a big leap to go cruising! This is way bigger. Good luck. You have the experience and the work ethic to make a go of it.

Mike,

Thank you for all the details about the Max-Prop. It doesn't sound like a bullet-proof solution to me. I will check out the Campbell prop.

I have thought of the last approach too but I hate getting wet. I especially hate getting cold and wet 

Jim,

Thank you. I hadn't thought of that approach to getting measurements.

0.15 kt would only cut off 8 days - maybe not worth it.

I have heard stories of feathering and folding prop failures. Being of the KISS school of though, I am somewhat reluctant to consider them. Some fail to feather/fold, some won't unfeather/unfold. Anybody have experience with them?

As usual, I am going against the flow. I want to go from my 3 bladed prop to a 2 bladed prop. I am getting ready for what I hope will be circumnavigation. If a 2 bladed prop will let me sail 0.5 kt faster, it will cut almost 30 days off the time at sea. So - I have two questions:

1. Have any of you made the change from 2 blades to 3 (or 3 blades to 2 blades) and made measurements of speed under sail with each?

2. What are the specs for the prop?

Laelia is a 365 ketch with Westerbeke W40, Paragon transmission and Walter V drive with the 2:1 reduction.

I saw one post for the 2 bladed prop on a 367. Would it be the same for the 365?

I have the same problem. I figure if I go sailing in any kind of swell, the water will work its way aft 

I should have mentioned in my writeup that I had started to take it all apart. I removed the hose clamps and started to remove the heat tape before I ran out of time and energy. That's where things stood when I took the picture.

I had just started the engine when I was looking at the mixer elbow and I could see occasional puffs of smoke coming from the crack in the elbow. That's probably what I smelled. At any rate, I won't be running the engine again until the problem is fixed.

I will be working on pulling it all apart this coming weekend. I'm not looking forward to it!

OK - thank you for all of this. I don't have a whole lot of mechanic experience and I live in fear of what I don't know. 

Sounds like all sorts of fun!

Does your installation have a rigid connection from the exhaust to the injection elbow? Is the elbow supported in some way besides the connection?

Mine is just hanging out there with no visible support other than the connection to the exhaust on the engine.

That's a relief - I was afraid this was someone's personal bad idea.

Any tips on how to get the old parts off without leaving portions of bolts embedded in the engine?

The last time I was out sailing, I noticed the smell of exhaust in the cabin. Today when I was checking out the installation of the new sea water pump, I noticed water dripping from somewhere else. I found the source and also spurts of what looked like and smelled like exhaust. It looks like there is a crack in the part of the exhaust system shown below.



I took a look at the W40 engine manual and it says not to hang anything weighing more than 8 lbs. off the exhaust port. This monster looks like more than 8 lbs. There must be a simpler way. Is there some common setup that I can order or put together to replace this?