Pearson 365 and 367

I don't believe those chainplate knees are significntly weakened by what looks like some abrasion.  You could fair them with a mix of west system epoxy and west system 404 filler to smooth them out where they were abraded.  I don't think you need to do anything with the holes except ensure the holes on your new chain plates align with the old ones perfectly.
Jim

Its time to think about winter projects. My caprail is in terrible shape. Bungs all gone and screwheads protruding. The wood is too worn to sand and rebung. I am considering fabricating a replacement-its seems to be built in three sections of varying lengths and I do not believe they were steamed to shape, but were thin enough to bend into position.  What are the surprises ahead of me? Am I correct in assuming the screws penetrate all the way through the bulwark and will all need to be filled? thinking of doing teak again, possibly sapele. All advice appreciated!
Jim

+2 on Dales design-I did the same and it went smoothly.  In my case the boat was on the hard (jack stands), so I hung a hoist from the midpoint of the boom to the top of the U bracket then ratcheted it up and out of the boat. Really important to support the boom at the lifting point with an opposing halyard or you could bend the boom.  After lifting it thru the companionway, I was able to carefully swing the boom outboard and lower the engine to the ground.  mine is a sloop so the boom position worked for me-may not be useful on a ketch.
The bracket is the key.
Jim

My partition is long gone and not missed. My rudder stuffing box is leaking a fair bit and getting in there to adjust is hard enough without the partition. Am considering reinstalling to better sound insulate the engine bay-but it would have to be removable so I can service the rudder packing.
Jim

Finally had her out in some good wind-ideal really-15mph and flat seas.  With the backstay at 10% of breaking strenth there was little head stay sag. Full main and 135 rolled all the way out. I could lock the wheel and hold a close hauled course with just a touch of rudder.  Had the genoa car pulled all the way back which seems to have helped reduce the weather helm to the point where the helm was very light.
Winds piked up to a steady 20 gusting to 25 and I rolled the jib up a fair bit-maybe to a 90, rolled up a some main and the boat was hitting 7.6 kts with more weather helm. but easily managed by the wheel pilot.
Love fall sailing!

My bad-just saw the first post.

Beautiful!  Does the platform have support on the underside?

I have the same port in the same location and love it for the same reasons-great airflow and immune to rain due to the dodger. In fact, It is often the only port I leave open when leaving the boat unattended for a few days at a time.
Jim

When mine was hauled from the backyard on the trailer. I believe it came in at 12'6'' and a foot of that was trailer.

I admire the departure from the usual teak and holly overlay.  Not sure I'd have the courage, but it looks good and a heck of a lot less work to maintain.

Mine is a sloop rig so only the backstay to worry about...
I do realize the Harken unit is discontinued and a museum piece to boot- have to agree its an oldie but goodie.
As for knowing more about my rig-I could never own a boat if I had to pay others to work on it. Thats why I ask so many questions:)  Besides which, who you gonna call 500 miles out to sea when something goes wrong?  Couldn't keep the old girl going without this forum!

For that matter-by way of payback; if anyone else wants to tune thier own rig, the Loos gauge is expensive-almost $300. I can lend it out to folks who would like to borrow it so long as they ship it back. just shoot me a PM.
Jim

I am on a mission-I want a dry bilge!  Just completed a shower sump install and my engine stuffing box is running cool and almost dry.  The rudder stuffing box is still leaking-I have plans to further tighten or repack (anybody know if repacking can be done in the water?).  The real puzzle is how to funnel the rain water that comes down the mast into the shower sump.  I have a hood stowaway and the sail cavity funnels a lot of water to the mast step and from there into the bilge. I'm probably the only one with in mast furling, but you all must get ingress-how do you remove it?  Looking not to route it into the bilge...

As a followup-I purchased a Loos gauge-pretty expensive because of our 5/16" stays, but it showed the backstay was way under tensioned.  I've  increased the tension to 5% of breaking strength and that has considerably tightened the furler.  Measuring the headstay would require removing a section of foil which I am hesitant to do at this point in the season. My furler is an old Harken Mach 1 and the sections are attached with roll pins...

Once we get some wind I will take her out and experiment with a higher tension-though backstay tension as shown on the gauge does not equal headstay tension- its a starting point!  Sails are middle aged and my sailmaker says they have 4-5 years of life in them so this experiment is worthwhile. As Dale pointed out, it is a great thing to have established values to refer to the next season.

Dale-sorry i can't help with that. I suggest a cruise to Maine...had to run the heater a few nights while I was up there:)

I ran it at 2800 RPMs in short bursts of 3 to 5 minutes or so. And one time we almost had it up to 3000 RPMs in any case, I did run it at wide-open throttle. The rings were definitely spaced 120° apart. I'm leaning towards a valve stem seal, but will have to get the cover off to check. And yes the dipstick reading is very imprecise. I will take some pictures of the valve train as soon as I get the cover off and we can compare notes.