Topics

1

General Discussion / So......what projects are you snow sailors up too?

« on: February 07, 2015, 02:15:03 PM »

We crossed the Gulf with Searenity a month ago. 36 hour passage from Carrabelle to Hudson Florida. Right now I am in prep mode for Summer vacation. Installing 300W of solar panels to the boat to be able to run a freezer and fans while we spend a couple of months gunk holing to the Dry Tortuga's and then up the Keys and eastern side of Florida until we get to St. Augustine, where we will be keeping our boat for a couple of years.

What are y'all up to?

2

Engine and Drive Train / MD11c Thermostat part number?

« on: November 30, 2014, 03:04:51 PM »

Any ideas on where I can find a new thermostat and gasket for the MD11C online? I want to do a chemical flush of the cooling system in a closed loop. The articles I have read say to take the thermostat out while doing it. I figured while I have it out, I can replace it.

3

Boat Handling / Back on the boat

« on: January 18, 2014, 12:01:48 AM »

Three days on Searenity. Tonight the wind is howling and coming out of the west. It is the only exposed direction when we are in the slip. Boat is rising and falling on the bow and shaking with the big gusts. Hoping to fill the sails in the next few days. Tomorrow is supposed to be 15 to 25 knots with 8-10 foot seas. May just be sailing St Andrews Bay.

4

Website and Forum Suggestions / Off topic area?

« on: January 10, 2014, 04:10:25 PM »

Has an off topic area ever been considered? I do not like to chat about politics online, but I do enjoy to chat with like minded people online. The only other sailing forum I have been a consistent part of is Sailboatowners.com, I cannot say I have had a pleasant experience reading or participating in their off topic forums. I do have a home brewing forum that I really enjoy. Who knew the most civil people on the internet are a bunch of people that make their own brew?

5

Plumbing and Galley Systems / Propane to alcohol stove conversion

« on: January 01, 2014, 11:09:14 AM »

Our Pearson came with a top of the line Hillebrand propane 3 burner stove with oven. Only problem is I do not like using propane inside a boat. Every couple of years a sailboat explodes and it is always for the same reason, propane leak that builds up in the bilge and then kablooie. For some going to an alcohol stove would be a step down, but that is what I like. There is no danger with a non pressurized stove in a boat.



Used red oak plywood. Copied the dimensions from the stove and buit it so the Origo stove I bought would drop right in.



Stained everything except the area that I planned to install some ceramic tiles.

Installed the stainless steel screws and used a full length hinge for the door. Used two door magnets but will also install a latch so the door does not open in rough seas.



Went to a granite shop and had my tiles cut to size and then used the tile adhesive and finally grouted them on the gaps.



Removed the propane stove and oven and sized the carriage bolts that would need to make the entire cabinet gimble.



Added the stove top. Everything fits like a glove.



One of the reasons I wanted to build the cabinets is because storage space is very valuable on any boat and keeping a propane stove and oven that I would never use was a serious waste of storage space.



Not really a new feature but because I designed the new cabinet to the dimensions of the old stove we are still able to put the counter top back into place when the stove is not being used.



It has been six months since I completed this project and I really like having the propane magma grill on the stern rail and the alcohol stove in the galley.

6

General Discussion / Happy New Year 323 Owners

« on: January 01, 2014, 10:25:21 AM »

I am looking forward to 2014.  What are your 323 plans for 2014?

We are hopeful to be moving this year. It is mostly for professional reasons and to get our son set to attend an outstanding middle school. Along with that we would be changing the location of our boat from Panama City Florida to Brunswick Georgia. It would also cut our boat commute from 3 hours to 15 minutes after we settle into a new home.

Looking to have a bottom paint done this summer after we sail her around Florida.

7

Engine and Drive Train / Oil weeping Volvo MD11c

« on: September 21, 2012, 03:15:39 PM »

My engine has a small oil leak. Whenever I run it I get a little weepage and only find the oil on the starboard motor mount. It gets into the water that drips from the packing gland and is driving me nuts. I cannot find the leak and have made sure the breather hose is going into the intake.

Any ideas?

8

Standing & Running Rigging and Fitting/Tuning / Stainless Steel Chainplates (failed 50 miles offshore)

« on: August 18, 2012, 08:49:41 PM »

When we bought the Pearson 6 months ago I checked the chainplates visually. The Pearson has larger 4 bolt chainplates for the upper shrouds and 3 bolt chainplates for the lower shrouds. They looked good, no corrosion visable, they actually looked really good. We sail often and have never had a problem. Fast forward 6 months and we are crossing the Gulf from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs Florida. We had a great weather window, less than 1 foot and winds 5 to 10 knots. We checked several sources and the weather window looked solid. We start off and it may have been a little more than 1 foot but nothing to get worried about. We are having an awesome sail, doing a solid 6 to 7 knots but the wind is a little to much on our nose, still a good sail. About 25 miles out we hit a dark line of thunderstorms and it is only 10 am. Lowered the main, brought in the genoa and motored through the thunderstorm. It was pretty nasty, white flashes that were so close you could hear the hiss before the boom. The seas kicked up a little and the wind stiffened after we got through the storm. We ended up going through three pretty large thunderstorms and by the time we got 50 miles off shore the seas had built to 8 foot and the wind was howling directly onto our nose. I told my wife that we could sail towards Cedar Key and perhaps the seas would die down a but when we got out of the middle of the Gulf. So I reefed the main and only let out half of the genoa. We were making 6.5 knots and the boat was handling the 8 foot seas with no problem. The swells were constant and close together. As we came over one swell, we go hit with a really solid gust. It pushed the rail into the water but it was not that big of a deal, we had been sailing with the rail close to or in the water most of the day. When we came down the other side of the swell the boat came out of being heeled over as much as it was. My wife said, Dave the baby stay! I looked over and saw that the aft lower shroud on the starboard side was swinging against the boom. My wife took the helm and pulled in the genoa as I went and lowered the main. We motored the boat back and anchored behind Dog Island for the night. The wind howled all night long. The thunderstorms really brought in some weather. It would have been a really rough night crossing to Tarpon Springs had we continued. My wife asked me what we wanted to do now? We had given up our slip in Carrabelle so we could move the boat over to St. Augustine for a change in scenery. I told her that Panama City sounds like a great place to keep our boat. So we motored over and decided to make the city marina our home now.


I pulled the broken chainplate that snapped right at the deck level. I also pulled one from the port side so I could have replacements made. It only cost me $25 for each chainplate to be water jetted using my good one as a template. While researching the best stainless to use, I read several articles about stainless. I read that when stainless is deprived of oxygen, as we do when we bed them and make the area water proof, the stainless will corrode from the inside out. I also read that they have a serviceable life of about 10 to 15 years. I am pretty sure these are the original stainless chainplates from 1982. Well the starboard aft lower shroud plate snapped right where it was bedded. When we remove all the plates we found the forward lower plate on the starboard side was pulling apart too. We were hit with the big gust on the starboard. All the port plates were solid.



Anyway, A word of caution if you have 20+ year old stainless steel chainplates. They could look great and be corroding from the inside out where they are bedded through the deck.

9

Deck Mounted Hardware / Where to mount 15W solar panel?

« on: March 21, 2012, 07:41:46 AM »

Any ideas, any places that have proven to be a serious no-no?

10

New Member Introductions / Ahoy all!

« on: March 08, 2012, 09:17:49 PM »

We purchased a 1982, hull number 376 last week.

We were going to sail her back from Pensacola to Destin and then on to Panama City and leave it there until spring break. After playing on it for a few days we would then sail it home to Carrabelle Florida. Then the storms hit Saturday and I changed the plans and found a nice marina in Pensacola to keep her for three weeks. When mother nature say it is not the time to go, you stay.

Here is the boat

Interior











I am sure everyone on this site has seen this layout a million times in their own boats. IN the last picture of the Vberth there is a bag with a new Main sail and a never used 150 genoa set up for the furler.

Here is the video of the day we took it sailing.

http://youtu.be/KsX1VAGj40M








I have been hooked on sailing ever since my mother's friend took me out on a Hobie 16 when I was 14. I have been sailing ever since off and on. I enjoy all aspects of sailing and we own the Pearson of course but we also own a Catalina 22 that we use on lake close to our home. We also sail a Johnson 16 scowl. I compete a few times a year in Snipes. We just love to sail. I am blessed with a wife that is a wonderful sailor. We have been sailing together for 20 years. We bought a Prindle 19 after we were married and we have never looked back. At the young age of 38 my wife has a bunch of experience, but she would never say that.

I will probably be asking a lot of questions from y'all. We plan on sailing her across the gulf from Carrabelle to Tampa and then to the keys and weather permitting, on to Bimini. If the weather says something different, we will go to the Tortugas.