The Ultimate Sailboat for the Rest of Us | Pearson 36 Pilothouse | $62,500 | Tour

Holy cow, it really looks like you're on a trawler. I've gone to the dark side. You have not. Well, kind of a hybrid. Go check it out. Let's check this thing out. It is so cool. Welcome to Boat Fool's Sailing. Ah, there she is. Where we search high and low. Hello? Coast to Maine and beyond. A perfect used sailboat. Well done. The grace of the harbor sail. You out sailing, and to keep these classic beauties out of landfills. Along the way, we find some stowaways and do some actual, factual sailing ourselves. So come along. It's a lot of fun. Welcome back, Boat Fools Nation. I'm here with Canadian Ken. We're at Journey's End Marina in Rockland, Maine today, and we're checking out a very special boat. Yeah, this is a unique boat, and it sort of caught our eye. And what we always like to do is show you boats that you may not often see. And this style of boat might be having a little bit of a comeback. I think you're right, Ken. And what we're looking at today was designed by Bill Shaw, who started his career at Sparkman & Stephens and then spent the better part of three decades at Pearson Yachts. And only 30 of these boats were made. And this is hull number 28, which is a 1980 Pearson 36 pilot house. See, it's the pilot house. Same hull, right? It's the 365, and we do the catch version of this. This is the pilothouse version. It's very rare. And for 1980, it was sort of, there were other boats of that era, especially like Fisher Yachts over in the UK that did pilothouse versions. But this has a beautiful cockpit with helm steering here and actual steering in the pilothouse, which we'll show you. So really stinking cool. It's a really neat boat and for its age, it's in really nice shape. Beautiful shape. And she's listed by Gray & Gray Yachts. Annie Gray will put her contact information in the description below. So we have no financial interest in this. We just wanted to bring it to you because it's a special boat. So let's go take a look. So of interesting note is this boat is only 36 feet long, and it has a pilot house, which we'll show you. But look at the size of this cockpit. I'm sitting up here, but I could easily lie down full length on this starboard seat here. And the bright work on this boat, top shelf. It has been well maintained. And you can probably hear the echo. We're indoors. And speaking of indoors, This boat has been stored indoors for the last 23 years and probably beyond that. And this particular building is temperature controlled. So it stays above freezing in here all winter long. So this boat's really been in the water for three or four months a year over that span of time. So even though she's a 1980, she has low miles on this chassis. So let's take a look around. This this is just it's It's gigantic in here. You can see the huge footwell here. Plenty of space. You've got a dinette table which folds up. You could easily have six or eight people in this cockpit sitting around comfortably. It does have a frame here for a bimini, so you can have complete coverage while you're in this cockpit outside of the pilot house, which is tremendous. And what's great about the pilot house is if you sail in areas like Maine, Sometimes you get inclement weather, a lot of fog, drizzle, and if you want to spend more time on the water, the pilot house feature might be the best answer, right? Because you can be indoors and out of the weather and still have panoramic views, which we'll show. So, I'm going to stop the show. But… Cool helm station here. You've got nice visibility from back here. I think if I were sailing this boat, you're going to want to sit off to either port or starboard and be able to look down your gunnels toward the bow and have visibility. But frankly, if you're here and standing, and if I'm 6'1", I have good visibility over this pilot house. So if you're of shorter stature or vertically challenged, you could probably get some sort of step to stand on. And have visibility right over the coach roof, but this is kind of neat and so you've got your wheel here You've got you do have Older style auto helm, but when I turn this wheel spin around and take a look at the pilot house wheel They are connected the ghost. It's like a ghost exactly and cool and a little tease of that Yeah. But isn't that nice? I'd be curious how they're all connected. Yeah. But it's very smooth, isn't it? It's very smooth. You've got shore power, gusher pump, and then you've got your big cockpit lockers here. Oh, I should point out before we leave, we've got a nice gas locker back here, LP gas. We've got it all dedicated. That's nice. Yep. Dedicated with a drain overboard. So that's all ABYC compliant. A good vantage point from back there. So then big cockpit lockers here. This has got your Bimini cover and a sail stuffed in here now. Yeah, but super deep because there's no quarter berth. Correct. But check this one out. Here's a lot of space. Garage space in there. It goes way back. So for 1980, I have to say the fit and finish in just this particular area is really spectacular. I mean, look at this, Ken. Obviously, these owners have cared about this boat. You've got self-tailing primary and secondary winches, big compartments here for storage for winch handles and whatnot. And just look at this. Yeah. Yeah. I asked the owner how she sails, and he said mostly forward. So that was good. Clever answer, yeah. And look at this detail. It is. It's beautiful. It's true. It's less like a sailboat, more like a trawler, isn't it? It is. And it sort of captures best of both worlds. And in the opening, Ken referenced making a comeback. I mean, there are other versions of pilot house boats, probably the most well-known is the Tartan 455. And that is 45 feet and has this very similar setup. The difference being that with that newer hull design, it's got dual wheels. So you're probably out on the hips a little better for better visibility. Makes sense. But nonetheless, the concept is sort of back in the fore. And you see it in all sorts of designs with this raised coach roof and pilot house look. But not all of them have steering from the pilot house. But the Tartan does. This is the first time I've seen the steering from the pilot house. Yeah, and it's... I can imagine in inclement weather, it's just perfect. Yeah, it'd be great. All right, let's go up on the bow. Sounds good. So we were looking around. We were trying to find where the Traveler is. And then we realized it's the three-point style, the delta style, where you've got a block on port and starboard and one in the center. And that is the arrangement. Obscured by this dinghy, which does not come with the boat, by the way. But a simple setup, a simple rig, and this is your main sheet self-tailing winch right here. So, perfect. So, working our way up, you'll note that it's a little narrow right here. Tight. It always feels a little more disconcerting when you're on the hard, because if you fall, it's really going to hurt. Kurt. But good grab rails on the coach roof here. All the way up. All the way up. Look, I can see here you've got these. Full battened. So the main sails is fully battened, I guess in pretty good, newer condition. Correct. The other sails, not as new, but serviceable. Yeah, perfect. And I don't think they ever had the... There's a staysail boom track up here, which you'll see. Yeah, I want to see that. And when they bought the boat in 2003... It did not have the rest of the aperture, the boom or the traveler locks or anything like that. So we're not sure what's going on here. But it's here in case someone wants to re-employ it. But the side decks, once you get past that initial cockpit opening, are pretty decent. And, you know, with your shrouds outboard like this, it should be a pretty decent passageway through here. You have one chain plate. That's sort of interesting. You have three chain plates that this one mounted. Or, you know, vertically on the sidewall there. Yeah, kind of cool. But come on up here, Ken. Lots of room up here. I like this. You know me, I like it clean. No toe stubbers, right? No toe stubbers. Love it. So this is what Ken was talking about. We've got this Traveler here, but there's no jib boom or block or system that goes with it. But it does have a roll of furling Genoa. So I suspect at some point you could convert that if you wanted to and get a staysail with a jib boom for easier handling. Yeah. Nice, clean foredeck. Like you said, look at these beautiful bulwarks. And we get excited about this because if you're on a heel, You've got a place to put your foot and brace yourself. You've got a windlass here. I think it's a Loomis Pro-Fish 1000. Yeah, there it is. And I believe it was like 50 feet of chain and like 200 of rode, I believe. Okay. So up-down buttons on the deck. And this is the same windlass we have. Oh, yeah. But unfortunately, we can't show you everything. But you can see the dual bow rollers up there. They've got a CQR anchor. And beautiful bronze hardware for your chocks here. Oh, yeah. Yeah, the lot, even the winches are in a nice bronze. You see that a lot all around this boat. It's nice. Yeah. And nice fair leads for your roller furling. And a cowl vent to keep your anchor locker as dry as possible. I mean, this is really beautiful. And again, the bright work is... Yeah. Exceptional. For its age. I mean, just because it's been stored indoors, too, that really does help. You can see it. Yeah. And this is a cool feature. You've got windshield wipers. That's a first. And it looks like we might have some heat below the stub for a Charlie Noble there. And it is keel-stepped. It's keel-stepped. So I was thinking this would be a great boat for the Great Loop. Yep. But, you know, it's a little more challenging if you had a deck-step mast and maybe a tabernacle. You could sort of easily put it up and down because this would be a really comfortable boat to do the loop. A hundred percent. Yeah, you could probably fashion some cradling and lay that mast out on deck here. And I I bet it's a fairly stout rig, so it wouldn't have too long of overhangs, and you could, think and again, your visibility to get through with the indoor steering is perfect. that's Very little crazing. No. where And one thing of note, when we get down to look at the top sides, and I suspect it's we're the same here, this boat has the original gel coat, has not been painted, it's mint. at here. It's really minty. Yeah, so of course, with all these deadlights comes the opportunity for leaks, so you're going to have to be vigilant about that. All right. I was going to point out here, I see a little solar here. Yep. This does have refrigeration, so maybe this helps to trickle charge the batteries. And it looks like you've got an opening hatch on port and starboard. All with the solar vents on them, so that's good. Good. Good. Good feature. Another. One right there as well, so you're getting some air into that deraid. Oh, yeah. Yep, nice deraid box with meat poles to get water out and cowl vent. But, yeah, so you've got multiple opening hatches on the coach roof for your main salon there, so pretty slick. Yeah, it'd be fun to see this without the dinghy on it, but we'll get some good images for you. Yeah, but again, this boat is not for everybody. Ideal for a couple, and you'll get more of a sense of that when we go below deck, but I just think it's stinking cool. I really do. I love it. I'm really in love with it. All right, let's get into the cabin and check it out. Speaking of below deck, let's do it. Head on down. All right, Tris, come on down. Check this out. All right, look at that. Bi-fold door. That is beautiful. Welcome to my apartment. Come on in. Look at this. Look at that. Yeah. I mean, you know, wingspan and height. Unbelievable. This is nice. I mean, the beam on this is like 11 feet or something. Yeah, it's unique for sure. It's really nice. That deckhead height's got to be close to 6'6". Oh, yeah. Tons of room. Tons of room. Wow. But it lays out just so nicely and open. And what I do like about this is that your living space is above the waterline. Yeah. So you're really getting all this light, taking advantage of that. It really is cool. 360-degree sort of views out here, too, right? I mean, obviously, we're looking inside of a... boat barn. It's not that exciting. Behind this amazing helm station here, we've got the galley. Yeah. And it lays out very cleanly. We've got three burner, gimbling stove. LP gas. LP gas. We saw the locker there earlier. Double sink, and I believe we've got fresh water and some salt water pump there, I'm hoping. Yeah. Lots of cooler storage. We've got a regular ice box here. Nice and deep. Really deep. And then we have refrigeration here. Fantastic. Yeah. All right, so she's pretty much loaded for bear. Yeah. Tons of room under here. You see a little stereo throughout. Yeah. What I like here, it's like old copper piping for this. You know, that's how long this has been around. So that's interesting. That's pretty great. Yeah. Yeah. I think things are nicely labeled, which is always... And it's very clean, you know? Everything's clean. Oh, yeah. And the woodwork in here is in beautiful condition. It really is. By and large. I mean, again, we're talking 1980s, but I'm just going back to this visibility. How do these windows open? Yeah, so this one here, I think you just pull that and it slides. Oh, yeah. So it's just like a little track there. Yeah, and screens, so both sides, you're going to get a lot of ventilation. Then you have these and screens. as well. So just imagine for a second, crummy weather and you have one week to go sailing in your summer. I mean, you can still have a wonderful time. You could, you could. I mean, we sailed that one day in the rain and we were under the cover. We had the Bimini, but this is, this also has a Bimini, but boy, to be out of the weather and even warm in here, that's right. It would be a tremendous. Because there is actually a cooling and heating system. So we'll talk about that. Yeah, absolutely. But if you want to go through this helm a little bit here. Yeah. All the electronics are set up right there. So right next to the main panel here. You've got your compass. You got your wiper blades. It's... No. It's something you don't see every day. I know. It's a throttle and shift. Can you say that matches up like that? It feels fairly normal, I have to say. I was expecting really weird. I think this is the heating system. It's actually like an AC system, but it's got reversible heat capability. And they say they use that in the off-season all the time. You've got your battery. Storage here. And then this is that sort of macerator, I believe. Oh, right. They've got a... It's the Electra Scan. Yeah, yeah. So that's... We'll talk about that. Because I think this holds 120 gallons of water in two tanks, but there was a third up in the V-berth, that extra, that I think they swapped out for this Electra. Yeah, you're exactly right. It would have been another 40 gallons of water, I think. Yeah. So this... What this does is it purifies, it's a macerator, but also sends an electric shock treatment through it. Yeah. So you can overboard discharge in proper locations. And then for some, you even got a solid fuel stove. There are all your batteries down there. Oh, yeah. And you can see like a hot water tank as well. Good size hot water tank. Pretty great. Yeah. Yes. So over here is the little. Separate from the heat and AC, you also have solid fuel. Solid fuel. So you can see they've got a little wood going there now. I'd be a little careful coming down here at night, but other than that. Well, okay. So that's a good point, Ken. So coming in here to the main salon, you've got your dinette table here. Right. Which lowers, right? So yeah, this definitely lowers. So you could have a berth here. Yep. But we were noticing that. Without the quarter berth, you really have this and really just the V berth. So more for a couple, I would say, in general. Yeah, maybe an occasional guest, but I think you're right. I think it's really set up for a couple to go cruising. But what a comfortable cruising ride. Oh, man. And this table is beautiful. It's got this fiddle on here to keep things from sliding off. This is where you would do your research on where you're going next or play some cribbage. Play some cribbage. We're dating ourselves. All right. And then, excuse the power stuff here for the battery, but... You've got a nav desk that sort of slides out here. Yeah. Which I like. For your chart table. So you could have, like, a little stool or something there. I think you're right. You could probably flash, or maybe one of those ones on the swivel. That little swing out would be really nice there. And then you've got your sliding... Ports, lights out into the cockpit there so you can hand out a fresh beverage or just take a quick step up. And a great feature about this is it's not like six steps to get down here. So if you were traveling with a dog, for example, how easy would that for your dog to be able to get in and out? See, Ginger Snap would love this. Ginger Snap. Save the day, Jay's dog and Jamie's dog. All right, Ken, show us the way up to the V-berth. Yeah, but before we go there, since it is October, Hunt for the Red October, this is our drone finder here. So you can just go, uh-oh, watch out, here they come. But that probably came at the same time of the boat. Yeah, exactly. This is interesting. I hadn't seen this a lot, but we believe that's for the bullhorn, different warnings for fog and hailing or man overboard, this and that. Or bring me another drink. Bring me... Oh, I like that one. Yeah. Got to get your radio here. And this is the only really Garmin that we see here. So maybe it does use Navionics or something. Or, yeah, Navionics or something like that. Yeah, absolutely. All right, let's head on down to the V-berth. I'm going to go right all the way up. And I have to say, the headroom carries pretty well, doesn't it? Yeah, all the way through. And all these openings, they do have screens. Actually, this one looks like it's a blind. And a screen. And a screen. Yeah, a screen and a blind. So, yeah, lots of room. Again, this boat's 36 feet. Right. So I'm up way up here, but it's still got plenty of room. And look at that athletic move. This guy is 65 years old. Hey, not bad. Not bad at all. So your toes aren't touching and they're still moving. And you've got the filler here. Yeah. Yeah. But what's great about this is the amount of floor space up here. Yes. Because typically on our 38-foot boat, you can barely move around. It's hard to even get in here. Here, it's very easy to get in and out. Anchor locker there. I believe, like I said, I think it was chain and road. Yeah. Yep. Looks clean. Fairly light chain, but I think that's all right. All right. And I like the wood ceiling up there, and then you sort of got this leatherette below it. But again, all the woodwork. And everything here. All the ceilings here, just clean, no crazing. And then to get in the head, there's two ways, so I'll meet you over there. All right, bud. Yeah, so this is a twofer for the head. So you've got one door here, and then one up into the v-berth, and then check this out. In the shower, a real shower. That is impressive. Even got a clothesline in here. Look at that. Isn't that awesome? Again, 36-foot boat. Your own shower stall. And there's the head. The head's kind of interesting. It's sort of a... Very modern, in a way, so I haven't taken away the light. Just close that for a second. Yeah. Leave it at that. With this little sliding thing here. Yep. Get in there. There You can tell your Y valve's in there somewhere, I reckon. Yep. Head looks in decent shape. All this is clean. Plenty of storage. And a light, yeah. A little ventilation. And that's where that derailleur is. The derailleur is. So, good. This is a huge head for 36 feet. It's amazing how much is in here for 36 feet. we It really is. It's incredible. Yeah. Yeah, it's incredible. And the twofer, so you can be en suite up in the V-berth. Right. Love it. go. Love it. All right, let's find the engine. So, the engine is not where we normally find them on a sailboat. So, check this out. This is some tremendous access. Move back your carpet, open up door one and door two. Look at that. So this is the original Westerbeke. It's a beast. Yeah, with I think 1,430 hours on it. And they've maintained it beautifully over the years. They've replaced heat exchangers and water pumps and the alternator and so forth. So while she's older, she's been well-maintained and updated and upgraded as necessary. But talk about access. You can get down in here and take a look. And, Ken, I don't know if you can see just behind you, you have a dripless shaft seal. Yeah. So if you need to access that. I've never seen better access, honestly, to an engine. Honestly. Yeah. Now, some people might balk that this is down in your bilge and maybe not great if there's a seacock that blows or something and it fills up with water. But if you have the right number of pumps, it is on an elevated floor above. There's a bilge underneath it. As you can see here, so there is some protection from that, but wow, 45 horsepower. Westerbeke. So still going strong. They have no issues with it, but boy, that is some tremendous access. Yeah. These diesels will just run and run. Yeah. So this is well-powered for her size, 45 horsepower. She's only 36 feet long. You're good to go. And I imagine with the pilot house, you've added more weight overall. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. A little more displacement than her counterpart, the 365. We'll check out those numbers in a minute. But by and large, She's well-powered and tremendous access. So all this looks great. Maybe put some paint to it, but just keep servicing. It'll go for another 5,000 hours. All right, let's go now and take a look at the Keel and Hull. As we mentioned earlier, this is the original gel coat. We'll get a close-up of that for you in a minute. But really in spectacular condition, beautiful dark green bootstripe and nice rub stripe with stainless steel on the edge of that. Beautiful look. Thank Probably get a good sense of that pilot house now. Really an unusual but cool look. So you've got a shallow draft, sort of longer fin keel here. Her draft is 4 1⁄2 feet. Her length overall, by the way, is just shy of 36 1⁄2 feet. you. Length on water is 30, and her beam is 11 1⁄2. And her draft, 4 1⁄2 feet. So you can get into skinny water. So if you want to go to the Bahamas, the Chesapeake, you're good to go. So you do have an exposed prop here on a strut, three-bladed bronze prop, but you do have a line cutter, so that helps. There are trade-offs on every boat, but this is absolutely fine. Obviously, it's been sailed this way since 1980. So rudder on skeg, a very robust skeg, and a nice rudder here. Plenty of bottom paint. You might at some point want to soda blast this down. This could be from circa 1980. Who knows? But not too terribly bad. It's better in other places. But all in all, this looks like it's in really good shape. And her name is Brunch. Yeah. Yeah. Cute name. I like that. Yeah. But again, this gel coat, it's incredible. It really is. Again. It's hard to see, but it's just for its age to be in this good shape. When you come this way, Ken, you can see it in the light pretty well. Well, and. That's the advantage of being stored indoors for probably a better part of three-quarters of its life in total, right? I mean, she's only outdoors in the water for a few months a year. There's a ladder back here which is nice. Yeah, good access from the transom. Yeah. And a good feature to see is a garbage drain. So this is encapsulated lead ballast. And that's a garbage drain there, so if this were stored outdoors and it was exposed to elements and rain, it wouldn't fill up the bilge and flood your boat on land, so it can drain out. So that's a good feature to see when you see a boat with encapsulated ballast. So working our way forward, again, all of this is in absolute mint condition. And I know Canadian Ken and I are prone to hyperbole, but it really is. It's like it's brand new. Brand new. How is that even possible? I don't know. It's impressive, though. So I wish we could see the full bow, but we're a little bit hindered by this plastic here. But no. Really noticeable dings or scratches in this whatsoever. It's impressive. And they lived aboard this. I mean, this is a great liveaboard. So what do you say, Ken? Should we wrap it up? I'd like to wrap it up. Absolutely. Take it with us. I agree. We should add it to our charter fleet. Who needs sails? Don't you dare say that. Well, Kenneth, what'd you think? A unique boat. We don't see a lot up here. I really like it. I would take this around. I don't know if I'd take it out in the open ocean, but certainly a coastal cruiser for sure. So that's a good point. So you've got the extra windage with the pilot house and So it can create some instability in higher winds and in close quarters like a port or a harbor. You might have to get used to it, but you just practice and get used to it. And, you know, frankly, if you get nervous, you just do what I do and think about baseball and you'll be fine. Yeah. Take his advice. Take my advice. Take his advice. So what's the asking price on this, Ken? This is $62,500 for this. And so, you know, just asking price. But, I mean, it's been kept indoors. It's in great shape. I mean, it doesn't need a lot of work as far as I know. Maybe a couple of sails are a little older. Yeah. It's ready to go. And maybe the electronics may need some updating unless you're using Navionics or something like that. But by and large, to your point, mint condition. And all due in part to being stored indoors for every off-season of its life. And just the maintenance has been kept up with. And that's what you need to do. And for a liveaboard, I mean, they lived aboard this. I think it'd be a great liveaboard. Absolutely. To have that flexibility to be like, I don't want to go to that helm. I'll just steer from here. Yeah, I'm going to stay indoors today. I like it. Stay warm. Yeah, totally. And so she's just come on the market, by the way. So we will put the, like we said in the opening, we'll put the broker's contact information below. She is a very stiff boat. Her ballast displacement is over 41. She won her. She's a heavy displacement at 292. And her displacement is something like 17,700 pounds. So she's a pretty substantial girl for her size, which means her sail area displacement is going to be a little bit slower. She'll be a little bit slower in light air. But I think in a good breeze, on a reach, she's going to go. Yeah. And your comfort ratio is about 33. Yeah, exactly. I love the beam, and I love the shallow draft. That really gives you a lot of flexibility. Get close to the beach and have the time of your life. Yeah, and your capsizing and screening, for what it's worth, is under 2. So it checks all of those boxes. It does. I just loved it. I wasn't expecting to like the pilot house aspect of it, but now I'm a convert. Yeah, yeah. What's next, a trawler, Ken? There we go, a submarine. A submarine. All right, everybody. Please don't forget to click like, subscribe, and share. Subscribing is free. It costs you nothing. Just click it, and it really helps the algorithm. And don't forget to subscribe to the Boat Fools Report. There's plenty of ways to support us, including getting some merch on our site and Patreon. We've got to get through the winter somehow here in Maine. Yeah, guys, come on. Help us out. All right, everybody. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time. See ya.