Number Twenty Three

[#23]

We are owner number four of Hull #23, which we purchased just last week and sailed to Canada (some sailing footage here: https://youtu.be/I524UzM_srk). Been lurking the forum for a while, but registering here before finalizing the purchase seemed...jinxy. 

As far as we can determine, there are only three Pearson P/Hs on the west coast: ours, another in Vancouver BC and Hull #15, in Tacoma. Looking closely at #15 is what led us to this forum and eventually to member Barry, from whom we purchased #23. 

We will use this thread to track our maintenance, travels and observations as P/H owners. Much like sailing itself, it'll likely be 90% routine and 10% terror.

~ Chris & Chanda

[#23]

Chris says: I'm a big believer in having the right tool for the job and since our long-term cruising goals are modest -  meandering through the inside passages between Seattle and Skagway, as time and finances permit - it came down to a boat that met four fundamental criteria: it had to be less than 40 feet LOA, it had to have a solid hull, it had to offer shoal draft, and it had to have an enclosed pilothouse.

Having spent 10 years working from boats on the coastal waters of BC, I've learned that a warm, dry crew makes for an alert, rested crew and alert, rested crews make better decisions when the shtf. Having squeaked though plenty of skinny water north of here, I wouldn't want to cruise the BC coast without shoal draft. The number of logs silently sharing the water up here make a solid (non-cored) hull a no-brainer. My last sailboat was a Mapleleaf 42 and I've found that both physical exertion and financial costs begin to dramatically increase once you cross the 40LOA line. It was important to have a ship that will fit us just as well 15 years from now, as it does today.

We considered the Cooper Seabird and the Gulf 32, however we found that the interior helms had marginal sight lines. We also looked at a lot of center-cockpits with enclosed helms and, if the Pearson hadn't come along, we would likely have settled for one. The Fisher 34 was on our list for a long time, however they are as rare as hen's teeth and have the disadvantage of requiring import duty on top of sales tax (if purchased in the US and imported into Canada) because NAFTA only applies to goods manufactured in North America. In the end, the Pearson Pilothouse 36 delivered those fundamentals at a price that didn't leave us 'boat-poor'.

The Pearson also had additional advantages: no companionway ladders to clamber up & down, wraparound pilothouse windows that were low enough for 5'1" Chanda to see out of, full engine access that didn't involve moving cabinetry, a separate walk-in shower, and roomy well-balanced forward & aft stowage.

[S/V Deo Volente]

Hi Chris! We are wrapping up our 23rd year with our pilothouse. We too looked at every pilothouse boat we could find and realized what we really wanted was a raised cabin. When the weather is cold or wet everyone will want to be in the pilothouse. By the way I did see one in Southern California in 1995, but I couldn't get close enough to get a hull number.
I'll look forward to watching your adventures.

[#23]

Hi Deo and thanks for the welcome!

Yours and the other owner's feedback during our pre-purchase selection really helped!


For readers interested in the backstory, we found Hull #15 on Yachtworld back in July, and Chris drove down to to have a good look at her. After spending a good three hours inspecting all the nooks & crannies, he had written up a detailed list of pros & cons but we wanted the experienced perspective of other P/H owners to add to our own conclusions. We found this forum and wrote to the active P/H owners, looking for the model-specific issues. Deo, SV Springtide, SV Heron & Barry all responded - with Barry inviting us to come have a look at his!

The chances of two Pearson Pilothouses being within 30 miles of each other, to allow us to compare, seemed serendipitous, so Chris hopped back on the ferry and met up with him in Sequim, WA.

They got to talking and the subject of buying #23 came up. Having had a good look at her, we liked what we had seen compared to #15, and the rest, as they say, is for another entry...

[SailingSeaDragon]

Chris & Chanda,

Welcome the Pearson 365/367 family  . I have little doubt you will love the boat...

I am in the process of updating the list of P365/367 owners (http://www.sailingseadragon.com/KnownBoats.htm) and of course I'd like to update the information on PH hull #23.... If your are willing, please let me know the boat's name, if it has changed, hailing port, and owners names as you would like them listed.

Let the new adventure begin.

Garner

[#23]

thanks Garner!

I am in the process of updating the list of P365/367 owners (http://www.sailingseadragon.com/KnownBoats.htm) and of course I'd like to update the information on PH hull #23.... If your are willing, please let me know the boat's name, if it has changed, hailing port, and owners names as you would like them listed.

PM sent


Having placed #23 in the boat selection A-Pile, it was time to get the pre-purchase ball rolling. We were doing this as a broker-free private international sale, which sounds daunting but turned out to be far simpler than you'd expect. Barry wasn't in any particular hurry, which took a lot of the pressure off, considering that Chris was organizing things from Canada.

The normal course of action is to hire a surveyor, but since the vessel was going to be insured in Canada, we had the wrinkle of needing to find an American surveyor recognized by Canadian underwriters. A few inquiries determined that the Canadian underwriters would accept a survey done by a SAMS member in good standing. Chris located two in the area and invited them to quote on the job, based on a 'haul & hang'. After selecting one, he contacted the Port Townsend boatyard to schedule the haulout three weeks hence.

The plan was to sea-trial her from Sequim to Port Townsend (about 18nm), spend the night aboard, do the dockside & haulout the next day and then sea-trial her back to Sequim for supper.

In the weeks leading up the survey, Chris researched export/import requirements, built a sale checklist list to follow, wrote a pre-purchase agreement for the vessel, and rallied 200 of his neighbours to fight city hall about a homeless tent city the Mayor wanted to build in the park across the street from his condo.

[#23]

On Sept 3rd I, Barry and some out-of-state visitors of his cast off for Port Townsend. True to form, the wind died the moment we hoisted the main, but I used the opportunity to inspect stitching, sheets & canvas. She burbled along at four knots and a bit, running against the tide as we motored our way to Port Townsend.




The docks were full so we tied up on the loading dock while we scouted out the wharfinger. Turns out the wharfinger was gone for the day but a couple of locals said overnighting there wouldn't be a problem. Mrs Barry drove out to collect her husband & visitors and I expected Chanda to join me in a little while, once she finished work for the day.

In the meantime, it began to rain so I used the opportunity to discover some leaking windows. I realize it isn't very salty to refer to a sailboat's sidescuttles as "windows", but I'm differentiating between the P/H's true portholes (of which there are four) , and the wraparound windows of the pilothouse itself. I located four drips, the biggest of which was at the stbd aft corner of the pilothouse and the most alarming of which was a drip onto the main DC panel board. The leaks themselves weren't a surprise, as Barry had been very up front about the ship's condition. The window gaskets were 35 years old and long overdue for replacement. Nevertheless, it went into my financial factoring.

Chanda arrived with supper and we ate our first meal aboard to the sound of the rain. We discussed the drips and noted that the bilge was still bone-dry, no water was trickling down the mast, and everything forward of the pilothouse was snug as a bug. We had no shore power on the loading dock, so we read by cabinlight and then settled into the v-berth for the night.

[#23]

Chanda left for work at 0500 and the surveyor arrived at 0900. We got started on the dockside portion and since I'm not one of those "stand by the side with my thumb inserted" types, I rolled up my sleeves and crawled through the boat with him.

Between what Barry had informed us of and what I'd found on my own, there weren't any surprises. Structurally she was sound, with just some expected moisture readings below the window frame. I'd rather have a ship that's structurally sound and needs cosmetic work, than the other way around. There were 35 years/3 previous-owners worth of old systems and DIY projects to clean up, but I like that sort of refit work.

The haulout went smoothly, although the Travelift guys weren't fans of having to walk the aft cradle behind the prop shaft. Once hauled we pressure-washed off the minimal growth, greased & zinced the prop and touched up the bottom paint. In the meantime, the surveyor sounded the hull - which was blister-free and solid except for a 5-inch diameter at the bottom leading edge of the skeg. That section had 5 blisters the size of pennies.

Then it was time to put her back in the water: https://youtu.be/MsC99C1IoZM

Once watered, we did a 20-minute injector test, then wrapped up the survey and headed for Sequim!

[#23]

With the surveyor needing a week to write up his report, we used the time to scout out a marina to call home. Southern Vancouver Island has plenty of moorage but very little of it is under $10/foot and usually adds all sorts of fees & surcharges on top of that. Most of them also want a year's moorage paid full in advance.


(welcome to my Evil Marina)




After exploring all sorts of options, including laying her up on the hard, word of mouth finally led me to a quiet little marina off the beaten path that had moorage at a great rate. Everything was falling into place and, once we got that thumb's up from the insurance company, all we had left to do was start shovelling money out the door.

[#23]

THE day had finally arrived!

Barry & I met at the County Clerk and, after a little government runaround, had the sale completed and all the relevant documents notarized.

We were boat owners!




The remainder of the day was spent loading & securing all of the ancillary gear Barry had been storing in his barn - including seven bags of sails (into the lazarette), the dingy (into the shower stall), books & manuals (into the forepeak) and the bimini frame (lashed onto the deck). Chanda had to work from 0500 to 1400, so I had a friend come over from Canada to help me crew her back the following day.

We stocked up on maintenance supplies, some grub for the trip and then had a celebratory dinner that left us all extremely sleepy. Nevertheless, we got back to the marina and turned her bow out, so that we had one less thing to do in the groggy, 5am dark.

The next morning dawned cloudy but calm and we cast off at 0600, before the sun was up. A dead slow motor out of Sequim Bay and around Klapot Point and all that was left was a straight shot across the calm September waters of Juan de Fuca, to Victoria:

https://youtu.be/I524UzM_srk



.

[#23]

Crossing the Strait was smooth and traffic-free, always a treat when piloting an unfamiliar boat for the first time. We tied up at the Canada Customs dock in Victoria BC around 1300 and it only took about 15 minutes to import her into the Canada over the Customs dock phone.


(Victoria BC, land of hippies, geezers & government workers)



Since I had planned on that taking several hours (I'd assumed an importation inspection of some sort), Dave & I decided to skip the overnight in Victoria harbour and head right for my new marina, in Pedder Bay. I cast off and enjoyed a leisurely solo jaunt south & west to Pedder, while Dave grabbed his truck and drove over to meet me there.

Less than two hours later and #23 was berthed in her designated spot!

[#23]

Three days later, Chanda & I had time to start unburdening the ship of everything not nailed down. It took two trips with the pickup, but we cleared out everything (raising the waterline two inches in the process) and hauled it to the condo to sort through. Excluding the engine compartment & bilge, we also scrubbed every floor, bulkhead & drawer with cleansers, including the hull behind the cabinetry, because a thorough cleaning is the best way to discover things.

Once back at the condo, we washed all the sailbags, stripped & washed all the cushion covers and started sorting all the random crap into "keep it/junk it". The "junk it" pile was definitely the larger of the two by the time we were done. Since I have the condo listed for sale and need it looking neat & tidy, everything in the "keep it" pile went into the storage locker downstairs. 

At this point Number Twenty Three was completely empty except for a bin of cleansers, some engine maintenance supplies, and emergency equipment (flashlights, manual bilge pump handle, spare docklines and the like).

I brought the Giant Box o'Manuals to work, to sort through and photocopy over the next two weeks. My preference is to keep original manuals stored somewhere dry & secure and only keep colour photocopies aboard. The reasoning being  'working colour copies' can (A) get grungy without ruining the source materials, and (B) be printed as 2-sided documents, thereby needing less cumulative stowage room aboard. Scanning as colour PDFs is also an option down the road..a method we used on our 2013 motorcycle honeymoon through Mexico.

She was berthed, empty & clean. The time had come, to start tackling issues.



First up: addressing the leaking 35-year-old pilothouse roof & window seals

[#23]

The pilothouse wraparound window consists of three aluminium frames (port, stbd & forward), bolted to each other, to the deck and to the roof. The port & stbd pieces are also end-bolted to the aft bulkhead. 

The roof/frame and deck/frame seals are porous, so the challenge is getting them replaced, rather than slathering the outside with silicone and qualifying as an entry on There I Fixed It.


(typical forward seal)


(just...lol)



Coupled with that, the PO mounted a boom crutch in the one spot guaranteed to collect water and expedite it into the portside aft corner:







Step one, was getting rid of the finery:



From past experience, I've learned to bag and label all fasteners as I remove them. It's amazing how a few $0.03 plastic baggies can make your life easier later on:





I also labeled the back of each trimpiece as I removed it and stored in the 'basement'. Happily, I only found one wet screw poking through the roof itself (one of the companionway hatch slider ones), the rest of the roof was dry and solid.

The 20th century incandescent overhead fixtures that I removed will get Craigslisted, as I'm a big fan of leds and have an idea on some ceiling-mounted white/red strips over the galley and chart table.

Speaking of the chart table, I also removed the Dickensen Antarctic furnace that limited access to the table and cabinet and apparently had never worked right to begin with.


(another item that has Craigslist written all over it)



~ Chris

[S/V Deo Volente]

FYI That boom crutch is a factory item

[#23]

FYI That boom crutch is a factory item

yikes! That also explains where the copper trip trays I found behind the paneling came from, then.






The frame/deck joint ranges from hairline-tight to 1/4" gapped. The roof/deck joint is consistently about 1/8" of an inch gapped.

I'm looking at two options for bedding: butyl and Life-Calk. Total cost is about the same for the lineal footage I need, so I'm researching the pros & cons of each because I only want to do this once.

I've sourced rolls of butyl that are 3/8" square by 15', which I'm looking at using as the frame/roof, frame/deck and frame/aft bulkhead bedding. I'd use the standard 1/8" stuff between the P+S frames and the forward frame.

My thinking is the 3/8" square butyl will compress flush where needed, yet close up gaps where they naturally occur along the seam line. My main concern with using butyl is having it seal up tight where the ends of the butyl rolls butt together, as well as watertightness at the butyl joints at the top & bottom of the P+S/Forward frames.

Any lurkers out there with feedback on butyl or Life-Calk are more than welcome to pipe up.

Whichever product I use, Deo gave the excellent advice to use an etching primer on the frame perimeters as part of the pre-install prep. Thanks Deo! 


As far as getting at the frames themselves goes; the roof has 30 bolts holding it to the window frames, but is only secured to the aft bulkhead with a wedged shiplap joint and flexible silicone. My idea is to remove the 30 bolts and tilt the roof up at the front, using the aft bulkhead as a fulcrum. If I can get her raised about 6" at the front, that should give me enough clearance at the aft ends of the P+S frames to get 'em out, cleaned and re-bedded.

For my raising mechanism, I'm still trying to find a local tool rental place that has a couple of these in 6-foot(ish) lengths:





Once everything is sourced, it comes down to a suitable 2-3 day weather window.

Fortunately the El Nino may help with that

.