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1965 Pearson Vanguard
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John
817-926-3827
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| | | | 3 cylinder diesel, a classic sailboat, done over in 2000, asplendid family boat,
33 Foot, Diesel Powered 1965 Pearson Vanguard for Sale
[All Vanguards are not the same]
The Eleanor O’Neill is hull 266 of 404 Vanguards designed by Marine Architect Phillip Rhodes and produced by Pearson Sailboat Company of Rhode Island between 1963 and 1967.
Hull 266 was produced under a Master Carpenter’s certificate in 1965 and signed off by Everett Pearson.
The boat was built for an owner in Corpus Christi, Texas and, as far as has been determined, spent the first 35 years of her life on the gulf coast of Texas.
The original owner is deceased.
There is an active Vanguard owners association and a web page at www.pearsonvanguard.org.
The design: 32’9’ LOA, 22.4’ LWL, 9’3” beam, 4’6’ draft, displacement 10,500 lbs and 4250 lbs of ballast, internal to the modified full keel, a cut away forefoot on the keel, a teak, skeg-mounted rudder hinged to the back of the keel, and a soft chinned hull.
It is sloop rigged with a low aspect main and roller reefing/furling jib.
The total sail square footage is about 437 sq, ft. with a PHRF rating of 216.
Head room in the main cabin is 6’ 4”.
Eleanor O’Neill is documented with the Coast Guard under number 501932 and shows net tonnage to be 9.
I consider the Vanguard to be a coastal and inland boat.
Not an off shore boat.
So it is probably over built for inland sailing.
That is a good thing.
I had been searching for a Pearson Vanguard to do over and in 2000 hull 266 appeared on the internet.
After contacting the selling broker I went to Kemah, TX to see the boat.
This was the third Vanguard I had traveled to see.
After making trips to North Carolina and to Biloxi, MS my criteria had firmed up a bit.
They were: solid decks and adequately re-powered.
I didn’t want to mess with changing the engine out.
And I wasn’t interested in going back to gasoline
The selling broker informed me that the current owner had recently died with no will but the broker had permission from the only heir, a daughter in Florida, to sell the boat and a power of attorney to execute the title.
There were no records or logs known on the boat.
The boat appeared sound but was a long way from what I wanted as a personal sailboat.
The head was totally illegal in Texas.
The Texas registration had expired in 1987.
There was no galley, there was a large home made fish cleaning table built on the stern and a steel center consul power boat dodger attached to the cockpit gunwale boards.
The boat, though badly out of trim, was sailable and I sailed it on Galveston Bay in 20 knots of wind.
She barely passed the sea trial.
The original Atomic 4, gasoline engine, had been replaced with a Dutch Vetus den Uden, 3 cylinder M3.10 diesel engine.
I knew of Vetus as a manufacturer of quality marine components in Holland and the US but not engines.
I contacted Vetus and they confirmed that the serial number had been sold to a warehouse about 1988 but they could not tell when the warehouse sold it, when it had been installed or by whom.
I made an offer subject to haul out and became the new owner.
I contacted a local surveying firm and had the boat surveyed with no history of hours on the engine.
Power curves from Vetus indicated the engine was rated at 24 HP at 3000 RPM.
The boat was trucked to Fort Worth and after doing the bottom it was launched at the Fort Worth Boat Club on Eagle Mountain Lake.
I spent the next two years doing it over.
I received operating manuals from Vetus and data on the engine, which turned out to have been made by Mitsubshi Heavy Industries in Japan, and marinized by Vetus, which included the wet exhaust and water trap.
Mitsubishi diesels are quite commonly used on farm and construction machinery and service parts are widely available.
I continue to be impressed with the Vetus conversion work including the hand pump to clean out the oil pan when changing the oil.
Most sail boat diesel engines are slightly angled down aft to align the power shaft with the saber bearing.
I had never been completely satisfied with the Yanmar engine I had for 18 years on my last boat.
When ever you changed the oil you left the last 3/4 liter, or so, of dirty oil in the pan to mix with the fresh oil.
With the Vetus system it is very easy to hand pump every drop of used oil into an empty gallon jug through a line that feeds out the back of the pan to the chromed hand pump mounted vertically above the back of the engine.
I didn’t really do anything to the engine but check the compression and oil pressure, change the oil and filters, clean it up and repaint it Vetus yellow.
In 2008 I replaced the fresh water cooling impeller and gasket.
The engine makes no smoke and consumes no oil between six month oil changes.
Oil pressure is good.
Operating temperature is normal.
The fuel tank is the original monel steel tank with about 25 gallons useable capacity.
The fuel tank fills from an access in the cockpit sole.
Available fuel is checked with an old fashion, but dependable dip stick.
There are two fuel filters.
The first is a Racor water striping filter with the main fuel shut off valve reachable from the engine compartment cover in the main cabin.
The secondary fuel filter is a CAV unit with a replaceable core mounted on the engine just up stream of the injectors.
The engine starts, idles, runs smoothly and kills at the touch of the kill switch on the instrument panel.
Vetus literature shows the injectors to be self bleeding.
Cold weather starting is facilitated by proper use of glow plugs.
The three bladed 13” x 6” bronze prop is mounted on a 1” stainless steel shaft.
The shaft has a conventional packing gland with 3/16” packing.
I have repacked it twice since 2000.
The saber bearing shows no excessive play or vibration.
The engine and prop set up drive the boat at 5 to 6 knots, depending on wind, at 2500 RPM.
The engine and machinery are exceptionally quite at all power settings.
Backing a full keel boat with a wheel from standing still is something that must be learned.
I find it works best to leave the boat is reverse idle with rudder amid ships until it gains steerage way.
The engine cools with fresh water taken in through a strainer and a through hull ball cock valve and fed through a heat exchanger to the exhaust mixing elbow and exhaust.
Antifreeze mixture circulates in the block and cooling water through the heat exchanger.
No water should ever be in the engine.
A Hurth transmission is mounted on the rear of the engine.
The original 30 amp alternator has been replaced (2004) with a 50 amp and normally has no trouble keeping the two batteries charged.
The two batteries are each enclosed in secured wooden battery boxes with vinyl inserts and secured vinyl covers.
The new lockable battery selector switch has been relocated to just inside the companionway so that it is accessible from both the cabin and the cockpit.
The 120VAC cut-off switch is inside the shelf below the battery switch.
All l20VAC circuits and outlets are ground fault protected.
Original two wire 120VAC circuits were replaced with 3 wire (2001).
There is a new (2008) 2000 GPM Rule bilge pump and float switch hung in the bilge and wired directly to the designated “House Battery.” In addition there is a manual bilge pump, brass strainer, foot valve and discharge line installed in the bilge and accessible through the port lazarette.
The original tiller has been replaced with an Edson pedestal, 27 “ships wheel and lighted Danforth steering compass.
Engine controls, with combined throttle and gear shift, are mounted aft on the cockpit inside wall of the starboard lazarette.
Compass lights are on the running lights circuit.
The 12VDC electrical system wiring has not been totally redone by me except the circuits to facilitate the installation of the new battery selector switch.
All new equipment was installed with new wire using the original Pearson electric switch and fuse box.
All engine operating instruments are protected with visual and audio alarms, including the depth sounder.
The boat has a little weather helm that is handled effectively by sail trim, full keel and wheel steering.
The boat is designed to sail at about 19 degrees of heel to lengthen out the waterline length for a faster hull speed.
This is part of the Vanguard secret.
The ¼” standing rigging was inspected in 2000 and tuned in 2009.
The 5/16” head stay was installed new when the roller furling jib was installed in 2002.
There are 7- 5/16” thick stainless steel chain plates on six shroud lines and one on the back stay.
In 2000 I sent these to a metallurgist in Ft.
Worth to have them checked for soundness.
They were checked for internal soundness, tested with die and fluoroscope to check for cracks and holes checked for out of roundness.
All passed and were re-installed.
Knees had three holes for 3/8” in diameter bolts.
Knees had been inspected and found sound in the survey at the time of purchase.
I had matching 5/16” doublers made to match each plate.
Each set of plates and doublers is bolted around the knee with three 3/8” bolts, flat washers and lock washers.
The mast and boom required major rework.
Originally Vanguards were equipped with a crank and gearing at the goose neck to rotate the boom and “roll up the main” around the boom for shortening down.
This never worked since the luff of a sail is shorter than the leach and the boom sagged into the cockpit, didn’t provide a uniform airfoil reefed, and was dangerous to the crew.
The ¼ “standing rigging was inspected in 2000 and tuned in 2009.
A new 5/16 head stay was installed when the roller furling jib was installed in 2002.
The main sheet traveler was installed in 2003.
The boom and mast required major rework.
Originally, Vanguards were equipped with a crank and gearing at the goose neck to rotate the boom and “roll up the main” for shortening down.
This never worked well since the luff of a sail is shorter than the leach and the boom sagged into the cockpit, didn’t provide a uniform airfoil reefed and was dangerous to crew.
One good thing about Rhodes’ designs is that the original Rhodes drawings are available from Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Conn.
The replacement boom that was on hull 266 in 2000 was heavy and dangerous.
It was made out of 5/16 “thick, 5” diameter pipe 15 feet long and weighed about 110 lbs.
According to the drawings Rhodes’ boom was wooden, six sided and tapered at both ends, intended to be reefed with the crank.
There was a bronze slip fitting at the aft end which tied to the topping lift for support and allowed the boom to rotate.
After securing Rhodes’ boom drawings I had a structural analysis run on a 3” x 4” section, 1 inch thick, of kiln dried heart Douglas fir.
It exceeded the capacity of the 6 sided design.
We built it and inserted blocks at stress points so that, for much of its length, it is solid.
It was fitted to the old goose neck.
I retained the boom crutch brackets though I have not found a boom crutch necessary for lake sailing.
Lazy jacks have been added to make dropping the large low aspect main sail manageable.
The old Pearson main sheet traveler rod has been replaced with a Harkin traveler track and sheeting car running across the rear deck aft of the ships wheel.
The long boom and traveler main sheet angle control the boom without a vang, though the boom has a bale installed for one.
The sail inventory consists of the main sail and roller furling jib.
The main sail was on the boat when I purchased it in 2000.
It is in good condition.
There are no tears or patches.
The main sail cover, in use at the time, was on the boom and adequately protected the main.
The mainsail has been equipped with conventional slab reefing with two courses of reefing points.
The jib sail was cut out of an existing jib to fit the roller furling rig.
Both are always covered with canvas when not sailing.
With the roller reefing jib and slab reefed main, sails can be shortened down and balanced in almost any condition.
The rig is so versatile I have never had the need to change out a sail.
I have sailed the boat in 45 knots of wind with comfortable control.
The high ballast ratio, low CG, short mast (35 feet), hull design and adequate rudder when heeled contribute to stability and control.
The mast is original with major modifications.
The wire rope halyards and infamous friction brake winches were replaced with two new sheaves at the mast head and low stretch braided line halyards run internally to two chromed Arco winches, that were primaries on my Helms 30 before I put self-tailers in their place, and two deck cleats.
The Arcos were mounted directly on the mast using the existing Pearson mounts.
I riveted a PVC conduit up the inside of the mast for the wires for the anchor light, steaming light and spreader mounted deck lights so that they would make no noise when the boat rocked at anchor.
New spreaders were made out of ash, primed and painted.
The mill finish mast was acid washed, zinc chromate primed and painted with one coat of primer and two coats of International Brightside one part polyurethane, off white.
The mast tabernacle was designed by Rhodes and fabricated out of ½” steel.
The mast base rests in a box formed by the steel assembly.
The tabernacle spans the two main transverse beams that form the head compartment.
The toilet was replaced in 2005 with another Jabsco head.
A 12 gallon plastic holding tank was installed under the port side forward berth.
The through hull that served the head discharge overboard was disconnected and the head discharge connected to the holing tank.
The sink basin Pearson used was a train compartment type which folded up against the bulkhead on which it was mounted for draining into the bilge.
I never liked that arrangement and the drain was routed to the now unused old head through-hull valve.
The sink was cleaned, re-plated and retained.
The sink has pressure cold water.
The plastic waste holding tank has a vacuum pump out connection in the port deck even with the head.
A pressure relief line is run from the tank to the hull top sides.
The old Pearson mirror was cleaned and reframed in a walnut frame and bolted to the bulkhead.
One halogen light was installed and louvered center-folding doors were built for the shelved storage area behind the head.
The door closing forward cabin and the door closing the main cabin provide privacy.
Two 5” x 8” polished stainless steel, opening, screened New Found Metals windows, one to port and one to starboard have replaced the small original cast aluminum oval ports.
On the starboard side, opposite the head and sink, are two storage closets.
One is a shelf locker and one is a hanging locker.
Full length walnut grating doors were made for each of these to maximize ventilation.
The cabin sole in the head matches the mahogany soles of the main and forward cabins.
They are finished with polyurethane.
The bulk heads are painted off white.
The forward cabin is a vee berth configuration with berth lights over each bunk.
Matching 5” x 8” screened, opening port lights are on each side.
A triangle piece of covered cushion fits between berths amid ships and below it is a compartment that holds the depth sounder transducer in an oil filled container.
The transducer shoots through the hull forward of the keel.
The starboard aft space under the bunk holds large clothes drawer with bulk storage underneath.
The aft port side space is used for the holding tank.
Forward spaces under the bunks are bulk storage,
The forward end of both bunks leads to the forecastle area.
The anchor rode of ½ “braided line 150 feet long with 15 feet of 3/8” chain is stored there.
The anchor rides on a bow roller beneath the bow pulpit.
The chain and anchor are secured on deck at the bow.
New double, vinyl covered, stainless steel life lines have replaced the original.
One extra stanchion was installed on each side to provide better spacing for a gate.
The gate is installed on the port side only.
The galley or “galleyette” is on the port side of the main cabin immediately as one enters the cabin.
There is a stainless steel sink, pressure water supply, Formica covered food counter and preparation area.
An 1100 watt micro wave oven is suspended on the port side overhead.
Between the forward end of the oven and the transverse bulk head is a small three bottle wine storage.
Both 120VAC and 12VDC lights are provided.
In front and below the oven is a cutting board cover over a trash drop below.
A utensil drawer and an access to storage below the counter are provided, as is a hinged door access to the pressure water line and the drain through hull cut off valve.
Potable water is stored in a clear plastic container to the left of the oven and attached to the overhead.
The original monel steel water tank is under the main cabin sole.
The tank works fine but the Boat Club well is high in sulfur and we don’t use it for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth.
The filler cap to the monel tank is beneath a lift ring in the main cabin sole.
On the starboard side, as you come down the companion way ladder, is the navigator’s station, with a Formica covered hinged lifting top, with12 VDC and 120VAC lights.
There is a hand held VHF and basic weather instruments.
Logs, records and cruise data are here.
Just aft of the nav station and next to the cabin/cockpit bulkhead is a rack that holds the 38 qt.
Igloo Ice chest we use for an ice box.
Below that chest is a storage area for engine spare and service parts.
Above and level with the companion way top is VHF radio.
The microphone is accessible from the cabin or the cockpit.
The antenna is deck mounted on the starboard stern and strapped to the stern rail.
There is a ventilated hatch cover access to the rear deck storage area.
Original hold down clamps have been replaced with stainless steel hinges on the aft side.
The Formica covered removable engine cover and access spans the space between the galley and the nav station.
Two walnut ladders provide ingress and egress through the companion way.
Under the first ladder is the access to the bilge, bilge pump, float switch, pressure water pump and monel steel water tank.
The second ladder goes from the top of the engine cover to the companion way and cockpit.
The boat decks were stripped, filled, sanded and painted in 2001.
Non-skid polymeric spheres were mixed in the last coat after taping off border areas.
That has pretty much worn off and the decks are showing some wear.
The primary Pearson sheet winches have been replaced with two new Lewmar 30C self tailing winches.
The roller reefing jib is about 110 % of the fore triangle.
Track leads are adjustable.
The jib reefing line runs down the starboard side to a cam cleat used when the sail is either all in or all out.
In addition there is a deck cleat for intermediate furling settings.
You can use the starboard Lewmar sheet winch to reef or furl the jib under unusual conditions.
There is a canvas sun shield that covers the boat from just behind the mast to over the aft end of the 15 foot boom and back stay.
The cover goes over the boom and is supported by three 1 ½ “PVC tubing rafters that run across the boat even with the life lines on each side.
Each rafter slips through sown slots in the cover.
Each rafter end has a male canvas snap which matches up with a female snap button on both ends of the sown slots to provide tension athwart ships.
Tension along the lubber line is between the mast and the back stay.
Individual straps run from grommets in each edge to the top lifeline and a harness attaches to the main halyard to give it shape and keep the load off the mainsail cover.
Spring hook lines run forward to each rear shroud.
The aft end is secured to the stern rail and back stay.
The cover is out of tan canvas that matches the mainsheet cover and the UV roll up cover on the jib.
This design has weathered 60 MPH winds, in the slip without damage.
It is also pleasant to use the sun shade while sailing in moderate winds with the jib only keeping the entire cockpit shaded while under sail.
In case you are wondering why this boat is for sale...
Next month I will be 81 years old.
I simply cannot stay ahead of the maintenance anymore.
There are still enough things for you to do to let you establish your ownership.
If you buy it I will be available to you as a consultant as long as I can.
It is time for me to down size.
My next boat will be a Cape Dory 25D.
I hope you enjoy this one as much as I have.
Capt.
John E.
Orr
50 Ton Sailing Master with Auxiliary Endorsement
USCG # 644974, 1992
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