1958 Blanchard Pilothouse Boat in San Mateo, CA 94401 US

Sleeps five owners and guests in two private staterooms, plus two companionway berths, and a pilothouse berth for a total of eight. Three enclosed heads including one shower and tub/shower in the master.  One boards the vessel from the swim step through a centerline transom door to the teak soled aft deck. There is a stainless Dickinson BBQ, hot & cold shower, four wicker chairs and cocktail tables plus wing doors.

From the aft deck one enters the salon through two large, varnished teak double doors. The salon is spacious with large windows with curtains and roll-up Sunbrella shades. There is an L-shaped settee to port with storage below and a locker adjacent to the companionway with a drop leaf table stowed. Opposite to starboard are lockers and a shelf with TV and entertainment center. The sunny, up U-shape galley is located forward to port and open to the salon for easy conversation. To starboard is side-by-side stainless refrigerator and freezer and a U-line ice maker.

From the salon up four steps to the pilothouse. The helm is on center with complete engine controls, digital tachometers and VDO gauges. 

The ships electrical panel is to port and drawers to starboard. There is a pilot berth aft of the raised settee with a

varnished teak table and two chairs. There are bookshelves, 4 bullet spotlights, a magazine rack, inclinometer, Weems & Plath ships clock and barometer, a remote high intensity spotlight, and sliding side deck access doors P&S leading to the side decks and unique Portuguese bridge. The Portuguese bridge area has centerline wheel steering, engine controls, Garelick helm seats port and starboard and a centerline gate to the foredeck.

From the salon down four steps to the staterooms. Engine access to each motor is on the passageway with stand-up

engine rooms. The master stateroom is to starboard and features a thwartship, double berth with storage below, large

cedar lined double door hanging locker, a second hanging locker, color TV and two opening ports. The ensuite master

head has a tub shower with handheld faucet, a “Head Hunter” Royal Flush electric marine toilet, sink with brass faucets, a cabinet, mirror and an opening port. There is a guest head to port with a sink, “Head Hunter” electric marine toilet, mirror, cabinet and an opening port. Continuing forward on the port side are two berths with storage below, a privacy curtain and a hanging locker. The guest stateroom is forward offering a double berth over a single thwartship berth. There are dual hanging lockers, drawer storage, a cabinet and four opening ports. Forward is a stall shower to starboard with the guest head forward. This head also has a “Head Hunter” electric marine toilet, sink with pressure H&C water, two opening ports and access to the chain locker in the forepeak.

The interior aboard "Sea Wolf" is very clean and well appointed in nautical white enamel with glass-like varnished warm teak trim and cabinetry. AM/F/cassette stereo systems; compact CD player; Bose Surround Sound System and Aiphone intercom system. Upgrades onboard include carpeting throughout; curtains; Ultra Suede settee covers; 5-zone Kabola hot water cabin heat system; Bose Surround Sound; and galley appliances as noted below.

Bill Garden's "Shippy" Design

Garden himself wrote about the Blue Heron design in his design book. He emphasized that the yacht was intended for serious family cruising rather than marina display. He praised its "shippy look" and noted that it avoided the "two-story yacht" appearance common among luxury yachts. 

For many yacht aficionados, this is SEA WOLF's greatest attribute:

• Long, low profile
• Proper working-vessel proportions
• Deep bulwarks
• Raised pilothouse
• Powerful bow and moderate freeboard
• No unnecessary superstructure

The result is a yacht that looks as if she belongs at sea.

Extraordinary Construction

SEA WOLF was built with:

• 1⅞-inch Alaskan yellow cedar planking
• 1¾-inch white oak frames
• Heavy displacement hull structure
• Traditional bronze fastenings and hardware

That scantling schedule is closer to commercial-vessel construction than to most pleasure yachts. 

Rare Blanchard Heritage

The N. J. Blanchard Boat Company was among the finest wooden-boat builders on the West Coast. Large surviving Blanchard yachts are increasingly rare, and a 62-footer that has remained active and maintained is rarer still. 

Layout Ahead of Its Time

Garden described the saloon-galley arrangement as specifically intended for owner-operated cruising in Pacific Northwest waters, where yachts often cruised without permanent crew. The layout encourages social interaction while keeping the vessel practical for a family. 

Today that sounds ordinary, but in 1958 it was remarkably forward-thinking.

What makes SEA WOLF especially interesting from a design standpoint is that Bill Garden was solving a problem that many yacht designers of the 1950s struggled with: how to create a truly livable cruising yacht without turning it into a top-heavy floating house.

Garden discussed the original BLUE HERON III design as a serious family cruising yacht, and he was particularly proud of the way the accommodations were integrated into the hull rather than piled above it. 

The Machinery Space as the Center of the Yacht

On most yachts of the era, the engine room was simply a necessary void buried beneath the saloon. The result was often:

• Excessive noise and heat in the main living spaces.
• Awkward stairways and split-level cabins.
• High superstructures to gain headroom above machinery.

Garden took a different approach.

The engine room became the central structural and organizational element of the yacht. Rather than forcing the accommodations around it, he arranged the living spaces so that the machinery space sat low and central, with the principal accommodations naturally distributed fore and aft.

Why the Main Salon Works So Well

When you step into SEA WOLF's salon, one of the first things you notice is that it feels connected to the yacht rather than perched on top of it.

The salon benefits from:

• Excellent sightlines out the side windows.
• A relatively low sole height.
• Comfortable ceiling height without an excessively tall cabin trunk.
• A feeling of security underway.

Many modern yachts achieve volume by stacking living space higher above the waterline. SEA WOLF achieves comfort by sinking the living space deeper into the hull and distributing volume longitudinally.

That gives the room a distinctly "shipboard" character.

The Galley Relationship

One of Garden's more forward-looking ideas was placing the galley so it remained socially connected to the salon while still functioning at sea.

In many 1950s yachts the galley was isolated below decks and detached from the life of the vessel.

On SEA WOLF the arrangement encourages:

• Conversation between salon and galley.
• Easier service while underway.
• Better participation of the cook in family cruising life.

Today that seems obvious, but in 1958 it was unusually modern.

The Master Stateroom Advantage

Another consequence of the machinery-space arrangement is the remarkable owner's stateroom.

By pushing machinery into a compact central location and carefully managing shaft alleys and tankage, Garden was able to create accommodations that feel more like those of a much larger yacht.

Owners often comment that the stateroom feels unusually generous for a 62-footer of that era.

Motion at Sea

This is where the design really shines.

Because the heavy machinery is concentrated low and near the center of gravity:

• Pitching moments are reduced.
• Roll is slower and more comfortable.
• Machinery weight contributes positively to stability.
• The yacht feels planted in the water.

That characteristic is immediately noticeable when compared with many later motor yachts carrying substantial accommodation volume high above the waterline.

The "Garden Secret"

What I think Garden accomplished better than most designers of his generation was preserving the psychological feeling of being aboard a vessel.

Many luxury yachts feel like waterfront condominiums.

SEA WOLF feels like a ship.

The salon, pilothouse, engine room, and accommodations are arranged around the realities of life at sea rather than around dockside entertaining. That is why, nearly seventy years later, knowledgeable yacht owners still admire the design. It is not merely beautiful—it is coherent. Every major space aboard supports the vessel's purpose as a long-range family cruising yacht.

Among large wooden West Coast motoryachts of her era, that balance between engineering, seakeeping, and livability is what elevates SEA WOLF from a handsome classic yacht to a genuinely important Bill Garden design. 

• Cold plate refrigerator and freezer system
• Kitchen Aid 4-burner stove & oven
• Double stainless sinks with pull-out faucet
• U-Line Ice Maker
• Trap door in counter for trash with access from side deck
• Abundant counter and storage area

• Furuno LCR 72-mile radar
• Furuno GPS
• Robertson 100DL autopilot
• Robertson R1100 rudder angle indicator
• Icom IC M602 VHF radio
• Icom IC 751 Ham radio
• Icom IC M700 SSB radio
• Standard Horizon Ram 3 VHF
• Furuno weather fax
• B&G Hornet instrument package
• Air horn
• ACR Class A EPIRB
• Clearview Sea Tel Satphone (2008)
• Garmin 3210 GPS Map (2008)
• John Chaney inclinometer
• Ritchie 5" compass
• Pioneer AM/FM/CD

• Northern Lights 12kw generator (3566 approx. hrs)
• (8) 32v batteries
• (2) 12v batteries for genset start
• (4) 12v batteries for electronics
• Converter (110vAC to 12vDC)
• Converter (32vDC to 12vDC)
• 32v Inverter/charger (Victron)
• 12v Charger
• 30-amp & 50-amp shore power service
• Link 2000
• Major refit of all electrical systems in 2000
• Tank Tender waste water pump out system
• Zantex Amphouse/Amp Meter
• 12V engine alternator
• 32V engine alternator
• Electric fans
• 20 Gallon electric hot water heater

• Walk-around side decks with wing doors
• Radar mast
• Navigation lights
• Perko Solar-Ray 12" searchlight with remote
• Dickinson BBQ
• Boat deck with stainless steel cradle for tender
• Givens 8-man liferaft
• Danforth and Navy type foredeck anchors with chain/rode
• Plath heavy duty windlass
• Custom engraved ship's bell
• Stern anchor with chain/rode
• Canvas: extensive covers for transom, caprails, tender and Portuguese bridge
• Chairs on Portuguese bridge
•  (2) Spare props
•  (2) Double bench seats on foredeck
• Lifesling overboard rescue system

The main engines have both had complete "in frame" overhauls in 2011. All of the supporting pumps and heat exchangers were serviced during this overhaul period

• VDO engine synchronizer
•  (2) Automatic bilge pumps
•  (2) Engine driven bilge pumps
• Generated on 10/24/2017 by Chuck Hovey Proud Member of UP YATCO
• External bilge alarm
• Raw water deck pump
•  (3) Headhunter Heads
• All plumbing & pumping systems had major refit in 2000
• NAIAD stabilizers (new fins 2007)
• Bow thruster - Side Power
• Air compressor
• Cockpit shower
• Offshore Marine Watermaker
• Kabola B-17 heat system
• Automatic Fire System (Engine Room)
• VDO engine gauges
• Digital tachs
• Reverso electric oil change system
• Racor fuel filters

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.