Prairie in green cove springs

Was wondering if anyone out there had any info on the 36 that's for sale up there in green cove springs
Any and all would be greatly appreciated looking to get out of my sailboat ️ and move up to a trawler

This one?

1981 Prairie (Jack Hargrave Design) 36 Trawler Power Boat For Sale -

Welcome to the forum!

GregBrannon said:

This one?

1981 Prairie (Jack Hargrave Design) 36 Trawler Power Boat For Sale -

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They should be giving that one away.

Donsan said:

They should be giving that one away.

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I don't agree.

She looks like she has been sitting outside for a while. Maybe a yard sell-off due to unpaid bills.

Sure she need a lot of TLC, but the photographs are pretty poor. Everything you need is there. If you want to live aboard and enjoy her while you work on her, I see the potential.

Greetings,
Welcome aboard. Oh my...BUT, this is one of the better listings I've seen on YW. NOT necessarily the boat but the listing. Pretty comprehensive photo collection including the machinery spaces. Hence my comment...Oh my...

The price seems to honestly reflect the condition. Well done Melanie Neale.

The broker said it best: "Esmeralda" is a great value for someone who is ready to roll up his or her sleeves and put some work into her!

This might be the understatement of the year.

Man, that's a sad state to see a Prairie 36 in!

I'd be very concerned about the condition of everything mechanical and electrical. The electronics need to be ripped out and totally replaced. That homemade hard top would be a great idea, IF it were done right. I'm not so sure on that. I'm not a fan of using a window air conditioner. Two new "proper" marine AC units would be on my list. The pictures show vents for that, so you might get lucky there. I actually took the pulpit off mine, to fit in the slip I already owned, so I can tell you that's a viable option. From the pics I'm thinking gelcoat refinishing would be needed all around. Places where there's deck coring would need to be checked. The hull on these were solid, so that might be OK. I noticed the signs of standing water in the bathtub. Where did that come from? Then there's things like the condition of the (aluminum) tanks to look at.

There seems to be a lot of "customization" of the interior, of questionably craftsmanship. But overall the interior doesn't look too bad. Maybe it was a dock queen liveaboard and the basic "house" systems are OK. The lay-out of this boat is great, we love ours. The hull is rugged.

My guess is that the asking price is wishful thinking. This thing is an anchor chain around someone's neck. You'd be doing them a favor to take it off their hands at half that. You'd be in for a LOT of work, and even more expense, but if you're into project boats, this could turn out well. Personally, I'd love to see it saved.

That's the one with the cracked bowsprit. I thought of it then compared to a Prairie 36 in the same area that sells for 40K but in great condition. With the cost of repairs, the more expensive one was a much better deal.
I still have the broker's emails: message me.
In the end, I bought a 29 in good shape: I have a small dock and don't want to work that much on the boat..

If you do everything yourself and do not count your labor, it can be OK.

Would anyone care to comment on the Prairie 36 at Port Credit, Ontario?

1980 Prairie Trawler 36 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Greetings,
Oh boy. Am I out of the loop! I haven't been following vessel prices so the Prairie in Green Cove Springs appeared to be decently priced @ $18K but seeing the one in Port Credit, $18K is too much. Based on this, my only comment would be get a good survey on ANY boat and this should determine what you're getting into...

Why oh why do people use flimsy domestic stools as a helm chairs, that is just a disaster waiting to happen.

Greetings,
Mr. m. "...use flimsy domestic stools as a helm chairs," Well, I'm guessing they don't have the space or $$ for one of these.

~$150

Thank you all very much for all of the info and your time i have taken the time to drive from Clearwater Florida up to Greencove springs and physically climbed aboard the boat and looked it over myself as I am mechanically inclined and all the wiring and motors and everything seems to be in exceptionally good shape will keep you informed as I have it in contract as of today

Aquahulic 36 said:

Thank you all very much for all of the info and your time i have taken the time to drive from Clearwater Florida up to Greencove springs and physically climbed aboard the boat and looked it over myself as I am mechanically inclined and all the wiring and motors and everything seems to be in exceptionally good shape will keep you informed as I have it in contract as of today

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OK, once you get it your job on here is to post pictures and narratives of all of these projects. It would be great to see it come back to life!

Aquahulic 36 said:

Thank you all very much for all of the info and your time i have taken the time to drive from Clearwater Florida up to Greencove springs and physically climbed aboard the boat and looked it over myself as I am mechanically inclined and all the wiring and motors and everything seems to be in exceptionally good shape will keep you informed as I have it in contract as of today

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Sounds like a fun project, and not all that much money invested. As others have said, please keep us updated on the progress, since those of us who are NOT mechanically inclined still like to be able to ride along.

Good luck! I too would love to see your progress. I hope you're able to restore this old girl, these are great boats. We've got a few Prairie owners here, so feel free to come back with any questions.

Pictures or it never happened!!

Donsan said:

Would anyone care to comment on the Prairie 36 at Port Credit, Ontario?

1980 Prairie Trawler 36 Power Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

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Now that's got some interesting customizations.

The hard enclosure for the flybridge is unusual. These boats have soft chines and a shallow keel, so they're prone to rolling. Adding all that weight up high can't help. There are no pictures on deck looking aft. I'm wondering how they incorporated that sloped overhead above the aft berth. The upper electronics were top of the line when bought, but will start showing their age at some point. Can't tell what's at the lower helm, but it looks like a good-sized screen.

The galley and interior finish look nice. I've never seen that vee berth configuration on a Prairie 36 before. I don't thingk I'd like it; not sure what it's really good for, and that dark wood makes it look like a cave.

The first picture is obviously from a while ago. It does look like it had been maintained well, at least until it was hauled and sat out for a while.

Worth a look, but check for stability issues on the sea trial with that enclosure.

Good �� point but after going and looking at it there are 6-8 Solar panels that he had a Brain Bill auto alarm on piping NOT really feeling that as it takes away from the sun and the LINES of the boat . It's a big project but I'm willing to take it on that would be my second one as my first one was my sailboat

menzies said:

OK, once you get it your job on here is to post pictures and narratives of all of these projects. It would be great to see it come back to life!

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THIS! ^^^^^^^

Aquahulic, you beat me to it, as I had been thinking that I need to talk my wife into going up and taking a look at that boat. Best of luck in bringing it back up to shape.

Much thanks, and kinda looking forward to most of the projects and my wife knows what her job is and that is holding the camera �� so I can keep this wonderful Community informed with all the progress ,looking forward to any and all ideas �� and advance

Prairie in Green cove springs

I was watching this vessel and wondering if she could be somewhat easily brought back to life.

I will look forward to how you do this.

Wishing you well

Thank you so much �� and yes it should not be that much more elbow grease than anything else will be doing a few upgrades and YES will have pictures to show my trawler family

Do you have any updates for us?

I'm also making a few improvements on my Prairie 36. We should compare notes once you get started.

For somebody who actually lives on the prairie, I wonder why they called those boats "Prairie," particularly since they were designed and built in Florida as I recall.

Prairie

Here is a link to a fellow Prairie owner's web page which explains the name. Seems the founder was from Texas, hence the name.

Prairie History

I'm looking forward to seeing your progress too. I've been working on and using mine this past year. Latest project is pulling out old wiring left behind going to old electronics and doing some labeling and cleanup. Hope you have as much fun with your project as I'm having with mine.

Kevin

We actually have a pilot flying for us that was the yard manager at Prairie in the early 80s.

Baker said:

We actually have a pilot flying for us that was the yard manager at Prairie in the early 80s.

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May I send him a list of questions for my 1981 Prairie 36?

Baker said:

We actually have a pilot flying for us that was the yard manager at Prairie in the early 80s.

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Wow, I'd love to hear more. If he ends up with a layover in the Boston/Maine area, I'd be happy to buy him a beer and learn a little about the history of that company.

Let me see if I can track him down. I think he retired but not sure.