Considering Pilot 34 Purchase

I have a 34 pilot with a hardtop and use it the way you want to. Our boat has twin 240’s and we love the boat. It does everything well and my wife feels very safe on her. We had a 30 before nice boat fit to small for a second couple

I had a 2001 Pilot 34, I sea trialed both the single and the twin, chose the twin for shallower draft, operated the boat in south Florida. Twin Engine with hardtop, NextGen generator, hard windows, cockpit air as well as cabin, Isenglas partition in cockpit that could be rolled up.

Great little cruiser, good in anchorages. I found the single engine to be very loud underway, single had two speeds, 8 mph or 14, and it labored to get on semi plane at 14, threw a huge wake. Twins went just enough faster to cruise easily at 16 and were quieter with a lower wake IMO. Also had a bow thruster.

Galley is great for cooking light meals and breakfast, fridge is a bit small, and the wet head was tight. Our boat was a sea water head flush, but that can be dealt with through using a non permeated hose and draining it before leaving for a while. Ran a simple awning from the hard top to the transom to provide shade and that helped with the a/c in the cockpit. I think the boat would have been a little cramped without cockpit a/c in the Florida heat, but we also had a dark green hull.

It will bring you back if you can hold on

I have a 2006 MS 34 Hard-top with dual 240s. My highest priority is if and when you get into heavy weather will it bring you back. If your a "Dock Potato" no problem for us that like to travel I can't recommend the 34 any higher if your not in the Sabre or Back Cove league.


In the last 1.5 years have traveled from Tortola to San Juan to Dominican, to Turks and Caicos, up the bahama chain to Florida, across Obachobie to Venice Florida the.n up to New England, now in the Cape Cod area.


I won't bore you with war stories but the MS 34 Pilot has been well tested. If your offshore away from Sea Tow the two engines are very comforting.


The big question is what are you really going to use the boat for?

We own a 2000 MS Pilot 34 with canvas top. Single engine Yanmar, with bow thruster.
Had it for just over a year.
I'm 6'2", I can get in the engine compartment, but its tight. A twin engine, not a chance. Change zincs, impeller, alternator belt? Don't know how you would do it, way too tight.
I really like tho open feel of the boat, I come from a sailing background so with the big windows and with the canvas open to the cockpit, feels way batter to me than feeling stuck inside regular trawler cabin.
Yes, the canvas can be a pain, but I've heard the hard tops can be louder while under way.
V berth is plenty wide at the aft section for the two of us and 40lb dog. We replaced all the original foam and higher density and egg crate on top to eliminate the feel of the cushion seems.Haven't slept on the interior settee yet, but the exterior settees, are really comfy. Again, new foam and sunbrella.
We really like the boat, great for socializing, or just the two of us.
The big downside on ours is the holding tank. PO replaced the original with a 10 gallon tank, way to small.

Good luck with your search.

1 Gallon holding tank. Yikes. Who would downgrade

I just purchased a 2007 Mainship Pilot 34 soft top. I really wanted a hard top they are stunning. My decision to buy a soft top was based on the following:

Hard tops have different windshield from the soft tops. Take a moisture meter to the deck in front of the 3 windshields and draw a conclusion.

Take a moisture meter to the hand holds on a hard top. Make sure they are fastened tight.

Look for delamination on the wings

Check out the liner on a hard top

We have screens /or strataglass inserts for the 2 sides and back.

On either a hard top or soft top check for delamination near windlass and 2 switches. Usually high moisture content.

Regarding 2 engines: air conditioning water pump way up front, potable water pump way up front, strainer for shower way up front, other stuff way up front (belts impeller etc). Bottom line for DIY single engine.

Replace soft top

I have a 2002 Pilot 34 with single 370 that is an amazing boat. I would have bought a sedan but the prices were higher and the bridge area didn’t seem to get a lot of fresh air. I ended up with a soft top but purchased a hardtop kit from Atlantic Towers. These custom hardtops look great and are well made. I have stratoglass side and rear panels. It’s the best of both worlds and I saved a substantial amount of money. Great set up for the weather here in Nova Scotia which is very similar to the weather in Maine.

Best of luck with your purchase.

Jamie, could you send a picture of you hard top? What you have done interests me.
Thanks, Ewan.

Here’s a couple of photos of Pilot 34’s with the custom hardtop conversion. I’m installing mine this week so I’ll have photos soon.

Thanks for the pix.
I really like the radar tower and the added handholds it gives when going forward.
Dare I ask (roughly) the cost?

The radar arch is the factory installed arch that came with most soft tops. The roof itself was $6900 USD. I added a few options - the hand rails and anodized tracks for the canvas to thread into. Total cost $8000. I was told I got the boat show special. Shipping from New Jersey to Nova Scotia was a bit pricey when you add in taxes, duty, brokerage fees, etc. Installation takes a couple of days. The enclosure with Stratoglass and Sunbrella fabric was approx $4,000 CDN.

It really is the best of both worlds. In the shoulder season heat comes up from the cabin and is very comfortable.

I was shopping for a boat with twins for redundancy but ended up with a single. Someone asked me how many fisherman do you see going out with twins. None! And they all make it home. Lots of room for servicing and installing lots of batteries. No need for a generator. I have solar going on the hardtop running to a Victron 3000 watt inverter/charger.

Take care - Jamie

34 Mainship Pilot

timb7734 said:

I had a 2001 Pilot 34, I sea trialed both the single and the twin, chose the twin for shallower draft, operated the boat in south Florida. Twin Engine with hardtop, NextGen generator, hard windows, cockpit air as well as cabin, Isenglas partition in cockpit that could be rolled up.

Great little cruiser, good in anchorages. I found the single engine to be very loud underway, single had two speeds, 8 mph or 14, and it labored to get on semi plane at 14, threw a huge wake. Twins went just enough faster to cruise easily at 16 and were quieter with a lower wake IMO. Also had a bow thruster.

Galley is great for cooking light meals and breakfast, fridge is a bit small, and the wet head was tight. Our boat was a sea water head flush, but that can be dealt with through using a non permeated hose and draining it before leaving for a while. Ran a simple awning from the hard top to the transom to provide shade and that helped with the a/c in the cockpit. I think the boat would have been a little cramped without cockpit a/c in the Florida heat, but we also had a dark green hull.

Click to expand...

I have owned my twin engine 2005 Mainship 34 Pilot with hardtop for 5 years and love it for the reasons in the above post.

The prior owner overcame the tight engine room 'cons" with fittings so that fluid checks are easily done from the walkway in the center of the engine room and an Oil X Changer for easy oil changes. When I bought my boat, I too was concerned about access to the engines, so I had my 5ft 10 inch 200 lb engine surveyor go all around each engine. It was tight, but he did it!

If you really want to do your own "heavy" maintenance and are any bigger than my guy, then I would avoid the twins. Otherwise, the benefits far outweigh the bad.

My boat is on Yachtworld right now, BTW. When we priced it, we figured a $10,000 premium for the twins v. single.

Hi Rob,


Purchased a 2003 Mainship 30 Pilot II last Nov. Single Yanmar 315. So far so good. The boat is well built, a lot of boat for the money. I looked at the 34 but could not find what I wanted. There were several with reported vibration problems - I did not sea trial any of them. I understand it's somewhat endemic with tunnel drives - my current boat does not suffer from any vibration problems so far. I can however see in the maintenance logs - tinkering with the prop and shaft early in it's life. (I am owner #2). I generally agree with the comments above.



I have found a few short comings that I'm working on now:



Insufficient hand holds - trying to move around in even a light chop is risky. I'm adding a Radar Arch primarily as hand holds for boarding and something to grab hold of in rough water. Have also added a few 15" surface mounted grab bars in the cockpit.


The soft top version rides wet even in fairly light seas. Gonna be interesting to see what kind of spray rail Rich comes up with. A working windshield wiper is required most of the time.


On my boat the rudder authority is pretty light. Currently working on a modification to improve that = several good articles on "Thistle" rudder mods that seem to be effective. Adds 20 to 30 percent more rudder area - will post results of mod some time this fall. This manifest itself mostly in following seas. The bow thrust-er is a great help - just have to take your time.


These were/are very popular boats and very well built. Like all boats each has design quirks. I'm very happy with this one - likely you will be too!


Good luck and keep us posted on progress

So I am going to restart this conversation because I need a little more feedback. All of the comments and opinions have been great, but you know when you start talking about a new boat with your boating friends, the opinions start to pour out. So when mentioning the 34 Pilot twin that we are VERY close to buying at the marina, we are getting some push back from people who say things like the quality is not good, the hulls are paper thin and the hull design makes for poor handling. Of course, these are all people who have never owned one of these boats, so I have to take it with a grain of salt. Since $100k+ boat is no small purchase for us, these comments make my wife VERY concerned. Granted, if we were wealthy, we would just drop $500k on a used Sabre but that's not the case so finding a boat that checks off ALL of my boxes and MOST of my wife's in our budget is a very tough task and so far, the 2002 34 Pilot we are looking at does just that. Can anyone speak to these comments either good or bad who has had actual experience with these vessels?
Thank you again to all who have contributed.
Rob

We have a 2001 Pilot going thru our fourth full season. While it is a single we have no issue with handling, reliability or quality. All the upgrades that were done before we bought the boat were top quality and it was well maintained (unlike some boats we saw). For the price this is a good reliable vessel that we enjoy. Would I do the loop with it, probably not but we have spent many weekends and multi-day trips and been quite comfortable. Be sure to invest in a good survey and have the engines thoroughly inspected to avoid any unexpected surprises. If it is the Pilot available in Portland I did notice one engine had 20 more hours than the other so it might be worth asking if there had been an issue but otherwise it looks like it was well kept.

Yes, I can.


I just sold my 2005 34 Pilot. Twin Yanmars. Owned her 5 years. In the past, I have owned 1068 Chris Craft, 1983 Taiwan Trawler, 2002 Regal 3260, and the Mainship.


The Mainship was, by far and away, the best boat I have ever owned. Of course, someone who has owned Grand Banks and Hatteras in the past would have a different opinion.


If you want details behind my opinion, PM me, we can talk.

The Pilot 34 is a very good boat for the money. It is not a 45' boat, it is not a Sabre. We have had ours (single Yanmar 370) since 2014. We like it but wish it was bigger as we like to cruise. Weather dependent, we always plan to leave early in the morning at arrive before sea breeze and big seas arrive. She can be a bit squirrely in quartering/following seas, tends toward chine steering and the autopilot struggles. In moderate conditions the autopilot drives fine. She can take more than we can. With single, there is reasonable engine room access, although I wish I was younger and more flexible...but that isn't only engine room problem. I don't know about w twins but would guess pretty tight. We cruised from RI to Maine for a few weeks last summer. Planned passages, watched wx and all ok. Tiny refrigerator not enough for more than a couple of days out, but that is not a Mainship problem.. easily solved w a big cooler and ice. In summary, a lot of boat for the $$.

"who say things like the quality is not good, the hulls are paper thin and the hull design makes for poor handling. "

I say this with all due respect but these comments are just absolutely ridiculous. Have these people actually been on one of these boats?

We are very happy with our 2007 Pilit 34, as I have stated earlier. Is it a Hinckley? No, nor is it a Sabre. But it is a solid production boat with the Downeast style we prefer, at an affordable price. If your friends are true Downeast lobster boat owners, they will never approve. My previous boat was a Harris Cuttyhunk 28, a Royal Lowell design, no better heritage than that for a DE boat. I have less than zero regrets in selling the 28 and buying the Pilot. The build quality, fit and finish, electrical and mechanical components are all very good. I have not had a need to measure the hull thickness, but have seen no signs of it being thin.

Here are some boating magazine reviews I found online

Good luck in your search,

Brett

Coming from a Grand Banks 42, I believe I can lend some perspective, even though my current boat is the hardtop single engine 30-foot version of the MS Pilot. Commonalities between my two boats are just that they are diesel powered and they float; that's about it. The Mainship crossed off all the blocks for my downsizing regarding price, weight, length, habitability for short periods aboard (six days is the most so far), speed, and maintainability. Let's face it, my boat hangs in its lift (the weight consideration) most of the time, but it affords us the ability to plop it in the water with no concerns about what may have grown on its running gear and bottom (Pilots are VERY sensitive to bio-fouling if you want to fast cruise them) since the last time it was used and just take off in whatever direction we want to go and get there in half the time it took in the GB. The boat's hull quality of build is good enough (just tune out that BS about the hull), but, yes, I have found some things I would have done differently regarding the equipment installation. In fact, after five years, my list of "Rich mods" now stands at a grand total of 60 items starting with things like ripping out the horrible electronic throttle in favor of a Morse cable system and installation of a house bank of batteries where none previously existed. If you are ok with the engine access (my single 315 yanmar is impossible to access on the sides) for a twin engine 34 and are OK with those two noisy beasts at fast cruise, knock yourself out and buy and enjoy the thing!

Rob, fit and finish of Mainships are good, as is handling and hull thickness. The boat will be able to withstand more than you and the wife will. Some days the ride will be wet and bumpy and some days a pleasure cruise. You will have to pick and choose your days at times but it’s the same for most boats of this size. If not for this COVID thing you and the wife would be more than welcome to come down to Long Island and spend sometime on our 34’ Pilothouse. Get first hand information from knowledgeable people not what someone whose friend’s sister’s mailman’s Cousin heard.

hi,
when we decided to become a 2 boat family and stop doing the icw, we too were faced with what is the second boat. to make a long story short we both decided the pilot 34 was on our short list. i was sceptical about the quality also. having owned our 34 pilot ht for 10 years i have to say i've been pleasantly surprised. the hull is rock solid and anything but paper thin. like any boat it has things that i wish had been done differently but all in all it has been a very good boat at a reasonable price.*

Kevin, thank you for the offer of checking yours out....yes, if it weren't for Covid, a lot of things would be BETTER!
Rob

I had a 2001 Pilot 34 in Florida with twins, a NextGen generator, and cockpit air, with a hard top. Mine had Izenglas windows which I replaced with hard acrylic. Only real beef was showering in the small wet head as I am 6’2” and 200 lbs. it had a bow thruster as well and was perfect for single handing. Also the cabin is small if there are two or more persons during inclement weather, so cockpit air really expanded the usable interior space. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another if it fit my mission.

Rob, I personally installed a new depth/fish sensor on my 2003 Mainship Pilot 30 II and I can tell you the hull is NOT paper thin. My Mainship is build like a tank.

Olebird said:

Rob, I personally installed a new depth/fish sensor on my 2003 Mainship Pilot 30 II and I can tell you the hull is NOT paper thin. My Mainship is build like a tank.

Click to expand...

Now THAT's reassuring!

Olebird said:

Rob, I personally installed a new depth/fish sensor on my 2003 Mainship Pilot 30 II and I can tell you the hull is NOT paper thin. My Mainship is build like a tank.

Click to expand...

I put one in as well. The hull was at least 1/2” thick. I know this because I saved it and I am looking at it right now.

That's AWESOME! Pictures don't lie!!

I went thru two new spade bits and two battery charges to put mine in. The MS hull at least 1/2 thick and hard as nails.

Recently I moved my boat 350 mi. via truck. Driver made a wrong turn and wound up on the Interstates in downtown Birmingham. Worst maintained stretch of interstate highways on the planet. Despite an air ride custom trailer I could see the boat bouncing ... hard, following behind. I thought, I'm gonna get a new boat out of this! Got to the Marina, lifted it off the trailer, dropped it in the water, turn on the battery main, checked oil and thru hulls for leaks. None found! Fired up the big Yanmar on the first revolution - no issues and ran it out in the lake for 30 min and came home to my slip. No issues. My Chevy HD3500 dually on the other hand, had a broken shock hanger, no weights left on the rear wheels (all four) and needed a front end alignment.

Any boat that survived that ride with no damage is in fact a TANK!! I would buy another one in a heartbeat. And by the way, I have a '87 SEARAY 270 (29ft) in the barn getting new engines and a Carolina Skiff 16' that I've completely refurbed -- absolutely no comparison.

Tell your wife to sit down, pull on her seat belt & PFD and enjoy the ride - in almost any sea condition - the boat will not let you down - so long you do reasonable maintenance.

Lastly, I'm the second owner of this 2003 boat (<750 hrs). It's been in the water, outside on the Gulf coast it's entire life. I had a crew detail the boat when I bought it so I could really see the condition of the gel coat. Very little chalking topside and the deep blue hull shined up like a mirror. The crew at Pelican's Perch in Pensacola scrapped off several layers of bottom paint - not one blister to be found. (The SeaRay had hundreds of pea to quarter sized - I'm still grinding then out). There are two other MS on my dock - 39's and those owners are as thrilled with those boats as I am with mine.



Have fun!

Hi Maine boater - not sure where you ended up, I'm new here, but when through the exact same discussion last year. xSailer going to the dark side, liked BackCoves and Sabers for our planned use, sunset cruises and occasional weekends. Bought a very well presented 2007 HT in Connecticut and brought it down to Annapolis ourselves in 3 days and knew we made the right decision when offshore on route to Cape May ... 100Hrs & 2 seasons in - would buy again in a heartbeat ...anyway feel free to PM if you would like to chat.