When I spoke to Farron Peffer about my '83 23CC Souwester, he said that many of the boats that came from them back then were custom built for the commercial guys. Mine was built for twins, with two 50 gal tanks. When I told him about the two tanks, he said that had to have been custom from them. Bet this pilothouse was a request from a crabber or something.
BTW, My 23 has an 8'6" beam as well. However, 9' sometimes would be pretty ideal.