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| The Sea Vee 34 prepares to leave the harbour, in Key West, FL, for a day of fishing, plus a boat test and review. |
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You want a monster center console that’s built for fishing, period? One that has an ideal design for drift, bottom, and kite fishing? One that allows you to choose the location and number of gunwale-mounted rodholders, up to three livewells, and even offers a coffin box on the bowdeck which can hold 100-pound-plus fish? Then Sea Vee’s 34 is a boat you MUST check out. After spending two solid days of fishing aboard one, I found it to be one of the best all-around fishing designs I’ve seen yet.
Day one we ran east and fished the Atlantic for amberjack and sailfish, in a sporty 15-knot breeze. Seas were running three to four feet, and the Sea Vee handled it like a champ. No pounding, little spray, and a 34-mph cruise running at about 4250 RPM got us out to the fish in short order. Once there, we utilized the multiple forward and aft rodholders to set out live baits while we jigged with rods in-hand. Part of the secret to getting all those rodholders lies in this boat’s extra-wide forward gunwales, which has five holders on each side forward of the console. The down-side to those super-wide gunwales? They make it impossible to reach the water and/or land fish forward of the console, and even lifting the anchor up and around them will be a bit of a chore.
Since this is a Florida-built boat with a Florida fishing attitude, the live bait capacity is awesome. Sailfishers and inshore anglers alike will enjoy the ability to put goggle-eyes here, herring there, and live crabs everywhere. Sea Vee offers an optional stainless-steel sea chest with four 2,000-gph pumps, and the standard transom well alone holds 60-gallons. Ready to go kite fishing? There’s also an optional 30-amp electric reel plug under the gunwales.
Once the fish have been gaffed it’ll be time to use my personal favorite feature in this boat: the four foot long bowdeck coffin box. Not only does it hold a month’s worth of fish, it also makes for a good seat and rigging spot in the bow, a rarity in center consoles. A second bow seat is molded into the front of the console, which swings up on lifters to access the console head and stowage compartment. I’d rather have a side-access door because there are invariably people or tackle boxes sitting on the console seat, but many folks like this arrangement because once you lift up the hatch, access is wide-open and doesn’t require any contortions to get inside. One more bow design feature that really stands out: pockets molded in under the gunwales provide gobs of additional stowage, which is perfect for life jackets, extra lines, and other bulk-stowage items.
The 34 is available in a Bimini cuddy model, too, either with outboard or inboard powerplant(s). But why put a cabin on this bow? In the open configuration it’s absolutely ideal for hard-core angling—and that’s what this Sea Vee is all about.
Sea Vee has a good selection of photos, deck diagrams, and more info, at www.seaveeboats.com.
LOA – 34’9”
Beam – 10’0”
Draft (max.) – 2’8”
Dry weight – 7,200
Fuel capacity – 350
Max HP – 1,050
Price – About $160K and up, depending on engine options and rigging. Hmmm… sounds inexpensive for a boat like this, doesn’t it? That’s because Sea Vee sells factory direct. You won’t have a local dealer to go to, but the price point is notably lower then comparable boats.
Observed performance notes w/5 people and half load fuel, twin Yamaha F250 four-stroke outboards, swinging a 15 1/4” x 19” three bladed stainless-steel props:
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Cruise RPM
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Speed in MPH
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Gallons per hour
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Miles per gallon
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Slow cruise/3500
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29.7
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17.4
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1.7
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Fast cruise/4500
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36.8
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27.0
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1.4
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Wide open throttle/5900
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50.2
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48.9
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1.0
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