single diesel sea vee

[yakquack]

After some advice (Thanks THT!) I am seriously looking at a 34 Sea Vee with a single Cummins 540 with a prop pocket. I am guessing that 1.6-2.2 mpg is about right from what I've heard. Seems like a good boat (vinylester resins/composite construction/no wood and vaccum molded above the waterline....no macerators (diaphram pumps instead) and a ten year hull warranty. Anyone with pros/cons on the Sea Vee items listed? I already know about the fuel tank issues of the past....I am thinking the dieasel should last for 10-12,000 hours before needing work vs the avg 2-4000 hours repowering with outboards. I am going to be mostly fishing the Gulf...no overnight trips on the water but I do want to go 100 miles offshore with a seaworthy boat.(wih the obvios safety equip). Most folks tell me that going offshore that far is fine with a single diesel, and if I leave it running it supposedly burns .5gph. Sounds like a good setup to me.

Lastly, has anyone had any experience with buying from Sea Vee direct? How much can I expect them to deal in these times? Once again, thanks for the info THT!

[grouperkng]

Sea vees are great boats. I have fished a few (not with the setup you are talking about) and have been very happy

good luck

[Bamboozle]

yakquack, There is a guy here in Miami that ran I believe the first 34 with a prop pocket "Wicked". I never rode on it but I saw it many times. He really loved the boat and I don't remember this fuel burn numbers but every time we compared how many gallons we burned I was very jealous. He later decided he wanted more speed and moved to a 34 with triple outboards.

[emudryj]

Friend of mine, who is actually doing my fiberglass work in my boat, works at See Vee on their fiberglass shop. He had been around boat factories for a long time, and he had trusted me the he was impressed with the quality of work they put to build their boats...But what he tell's me, apparently there is 3 owners or partners and all of them work at the factory, 1 of these guys is on charge of the shop supervision and quality control himself, and apparently is very meticulous an pay a lot of attention to detail on every step of the process. Basically breathing on everybody's neck all the time to make sure everything is done right.

I'll see him on Saturday when we work in my boat, so if you have any type of question let me know and I'll ask him for his honest opinion.
HE will probably have more knowledge on the structural side of the building, but I could ask him for other stuff too.

Good luck and congratulations on your new boat.

[shredder]

I've spent alot of time on a 34 Sea Vee single diesel it sips fuel, cruises 28 honest knots and is laid out nice with the forward cabin. The only drawback is it one of the wettest boats I ever have been on. I mated on this boat offshore and I don't know if it was the weight of the cuddy up front combined with the no outboards on the back but she was a soaker.
Everyone that rode on it called it the yellow submarine.
They are great boats been on the 26 or 29 ish ones and they were dry and rode like a champ and were not wet at all. The 29 with gas I/O was dry as well.
Not sure why the 34 was so wet.

[YELLOWSHARK]

Good decision,, youll love the single diesel in a boat that size.

[East Coast Tackle]

Today's diesel's will not last anywhere near 10-12,000 hours before needing major work. They're not the air breathing low hp diesels of yesterday. Most don't last much more then gas engines.

[PtJudeRI]

East Coast Tackle - 6/5/2008 11:59 AM

Today's diesel's will not last anywhere near 10-12,000 hours before needing major work. They're not the air breathing low hp diesels of yesterday. Most don't last much more then gas engines.

I would find that rather hard to believe. Even the new technology engines are still not the high revving engines that gas are. Heat and RPM's are what kills engines, not turbos and high HP. if that was the case my yanmars would already be seeing some tough times with the 2200 hrs that are on them. New diesels are still slower turning engines than a gas engine, and with the right maintenance, will outlast gas engines hands down. As far as the aspirated engines of old, there were some notable standouts and some mediocre players at that time as well. If longevity is your concern, there are commercial/military application engines that should be considered over the "consumer" models available. Those engines WILL last the 10-12k hrs needed. Gas engines run too hot at too fast for parts to last the test of time. Hence you dont see any gas commercial boats rolling out; even today.....

[YELLOWSHARK]

My mechanic told me there are 4lha yanmar engines in service boats in NYC that have 10k on them.

[tg]

What does that prop-pocket setup draw?

[offshorebri]

YELLOWSHARK - 6/5/2008 9:26 AM

My mechanic told me there are 4lha yanmar engines in service boats in NYC that have 10k on them.

A mechanic from Mack Boring told me the same thing..........They are as close to bullet proof as any engine made today........Most of today's diesels cruise at 50% the RPMs of outboard boats...........That has got to help in the long run....

Many many commercial fishing boats travel tens of thousands of miles in their lifetimes with single diesel motors.........I would feel fine going off shore in a single diesel......