Now I have been on my new boat (Beneteau ST34) for 1 week, and I have been trained for the most part. First my overall impression of the boat is very positive. I have one small light bulb out, the only flaw in the boat (a reading light in the bedroom, busted filament, 50 cent bulb). The boat is very well thought out. An overabundance of storage space is noted, I was astounded by the storage. The lazarette is huge! The Onan generator is silent (can't even hear it start, have to check out back to see if it is running). The Cummins 6.7 is silent at idle and very quiet in and outside the cabin at full throttle. At idle you can barely hear it looking overboard directly at the exhaust and zero smoke! We went from St. Pete to Ft. Myers (130 miles or so) in 7.5 hours mostly at 17-18 knots through 3.5 footers. Storms were closing in abaft and we just avoided them all day, it was almost comical but they were always about 1-2 miles on our stern after we went through. We had to kick it up to 18 during the last 2 hours to stay ahead of them.
As for the seacocks, they are all bronze. I saw nothing wrong with chrome plated bronze for saltwater service as some had said they would be, but none of those are on this boat. I am elated to have bronze seacocks on this boat. All of the valves are ball valves and they all work very nicely. There are no NPT to NPS connections, nothing at all like that. As for the creaky and soft decks noted in past coms, I now know the facts. The floors throughout the Beneteau are floating floors. All of them can be lifted up and they sit on fiberglass flooring underneath, end grain balsa cored. Stiff beyond compare. Yes, the floating floors might creak if you step from one to another, but I haven't noticed that. All of the workmanship (fit and finish), latches, wipers, ice maker, AC units, windshield washers, strainers, raw water washdown, doors, hatches, ports, etc. work to perfection. The electronics are Raymarine's latest and again I am impressed, especially with the interface between the NAV gear, the AIS, the stereo, televisions, and speaker systems. My tender is an AB9.5 which fits nicely facing backwards. No problem hoisting it in or out of the drink, even though it weighs 300 pounds. I am finding all of the fittments to be of first quality, Raycor, Lewmar, huge cleats, stainless chafing rails, very stout rails around the boat, seat cushions, furniture, faucets, cooking gear (stove and oven), toilet, pumps, sound system, spotlight, backup camera, door latches, etc. The sides of the hull are very thick, someone had mentioned thin hulls; not on these boats. Light because of the end grain balsa core blocks, but not thin or flimsy by any measure. The boat came with 50' shorepower cords (two), 50' water hose, 50' cable, and is prewired for satellite and cable dish, etc.
So far my first impression is that my expectations have been exceeded. The training provided has been 2 days a delivery captain (accompanied us on the 130 mile trip), two electronics and systems technicians today for half a day, and Cummins tech scheduled for 21 September for that training. The dealer (Viage Group, Sarasota) have been amazing all along the way and they gave me a very good deal on the boat. Justin at Beneteau has been informative all along the way as well, always accessible, and responsive. For us we picked the right boat. My only mistake was buying a 15 hp Yamaha 4-stroke for my tender, it runs fine but I am used to running Evinrude ETEC motors (much smoother, quieter and more powerful). The Yamaha 15 is a real vibrator, but as I said it runs ok and the 15 hp ETEC is too heavy (it is a detuned 25 hp). Someone told me a Tohatsu is smoother (aka, Mercury, Evinrude portables). Now I would believe that! The AB boat however is outstanding!
After our first year on the boat I will report problems and how they were resolved.
Regards, Joebad
