I spent part of the day of a boat that frankly surprised the hell outa me.

The local Silverton dealer has been raving on about a new 34-foot convertible.
Lots of talk about running four footers at 25 knots without getting knocked
around much. Yeah, right. You did say, "Silverton"? Decent enough mass-pro
boats, certainly, but not particularly well known for seakeeping ability. Fine
for inland waters in moderate or fair weather, like the majority of speedy
pleasure boats.

He invited me out for a test spin, in conjunction with an upcoming magazine
article about the new model. I was anxious to see how close to his brag the
boat would really perform. Turns out, he didn't brag enough.

Conditions were fairly calm, but we took advantage of some reasonably steep
wakes generated by Washington State Ferries in Elliott Bay. Head on at 25
knots, just a little "bump". We all but stopped and took a ferry wake broad
abeam- certainly rocked but much less than expected. Ferry wake on the transom?
A nonevent.

I found out that production is now model sold out through the end of 2004, and
Silverton is starting a second production line to try and prevent the lead time
from getting much longer. Not surprising, really. Goes to show that sometimes
the conclusions we draw on brand name alone aren't going to prove accurate in
the end. I won't be swapping my tug for one of these any time soon- but it was
an interesting ride.