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Construction
technique seemed to benefit from the same caring, old-fashioned approach.
The solid-glass bottom of the 346 is designed to withstand a grounding
now and then, thanks to tough Knytex substrates and polyester resin, with
a vinylester barrier coat to nix osmotic blistering. Hull sides, decks,
and superstructure are cored with Baltek AL600/10 to cut weight, and the
bridge is solidly supported on eight aluminum uprights hidden inside mullions
and other structures, a measure that takes all compressive weight off
the windows, thus allowing them to be custom-cut and “floated”
in rubbery adhesive for watertight integrity. The saloon sole, with engine-room
access hatches unencumbered by furniture, is underbraced by a grid of
aluminum box beams with stainless steel supports, and the engines are
secured on double-gussetted steel brackets bolted solidly into a one-piece,
molded-glass, secondarily bonded stringer grid. Done right? Done right!
Having
finished about mid-morning, Schmitt and I headed for Green Bay to link
up with a teenage, summertime employee of Carver named Matt at a little
marina on the Fox River. As the three of us eased a brand-new 346 out
into the main channel, the nostalgia thing hit me even harder than it
had in Pulaski. Yellow sunlight shone down upon the lime-green, tree-lined
Fox the same way it used to on the St. Lawrence River of my youth. Matt’s
obvious delight in being on the bridge of the 346, instead of dealing
with a bucket of summer-job suds back at the marina, reminded me of myself.
And to top it all off, the faint whiffs of marinized internal combustion
I caught every now and again—a perfume that still spells pure adventure
to me—kept gently reminding me of the wonderful day my dad brought
home his first Evinrude.
Driving
the 346 kept the good times rolling. In fact the experience was so pleasurable
that at one point, during a swoopy top-end run, a minor case of the marvels
hit me. Sure, the fingertip control of the Teleflex SeaStar hydraulic
steering was nice. The stability of the boat in turns was fine. And the
top speed of 37 mph was plenty respectable. But there was something else
to driving the 346 on this particular day, an ineffable something that
took me back to just about all the great boat rides I’d ever taken
as a kid. To embellish the enjoyment, an easy windlessness prevailed at
the end of the test, making docking the 346 stern-to a virtual no-brainer,
although I’d rather have had the optional diesels to work with than
our test boat’s gas engines. Low-end diesel torque makes a midranger
like the 346 maneuver smoother: Throttle is seldom required—just
clutch in, clutch out.
While
Matt worked the 346 over with a hose and a fast chamois, Schmitt and I,
agreeing that certain perquisites should be accorded to semi-seniors like
us, deployed all three zones of the optional Marine Air air-conditioning
system below decks, slid the main hatch closed, and started a languid
tour of the 346’s aft-cabin layout, a practical arrangement that’s
been Carver’s forte for almost as far back as I can remember.
Like
all great ideas, it’s pretty simple, with a large master stateroom
aft, a smaller VIP forward, and everything else comfortably stowed in
between. American cherry glaze with water-based polyurethane brought a
comfortable warmth to the version on our 346, as did the soft UltraLeather
sofas in the saloon and the durable, 85-ounce Gold Rush tufted carpet.
Both master and VIP offered an abundance of hanging lockers, bins, shelves,
and other stowage areas as well as large, adjoining heads. A couple of
interior details I especially liked were the optional filter spliced into
the sanitary system to cut holding tank odors, mirrors directly over the
head sinks, not off at some neck-stretching angle, and the small hatches
in the sides of the aft-cabin stairwell that expose the bilge for fast,
easy checking, even underway. A couple of details I didn’t like
were the cramped and cluttered access to the steering hydraulics at the
rear of the aft cabin, under a panel at the bottom of a locker, and the
faux-granite fiberglass countertops in the galley. They look pretty but
can scar during food prep.
I dallied
dockside once we’d finished with the boat that afternoon, not wanting
to call it quits. But Schmitt had to get back to Pulaski, Matt had more
suds to sling, and I had a plane to catch. Before hitting the trail, however,
I took a stroll over to the nerve center of the marina, a little office
with a pickup truck parked in front, an open door, and a guy sitting at a desk.
“Catch
anythin’ with that Carver?” he grinned. The question put the
finishing touches on a perfect day.
Carver
Yachts Phone: (920) 822-3214. Fax: (920) 822-7357. www.carveryachts.com.
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