I own a 2001 Boston Whaler 34' Defiance made in Edgewood, Florida. I keep the 34 DEFIANCE in Destin, Florida. I use the 34 DEFIANCE most months at least some. The 34 DEFIANCE is a great boat, but, like all boats, has a few problems.
The layout of the cockpit is ideal for sport fishing. The cockpit has good storage for gear, lures, hardware in the cockpit forward bait-station prep area. It has a large bait well with pump and lights, and one refrigerated and one bait freezer accessible on deck. My 34 DEFIANCE has 21 rod holders, outriggers, downriggers, and numerous rod holders across the transom for trolling.
There are two large lockers, in the cockpit area, one for fish and the other for ropes, bumpers, anchors, etc.—a very good layout.
Beam is 13.5-feet—lots of room.
Draft is just under three feet.
The 34 DEFIANCE boat speed is about 37-MPH at engine speed of 3500 to 3600-RPM on Yanmar 6LY2STE engines.
I typically cruise about 25-MPH at 2600-TPM when the hull is clean and the propellers are true. This gets about1-MPG.
The interior cabin is acceptable for overnights on the Gulf of Mexico, but somewhat small for longer term use. It has a decent air conditioner for the cabin, a two-burner stove, microwave, refrigerator, shower, and vacuu-flush—a great fishing setup.
I had to adjust the rudder toe-in to get the 34 DEFIANCE to track straight and be more stable. The owner’s manual is available on a Boston Whaler web site. It gives the toe-in specs, and it is necessary to toe-in to get good tracking and stability at most speeds.
The 34 DEFIANCE is also VERY sensitive to the trim tabs, and if one is different than the other it will yaw dramatically. I now always reset my trim tabs before putting her on plane, as it can be dangerous not to. If your BW Defiance 34 doesn't track well, check rudders toe in and trim tabs reset (yp) locations are the same.
The hull shape is not exactly what I call a true deep V, so the 34 DEFIANCE tracks best in lower sea-states
and tends to wander in waves and chop more than a Carolina hull or sharper-V.
The 34 DEFIANCE hull is a design compromise—I assume—since Boston Whaler put the propellers in tunnels to reduce draft. The hull designer added a novel exhaust system that uses a hydrodynamic venturi to reduce engine backpressure at planing speeds to increase engine power and reduce exhaust noise, fumes, and residue.
My autopilot handles all these effects well, so no big complaint.
The 34 DEFIANCE is a wide and relatively short boat length, so yaw stability is less than some other boats in this range, but it is manageable, and offset by other advantages.
That underwater exhaust manifold (exhaust gas venturri in keel centerline at transom exit point) down under works pretty well, but [the diesel engines] run rich accelerating from a standing start to get on plane, and they produce black smoke during that transition. The Yanmar 6LY2STE engines have 420-HP peak power, and they are solid and light.
My boat was hit by lightning once, blowing all the Garmin electronics, but the engines were 100%.
The only drive train problem was blowing out three starboard engine exhaust manifold gaskets on the starboard engines. This was traced to a water leak above the engine (cup holders with drain holes not plumbed) that kept the gaskets wet after rain, and weakened the gasket accelerating failure. Gasket replacement was a four-hour fix, and back running again.
Also one great feature on this boat is the entire deck over the mid section of the boat is on a motorized slide, and moves back about one meter to allow engine access. That is a big relief when engine maintenance or other engine room work is needed. That was one of the reasons I bought the 34 DEFIANCE.
I previously had a Hatteras 53' and knew how important engine access is for good maintenance.
As a fishing machine, a 34 DEFIANCE is a great boat. My boat has a special low-speed-trolling capability that retards the transmission gearing to go extra slow, but I never use it, as one engine trolling at idle gets down to 4-MPH—that is slow enough.
I also don't use the Glendenning syncronizer, a nice feature I have had before, but with NMEA2000 gauges I added, and autopilot, it is an unnecessary complexity I don't use.
I love that the Captains chair is almost on centerline, making driving with good visibility easy. The other seating is also symmetric so boat loading and ride are good when passengers sit symmetrically around the boat cockpit and seating areas.
My 34 DEFIANCE weighs 20,000-lbs wet, so it is heavy enough yet light enough for Gulf of Mexico action in moderate sea states.
I love this 34 DEFIANCE and prefer it to all others in this category and size range. I love the diesel engines, that diesel doesn't burn, and the Boston Whaler build that makes a boat that wont sink, both good qualities for when your 100 miles off the coast.
Enjoy your boating, and I recommend this boat as a great option.
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