34 Center Console Review by Saltwater Sportsman

Ocean Master President Mark Hauptner was a pioneer in the development of the large, offshore center console. The 31 foot Ocean Master, Hauptner’s original boat, is a classic among center console enthusiasts, but he is now pushing the limits of outboard center consoles with his 34-footer, although we should note that the boat is also available with inboard power.

Ocean Master 34 Center Console

Impressive Performance

We tested the 34 recently, and came away impressed by its agility and performance. With the new generation of higher displacement and higher horsepower outboard motors available today, big center consoles really are outstanding performers.

Our test boat had a pair of 3.0 liter, 250-hp Mercury’s on a hydraulic jack plate, because the owner will use the boat in the Bahamas and wanted to be able to raise the motors as high as possible for extreme shallow-water operation. It’s hard to say whether the jack plate provided more speed at cruise, but we suspect most people will be happy with mounting the motors directly on the transom.

Six to Nine Foot Seas

Ocean Master dealer Dean Stuhlmann provided the test boat through his Ft. Lauderdale dealership, Keys Custom Marine in Tavernier, and we spent an afternoon running the boat in 25-knot southeasterly winds that had six- to nine-foot waves stacked up along the edge of the reef. We took a considerable amount of spray in the rough water, but the heavy glass hull was stable and solid, both at rest and when running into and with the seas.

In calmer waters, the big Mercs yielded a cruising speed of 27 knots at 4000 rpm, and a wide-open throttle setting of 5300 rpm has us going 38 knots. The boat’s performance exceeded our expectations, and the only downside we could find with this setup came when the big center console was running down-sea in steep six-footers inside the reef. The small diameter propellers on outboard motors sometimes struggle or cavitate when pushing this much mass up the back of a steep wave, but that’s a problem all large outboard boats must contend with.

Humongous Console

The Ocean Master is a conventional center console design, with a huge amount of fishing space fore and aft. The humongous console contains one of the largest cabin spaces we have seen in a center console, with both side and forward bunks, and a marine head between them. Ocean Master allows its dealers to customize the final product considerably, so you could leave this space relatively open or finish it out in great detail. There’s even a large storage space forward that could hold either loose gear or an air-conditioning unit.

Tackle storage consists of two sets of tackle drawers with four drawers each in the rocket launcher, and there are two fishboxes in the cockpit deck that are over six feet long and which drain overboard. There’s plenty of room for storing coolers on deck, too.

Serious About Live Bait!

The in-deck baitwell was the most interesting thing in the cockpit, however. This huge well is located below deck, forward of the transom on the centerline, and looks like it could hold 100 gallons or more. It is filled by a 3500-gph Rule pump, and is drained by two 2 inch overflows. This is a livewell for people who are serious about live bait!

A Refreshing Development

It’s clear that Ocean Master has designed a boat for the hardcore fisherman, with a few creature comforts thrown in for good measure, and the ability to customize as little or as much as you want. These days, when serious fishing boats seem harder and harder to find, that’s a refreshing development.

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