Bluewater Sportfishing Boats, Hand-Built Deep-V Consoles From Fort Pierce

A Fort Pierce shop with an open-door policy

Bluewater Sportfishing Boats started in 1997 in Fort Pierce, Florida, with three goals it still repeats: build the best-riding, most durable center consoles it can, let owners customize them, and make buying and owning one pleasant. It is a family-owned shop, and it invites buyers to tour the factory, which says a lot about how it sells. Its Facebook owners group has passed 9,000 members, a big number for a small builder.

The construction is all composite, with foam-filled multiplex stringers and no wood, and the hulls are deep-V designs built for the Gulf Stream rather than the sandbar. The current lineup includes the 2150, 23T, 25T, 2850 and a new 36.

Read the length carefully, then meet the 25T

Bluewater names its boats by hull length without the engine bracket. The 2850 stretches to about 31 feet with its bracket, and the 25T measures 28 feet overall. Compare each Bluewater with other brands' boats a size or two larger, not with true 25-footers.

We cover the Bluewater 25T, launched in 2024 after two and a half years in development. It has a 24-degree transom deadrise, a 44-degree entry, an 8-foot 5-inch beam, a 189-gallon tank and Seakeeper Ride as standard. Power is single or twin Mercury, Suzuki or Yamaha outboards to 500 hp, and Boating tested it on twin Yamaha F200s at a price of $213,211, against a launch MSRP from $160,000.

Ownership, resale and inspection

Support comes from the Fort Pierce factory, and from outboard dealers for the engines, so owners far from Florida should plan on shipping the boat back for any structural or warranty work. Because boats are built in modest numbers and to order, used ones are uncommon and tend to sell close to new. Our model page estimates the few used 25Ts at about $165,000 to $215,000. Older Bluewaters from the brand's first two decades trade far lower, and their value rests on condition and engine hours more than year.

The 25T's 8-foot 5-inch beam keeps it trailerable without a permit in most states, but check the trailer rating against the loaded weight with 189 gallons aboard.

• Check Seakeeper Ride software and blade actuators.
• Inspect bracket welds, bolts and through-bracket rigging.
• Test transom livewell pumps and fish box macerators.
• Open every hatch and check gaskets and drainage.
• Review outboard warranty registration and service records.