Whitewater 28, the Miami Guide Boat With a SeaVee Family Tree

Whitewater boats, and which Whitewater you mean

Search for Whitewater boats and you will find two very different businesses. White Water Marine is a long-established dealership on Sunrise Highway in Sayville, New York, selling brands such as Yellowfin, Invincible, Parker and Ranger Tugs. The Whitewater 28 comes from somewhere else entirely: Whitewater Boat Corporation, a small builder at 280 Northwest 73rd Street in Miami, Florida, that sells factory direct and builds every boat to order.

The Miami company has deep roots in South Florida offshore fishing. Salt Water Sportsman's list of the best sport-fishing boats of all time notes that Don McGee founded SeaVee in 1974 and that the company later split into two separate companies, SeaVee Boats and Whitewater Boats. In its 2007 test of the 28, Salt Water Sportsman called Whitewater one of the best-kept secrets in offshore fishing, a favorite of Key West guides and tournament anglers despite its small size.

Whitewater's own website, which still carries a 2008 copyright, describes three models, a 25, a 28 and a 32, and says the company had taken input from guides, divers and longtime owners for more than 20 years. It also lists boats customized for the Coral Gables Police marine division, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue's underwater recovery unit, Biscayne National Park and the Florida Institute of Oceanography. We could not confirm current production, so treat the 28 as a limited, build-to-order boat that you will most often find on the used market.

Twenty-four degrees and four full-length stringers

The 28's identity is its hull: a deep-V with 24 degrees of deadrise at the transom, hand-laid fiberglass and a four-stringer system running the full length of the boat. Whitewater lists a length overall of 28 feet 3 inches, a beam of 8 feet 6 inches, an 18-inch draft and a net weight of 3,800 lb for the open boat or 4,100 lb for the cuddy. That 8-foot-6 beam is the standard legal highway width, so the 28 tows without oversize permits, and Whitewater says all three of its models are trailerable throughout the United States.

John Brownlee, testing the 28 for Salt Water Sportsman, called it an outstanding rough-water performer with a smooth, dry ride even in a truly nasty chop. He also liked the sub-deck fuel tanks outboard of the stringers, which he said kept the boat from rocking too much when drifting in a beam sea, a known weakness of narrow, sharp deep-Vs.

The trade-off of a 24-degree, 8-foot-6 hull is stability at rest and interior volume. It will roll more than a beamy modern 28 with 20 degrees of deadrise, and the deck is narrower. Owners accept that because the boat runs in conditions that keep flatter boats at the dock.

• LOA 28 feet 3 inches, beam 8 feet 6 inches
• Draft 18 inches
• Net weight 3,800 lb (Openfish) or 4,100 lb (Cuddy Cabin)
• Fuel 150 gallons standard on outboard boats, up to 250 gallons maximum
• Deadrise 24 degrees

Openfish or cuddy, notched transom or bracket

Very few builders offer as many ways to configure one hull. Whitewater sold the 28 as the Openfish center console or as a Cuddy Cabin model with cabin cushions, lighting, an entrance hatch and door and an anchor locker in the top deck. Any model could also be ordered with a canvas cuddy and drop curtains, including a screened curtain for ventilation.

At the stern, buyers chose a notched transom with an engine shroud, which many anglers prefer because it lets them fish around the outboards, or a full transom with a bracket, which mounts the engines higher and adds speed. Brownlee's test boat had the notched transom with the optional shroud, and he noted the bracket version runs somewhat faster.

The center console was designed with several configurations and is large enough for a marine head. Standard equipment included a self-bailing cockpit, a 50-gallon free-flooding livewell, hydraulic steering, a console windshield and handrail, weather-protected switches and gauges, five cleats and two batteries. The option list ran from T-tops and Key West tops to center or gunwale-mounted towers, coffin boxes, under-gunwale rod racks, fly rod tubes, a saltwater washdown and a 25-gallon freshwater system.

Outboards or a single diesel

Whitewater lets the buyer pick the outboard brand. Its rules for the 28 were a single 250 or 300 hp outboard, or twins from 175 to 250 hp each, which makes 500 hp the practical maximum. The 28 was also offered with a single diesel, and Salt Water Sportsman said owner Norman Collins would build an inboard with either a straight shaft or a jackshaft and sterndrive arrangement, in gas or diesel.

Brownlee's test boat ran twin 225 hp Mercury OptiMax two-strokes. It cruised at 33.4 knots at 4,000 rpm while burning just 18 gallons per hour on the FloScan meters, and hit 46 knots at 5,400 rpm. That is about 1.9 nautical miles per gallon at a fast cruise, very good economy for a 28-foot offshore boat, and a direct result of the light, 3,800-lb hull.

Fuel is 150 gallons standard on outboard boats, and the factory allowed up to 250 gallons on the 28. Many boats on the used market have been repowered from older two-strokes to modern four-strokes; the extra weight of four-strokes on a light hull can change trim and running attitude, so ask how the boat was set up and sea trial it in a chop.

A fishing layout guides trust

The 28 is set up for live-bait fishing in the South Florida and Keys style. The standard in-deck livewell holds 50 gallons, but Whitewater would customize it; Brownlee's test boat had a well that extended to the hull with holes drilled through the bottom for natural flow, fed by twin 1,100 gph pumps and holding about 90 gallons. A compartment ahead of the console can be an 85-gallon insulated fish box or another livewell, and a 30-gallon transom livewell and twin transom bait boxes were optional.

The deck is level from bow to stern with multiple storage hatches. Forward, an optional insulated coffin box drains overboard and tilts on a piano hinge to expose a large storage area beneath. The forward console seat lifts on gas struts to reveal storage for a portable or full marine head, the batteries and an optional freshwater tank, with good access to wiring and electronics. The helm has room for flush-mounted electronics, and a T-top with an electronics box was a popular option.

Brownlee summed up the appeal: rugged construction that holds up to years of hard use, exemplary fit and finish, and the ability to design a one-of-a-kind boat if you do not mind waiting for it.

Buying a used Whitewater 28

Used Whitewater 28s turn up mostly in South Florida and the Keys, often from guides or longtime owners. Because Whitewater never published prices and each boat is custom, compare boats on engines, transom style, tops and electronics rather than year alone. We estimate most outboard boats trade between roughly $25,000 and $95,000, with recently repowered twin four-stroke boats at the top and tired two-stroke boats at the bottom.

Whitewater's FAQ says the hull is hand-laid fiberglass and that there is some wood in the construction, so a moisture survey of the transom, stringers and deck is essential on an older boat. The company offered a lifetime warranty to the original owner, which does not transfer to a second owner by its wording.

Running costs are low for a boat of this capability: roughly $6,000 to $16,000 a year for engine service, insurance, storage or trailer upkeep and bottom care, before fuel. A light hull and modest horsepower keep fuel bills down, which is one reason guides like these boats.