Everglades 355ccx

Power & Motoryacht's first look at the Everglades 355ccx.

By Kevin Koenig

May 6, 2013

Did you ever take a girl out on a date—a perfectly lovely girl too, attractive, smart, well put together—only to find your eyes inextricably glued to some other pretty young thing sitting across the room? If you have, good news: You’re a guy! (Also, probably a little bit of a jerk.) And I can relate to your predicament, because a nautical version of that very same situation happened to me just recently. I was testing a really cool, well-built, fast boat for an upcoming story, but I kept finding my eyes wandering back to the boat our photographer was trailing us in: The Everglades 355ccx.

The 355ccx is definitely the kind of boat that attracts attention. A main reason for this trait is her beefy tuna tower, an option that dominates the boat’s profile like the rack on a 12-point buck. A tower on a boat this size may be considered overkill by some, but on this one it just works, particularly because she’s got such serious offshore fishing cred.

The boat has just about anything you could want for a day spent hunting down billfish or tuna. She can be outfitted with two livewells as well as two fishboxes (129-gallon and 66-gallon capacities), and has rod holders galore. Telescoping outriggers off the tower also help to ensure that you’re battle ready. Meanwhile a cockpit with 158 square feet of deck space lets you and your crew move around the boat with ease while you’re reeling in a monster.

Everglades recommends a triple outboard setup as the boat feels slightly underpowered with just twins. With trips, the 355 can approach a rollicking 50 knots. Everglades’s famously rugged construction can certainly handle it though. The boat feels solid underway—nothing moves—and the hull slices cleanly through the chop. Handholds, I should note, are literally everywhere onboard, making for an even more secure-feeling ride.

The forward portion of the boat can be laid out with bench seating in the bow as well as forward of the console, helping to make this boat more than just a fishing machine. She’s definitely cruisable. Go ahead, take her for a spin by the docks or your favorite shoreside watering hole. Just watch out for the other guys’ eyeballs when they pop out of their heads.