Dual console boats are great for both families and fishing, but the vast majority of them are runabouts that limit you to day-tripping with a small crew. What if you also enjoy weekending, entertaining large parties, and taking long cruises? Enter: the Grady-White Freedom 345.
The Freedom 345 not only adds a cabin into the mix, but it also comes with a massive heaping of luxury. Check out the aft-facing lounger seat in the cockpit, for example. It begins as a double-wide bench seat, which doesn’t protrude too far into the cockpit so as to leave plenty of open fishing space. At the press of a button, however, the bases extend out to turn into full-length loungers. Or press a different button and a SureShade sun Grady-White Freedom 345: Smile, Smile, Smile shade hums its way out of the hard top, boosting your comfort level on hot, sunny days. You want to open the windshield vent? Raise or lower a table? Adjust the helm seating? All of these functions, and more, are electrically actuated for button-pressing ease.
Additional luxury touches come from 8000 BTU cabin and 16,000 BTU helm air conditioning systems, integrated USB ports and wireless cell phone chargers, fore and aft freshwater washdowns and a six-gallon hot water heater, and an eight speaker stereo system with subwoofer. Still, the number one comfort-booster for most people will be found in the passenger’s side console. Grady-White found a way to make it transform from useable day-boating space into a weekend crashpad, with the use of one more of those electrically actuated button-presses. During the day there’s an L-shaped settee along the port side and running forward around the teak and holly sole, plus a 19-inch flat-screen TV in the forward bulkhead, elevated stowage cabinets above, and a microwave oven. When it’s time for a snooze and you hit that button, a filler slides out from the starboard side to turn the entire cabin into one big berth.
What about the head? That goes in the helm console, so it’s kept 100-percent separate from the sleeping quarters. This also means it’s exceptionally roomy for a head compartment and has a countertop with a sink, a shower, and a vanity. Now for the crazy part: all of the goodies and gadgets we’ve mentioned up until now are standard features on this model. At the base cost you get all of this stuff included, on top of Grady-White’s trademark features like the SeaV2 variable-degree deadrise hull, uber-rugged construction, a flawless fit and finish, and comfy, cushy cushions. So, what’s left to opt for?
Two things we think all family anglers ISO the perfect boat will want to add into the mix include a Seakeeper 3 gyroscopic stabilization system and upgrading the aft fish box into a freezer with a digitally controlled thermostat.
Speaking of fishboxes, note that the Freedom 345 is ready to ice down everything from yellow perch to yellowfin tuna. That aft box has 41.5 gallons of capacity, and the additional fish-chilling boxes hold another 102 gallons. The transom livewell has plenty of capacity, too, at 32 gallons, and note that this is one of the Grady-White full column inlet wells (which eliminates dead spots) and it’s lighted as well. The rod holder count includes four in the gunwales plus four rocket launchers on the hard top supports, and adding to your rod-hauling abilities, Grady-White installs an overhead rodrack in the hard top for four more rigs.
You’ve filleted those perch and steaked the tuna? Okay, now fire up the grill built into the wet bar. As they’re toasting up, grab a cold drink out of the refrigerator and then set it down in one of the 19 drink holders. When you’re done munching and chilling, fire up the twin Yamaha XTO Offshore F450s or triple Yamaha F350s and head for the barn at a cruising speed in the mid-30s to 40 or so mph. Nail the throttles and feel a 50-mph-plus wind in your hair. And when you get back home, you can check up on your pride and joy whenever you’d like, because the Siren Marine Connected Boat monitoring system is yet another standard feature.
Toss out those impressions of what a dual console boat can do, because the Grady-White Freedom 345 gives you the freedom to do a whole lot more. And whether that means cruising across the Bay for a daytrip, hitting the canyons in search of big game, or weekending aboard, one thing is for sure: this boat will give you the freedom to enjoy family time however you’d like.
By Lenny Rudow
Grady-White Freedom 345 Specifications:
LOA: 33’6”
Beam: 11’7”
Draft (min.): 2’1”
Displacement (approx.): 12,510 lbs.
Fuel Capacity: 293 gal.
Water Capacity: 32 gal.
Transom deadrise: 20 degrees
Max HP: 1050
Local Dealer: Tri-State Marine in Annapolis—(410) 562-6247, Deale—(410) 867-1447, and Middle River, MD—(410) 574-3988