It never fails. You're heading to a destination with the intention of arriving well before dark, but something always happens. In this case, excess fun is the culprit, and the crew of three finds themselves 40 miles away from their destination with little more than an hour until sunset. No worries mate ... shove the twin throttles of the boat and rip along the placid "Ditch" at nearly 47 mph, en route to the quintessential sleepy fishing village of Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle.

No big deal for a runabout, but when you're driving a 33-foot cabin cruiser with a 10-foot-9-inch beam that weighs around 11,000 pounds - before you load it up - that's pretty impressive. Thank goodness for big-block V8s, eh? Well, not really, because in this case, the engines powering the Four Winns 318 are small-block 5.7L Volvo Penta Gi engines that produce 280 hp apiece.

Unofficially, the real agenda for the 125-mile-long trip from Sunrise Marine in Fort Walton Beach to Apalachicola is to consume mass quantities of oysters. To put it plainly, Mark Folcik, sales associate at Sunrise, along with the author and wife, Pam, are crazy about the tasty bivalves, so the voyage to the epicenter of the oyster world takes on the aspect of a pilgrimage as much as a pleasure cruise.

On the way, the crew stops at Baytown Wharf, and as Mark eases the 318 Vista toward the dock, the first mate heads out onto the integrated swim platform that's optionally surfaced with Flexiteek, a synthetic surface that gives you the look and feel of teak, but is eco-friendly and low maintenance. The lines and fenders are retrieved from the flip-open transom locker, and the deckhand/writer transits the fairly narrow perimeter walkaround - which features well-placed handholds for safety - leading to the foredeck. In rough conditions, the preferred method of getting to the bow is via the walkthrough windshield, which features large, easy-to-negotiate steps in the dash and a tall handrail.

The upscale village has many restaurants and bars, but the crew is drawn like moths to a flame to Acme Oyster House, a sister restaurant to the famous eatery in New Orleans established in 1910. After slurping a couple of dozen raw, and jamming in an oyster po-boy - consumed merely to provide a baseline point of reference - they run the gauntlet of cute shops back to the boat and shove off.

The first few minutes you drive the Four Winns 318 are a bit awkward, and you have serious misgivings when you over-correct the steering and fall off the running pad left and right a few times, looking like a rookie skipper. The 318 is sensitive to trim, tabs, and steering, but this boat will make you into a better driver by insisting that you use smooth, gentle corrections to control it. After you get used to it, you realize the problem was with you - and not with the boat. This sensitivity actually becomes an asset when you want to make an abrupt maneuver, like throwing the boat into a hard turn or dodging a floating log, which are in abundance here in this manmade section of the Intracoastal, known locally as the "Ditch."

The helm setup is comfortable, with a sporty tilt wheel and separately adjustable captain's portion of the side-by-side twin helm seats. There's plenty of room for an optional Raymarine C-80 large-screen display in the dash, and the throttles are well-positioned. A seated 6-footer has good vision beneath the optional stainless-steel header on the curved, tinted safety glass windshield. While keeping a lookout for floating debris, it's nice to have a flip-up bolster that gets the driver's head well above the windshield, and allows the driver to stand without chafing the back of their thighs. The captain can stay in the conversational loop when cruising, thanks to the portside lounge seat, and with a decibel reading of only 84 decibels at a 30-mph cruise speed, you don't have to yell. A couple of jon boats cause the driver to drop the Four Winns off plane, but the Volvo Pentas are strong out of the hole and push the 318 Vista back on plane in just six seconds and past 30 mph in only nine.

The cockpit is well-suited for cruising, with comfortable seating upholstered in Aquaflex, which is rugged, yet soft. For the trip, the U-lounge is filled in with cushions to allow several riders to catch up on their reading while lying on the roomy sun pad. The extra-large Bimini top gives plenty of shade, and the tall, standard radar arch provides a rock-solid canvas base that gives even professional basketball centers adequate headroom, accentuating the feeling of cockpit roominess. When the temperature drops, it's a real boon to have a standard full camper enclosure - which greatly increases your cool-weather cruising comfort and will allow you to extend your northern boating season.

As Apalachicola comes into view, you immediately see the effects of Hurricane Dennis. Last July, only one year after Hurricane Ivan "The Terrible" struck, Dennis trashed the docks in this working port, home to a large fleet of shrimp and oyster boats. The folks at Miller Marine are kind enough to allow dockage at the fuel dock next to the River Inn, which features renovated Jacuzzi rooms that have a great view of the river. But when you have waterfront accommodations like the Four Winns 318, the world is your oyster.

Apalachicola is a curious mix of upscale and run-down. There are a gaggle of quality dining spots and wine bars alongside derelict buildings, but for the crew, there's only one restaurant worth considering: Boss Oyster. If an oyster bar were shooting a commercial, they would hand pick a couple of dozen perfect oysters on the half shell just like the ones served to their table. Throw in a dozen oysters Rockefeller, and a basket of oysters fried to match the golden color of the sawgrass that stretches into the horizon across the Apalachicola River. Oh yeah, and a perfectly seared piece of yellowfin tuna (how did that get there?). It's St. Patrick's Day, so a couple of nightcaps at the Spoonbill Lounge while listening to some deliciously bad karaoke are the perfect way to wind down the evening.

As you step down the artfully asymmetrical wooden steps into the cabin, you discover the hard way that they could use a couple of additional traction strips when wet (to quote Emeril, "Bam!").The master berth is in the bow and features an optional one-piece, inner-spring mattress, which is very cloud-like. The amidships berth can be used as a seating area and has uneven filler cushions that make it a bit lumpy for a bed, so it's perfect for the kids. If you need more sleeping accommodations, the butter-soft Ultraleather upholstered sofa converts to a sleeper with the help of a classy wooden table with space-saver fold-up leaves that stores under the master berth when not in use. For entertainment, there's a standard flat-screen TV/DVD player and Clarion CD stereo with subwoofer and a six-month free subscription to Sirius commercial-free satellite radio.

The fully equipped galley features a microwave, coffee maker, two-burner stove, refrigerator, plenty of counter space, lighting and storage - all standard. The head compartment includes a porcelain VacuFlush head with pump-out, hot shower, and vanity with a three-piece mirror and grab rail.

A beautiful sunrise wakes you up, and after caffeine-loading, you get the floating party moving back west. A stop at a popular hangout at the mouth of the inlet, called Shell Island in Panama City, provides the thrill of the day for Pam, when a pod of bottlenose dolphin swims right to her as she lays on the swim platform, coming within inches of her hand.

Just for something different, they decide to run offshore to see if anyone is catching cobia yet, at the beginning of the annual migration of this great-eating gamefish (not yet). Thanks to the wind, which decides to do a 180, the breeze is now from offshore and rumples the previously flat water to a lumpy two feet, but the Vista 318 handles it well with a moderate 19 degrees of deadrise. Back in Fort Walton Beach, it's getting late, but they can't resist a quick trip to popular Crab Island, which is lined with beached boats and sunbathing boaters. Not to be left out, a quick tanning session on the bow sunpads is in order, until the sun hides behind the clouds and the solar plug is pulled on the trip.

Even when loaded up with options, like the generator, Flexiteek swim platform, and remote spotlight, the great-looking Four Winns Vista 318 is still priced less than $200,000, which includes lots of standard features that are usually options: trim tabs, a 10,000-BTU heater/air conditioner (which came in handy last night), interior design accents, radar arch, fire extinguishing system and camper enclosure, to name a few. Let's review ... great boat, nice price, and attractive styling - looks like this gem of the ocean is a real find.

Four Winns 318 Vista

LOA 33'
Beam 10'9"
Weight 10,920-11,200 lbs.
Fuel 170 gal.
Base Price $170,185
(w/twin 220-hp, 4.3L MerCruiser MPI
Bravo IIIs)
Price As Tested $191,736
(w/twin 280-hp, 5.7L Volvo Penta Gis)
Hull Warranty Limited Lifetime
NMMA Certified? Yes

Four Winns
925 Frisbie Street
Cadillac, MI 49601
(231) 775-1351
www.fourwinns.com

Test Data
Performance data was gathered with twin 280-hp, 5.7L Volvo Penta Gis, three people on board and 85 gallons of fuel.

Top Speed 46.9 mph
Time To Plane 6 seconds
0-30 mph 9 seconds
Decibels @ Idle 60 dB-A
Decibels @ 30 mph 84 dB-A
Decibels @ WOT 92 dB-A

Standard Features
Premium gel coat, dual trumpet horn, bow roller, radar arch, hot and cold aft shower, hidden boarding ladder w/wide step pads, transom storage locker, trim tabs, cable TV/phone/power/water inlet/dockside power, Aquaflex vinyl, 40-oz. lay-in carpet, stainless-steel beverage holders, courtesy lights, cockpit refreshment center w/icemaker or refrigerator, aft fill-in cushions, cockpit table, electric lift engine hatch, fiberglass liner, port and starboard windshield wipers, 6-month Sirius satellite radio, Clarion CD stereo with helm remote, flat-screen TV, compass, hour meters, tilt steering, 10,000- BTU heater/A/C, CO monitors, throw pillows and pillow sham, coffee maker, microwave, stove, cabin refrigerator, VacuFlush head, tank level indicators, fire extinguishing system, gas vapor detector and camper canvas.

Options
Flexiteek cockpit, remote spotlight, windlass, 6-disc CD changer, nav package w/Raymarine C-80, VHF radio, radar, inner spring mattress, alcohol/electric stove, deck sunpads, generator, freshwater cooling, flush system, Sea Key.