Matt,
Two of my friends built and flew Seareys for several years. They are very popular in Florida.
I would love to have one, especially the turbocharged version. With two in the airplane I would see climb rates approaching 1000 fpm. (The nonturbocharged one does okay, but climb performance is more like a loaded 150.) I figured on about 90 knots for cruise. It is a good short field airplane, and gets off the water astonishingly quickly. Its handling on the step is amazing, much more nimble than a float plane. That being said, I was never comfortable operating with much in the way of waves. There is very little freeboard and, while it may just be me, I much preferred staying out of waves above about four to six inches, a bit less than my personal maximum for a Super Cub on floats and much less than a good rough water seaplane such as a Seabee.
Handling in flight is not bad; it's not as crisp as a 150, maybe because it just isn't going as fast. (I think the quality of the work done by the builder affects handling as the two I flew were noticeably different in flight.) It has good low speed handling. I would not try to land in as much of a crosswind as I would in a 150. Part of that is because the two I flew did not have individual brakes. The very good thing is that if you start to swerve and it gets bad, a shot of power puts a lot of air over the rudder right now.
I'd be a little cautious operating off of rough strips. One of my friends hit a pothole on a runway and snapped off the left main gear.
If Colorado allowed seaplanes to land on the lakes in this state, I'd have bought a Searey a few years ago. I really like them.
If you can get a chance to fly one, take it. I think you'll really like it.
There is a review of the Searey on AVweb; I'll see if I can find it.
Warmest regards,
Rick
