More often than not you’re bound to hear the phase, “It’s not where you are, but who you’re with that matters”. And in all fairness, this is more true than not. If you’re sitting on a tropical island at a swim up bar, basking in the sunshine with the wind blowing through your hair, but you’re with your soon-to-be ex-wife that you just caught cheating on you two days before your trip, and for some stupid reason, you thought it would be a good idea to try and go on vacation anyway, then yes … where you are doesn’t really matter if you’re with someone you despise. But, the contrary to that statement is also true — if you’re with your best friend in the world, and you’re sitting on the side of northern Minnesota road in a car with a dead battery, whose windows won’t roll all the way up in the middle of January, suddenly, having your best bud there doesn’t mean a whole lot … unless you get real hungry, and real creative. Cannibalism aside, the point is that, in extremes, who you are with, and where you are both matter, and in the perfect situation, you’d have a little of both. So while we can’t say for sure who to suggest bringing, but we can say for sure that a great place to be is on the new Boston Whaler 380 Realm.
Born for entertaining, the 380 Realm stands as the new flagship for Boston Whaler’s latest dayboat line. Essentially, these boats are built essentially like the Kardashians — party first, and then occasionally work a little. Work, in this case would be the ability to act as a functional fishing boat.
The 380 Realm is a bowrider coupe that is comfortable enough to lounge around in, but still retains the strength and integrity of a fishing boat. Within its 38 foot length overall, the 380 has multiple social areas, the first of which is aft of the cock pit and offers 45 square feet of space to sit and bask in the sun. Head through the portside door and jump into the water, but don’t worry, as there is a hideaway reboarding ladder within reach as well as a flip out grab handle. The transom bench seat pulls out to add more space for sitting. Forward of that flip out seat, is, you guessed it, more seating, this time a little higher up, replete with a flip out foot rest. It also hides a 260 quart cooler for all the daddy sodas necessary for an enjoyable trip.
If your party is too sunburn, then you can employ the extendable 6’7” by 7’10” awning for some man-made shade. That same forward seat can be flipped around, as can the helm seat, to create another more intimate seating area, that also comes with foot rests, while a removable table can be installed to share a nice lunch between friends, if so desired. There is also an optional sunroof and paddle board racks overhead. The “summer kitchen” area is trick piece indeed — the Corian countertop has a large section that can flip up and out to reveal the grill beneath, while retaining that slap as an additional prep area. Another slap folds out to reveal a sink basin and a flip up faucet. A pull out refrigerated door opens up below, along with plenty of storage for all the snacks you’ll need to go with those daddy sodas.
Three 16” LCD screens make up the dash of the console that serve as readouts for all your navigational, information, and entertainment needs. You’ll also notice the small 9” screen to ytghe right of the console that is the Mercury display that shows its many features such as Cruise Assist, Speed Control, Bow Hook, Sky Hook, and Drift Hook. The digital throttle is intuitively placed and easy to use, as is the Mercury joystick steering for easy docking.
Up front there is a beautiful table that raises and lowers, surrounded by plush seating that can all be turned into a full sun pad upon request. The cabin beneath houses a sink, fridge, another removable/ moveable table, and plenty of comfy seating/bedding, a 24” inch TV and a full wet head that has a separate shower wand. There is also another small fridge, a very nice skylight, and plenty of storage.
For those that do choose to employ the 380 Whaler as a fishing boat, there are rod holders out on the transom, dual insulated fish boxes bracket the cockpit, and there are outlets to set up electric reels if that’s more your speed. And speaking of speed, you, and your party will not be left wanting to go faster even if all you choose is the standard 4×300-horsepower Mercury FourStroke V8 AMS black motors. 0-30 takes only 10.4 seconds, while time to plane is just 5.7 seconds — not bad for a big boat with a dry weight of 17,000 pounds.
All in all, the Boston Whaler 380 Realm lives up to its namesake — it offers up a ‘realm’ to bring family and friends to, that will almost undoubtedly be joyous and exuberant in most cases. And although where you are comes second to who your are with, the 380 Realm assures that the “where you are” aspect of that is taken care of, so all you need to do is choose wisely just who you bring along for the ride.
