Grady-White Canyon 386: 2024 Boat Buyers Guide

The Canyon 386 delivers the softest ride possible, as well as stability at rest and when trolling.

Grady-White ­produces 26 models in five different categories, including coastal explorer, ­center-console, dual-­console, walkaround cabin, and express cabin boats. 

Founded in 1959, Grady-White builds boats from 18 to 45 feet at its plant in Greenville, North Carolina. Since 1968, the company has been under private ownership by NMMA Hall of Fame member Eddie Smith, and it is led today by another HOF member, Kris Carroll, with 48 years’ experience in the company.

Grady-White Canyon 386 at sunset
An updated transom area eliminates the traditional motorwell while supporting triple Yamaha XTO Offshore 450 engines. Courtesy Grady-White Boats

Grady-White has received every third-party customer-­satisfaction award ever presented in the marine industry, including all eight of the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Awards for their category, and consecutive NMMA Customer Satisfaction Index awards for all 21 years they’ve been presented. 

Visitors can tour Grady-White’s factory in Greenville to see firsthand the process used to create the company’s legendary fishing and ­family-oriented boats, and to meet the passionate craftspeople who build them. 

Grady-White Canyon 386 helm
There’s room for an expansive helm. Courtesy Grady-White Boats

Grady-White Canyon 386

Grady-White’s new Canyon 386 center-console builds upon the successful Canyon 376 while drawing the best design elements from the flagship Canyon 456. It’s ready for hardcore fishing, memory-making with family and friends, or both.

An extra-wide 13-foot-­2-inch beam creates a spacious cockpit, accessed by port and starboard doors, with room for an expansive helm, four adjustable chairs and a leaning post rich in conveniences.  An integrated AV2 T-top comes complete with full-height vented windshield, a standard SureShade see-through hatch, a storage net, a radio box, LED spreader and recessed lights, and six rod holders.

Cabin access is through an aft-facing sliding door and down curved stairs. A large enclosed head area with a sink, a porcelain head and a stand-up shower is ready for weekend getaways. The galley features a stainless-steel sink, a microwave, a large refrigerator drawer, and a cherrywood dinette table that converts into a double berth. The cabin also offers air conditioning, natural lighting, abundant storage—including space for eight rods—and a 24-inch TV.

At the transom are dual 35-gallon livewells flanking a 291-quart insulated refrigerator/freezer fish box with a digital thermostat. The leaning post has six rod holders and a Corian countertop; it can serve as a bait station or make it an entertainment area by adding the optional grill.

The forward console features a luxury lounger with pull-down armrests, and two spacious storage drawers below. Bow loungers have electrically adjustable backrests. Port and starboard 149-quart insulated fish boxes help form a casting platform; add cushions to create a luxurious sun pad. 

Aft of Grady-White’s patented foldaway stern bench seat, an updated transom area eliminates the traditional motorwell while supporting triple Yamaha XTO Offshore 450 engines.

Editor’s Tip 

The SeaV² hull on the 386 features a variable design with no two places on the keel where deadrise is the same. It continuously sharpens from the transom to the bow stem to deliver the softest ride possible, as well as stability at rest and when trolling. -Jim Hendricks, Staff Editor, Boating and Fishing Group

Performance Data

  • Test Power: Triple Yamaha XTO 450 Outboards
  • Test Props: Yamaha XTO 16 3/8″ x 21″ stainless-steel 3-blade
  • Test Load: 209 gal. fuel, 2 adults
  • Top Speed: 60.4 mph
  • Max Range: 365.3 miles

Specifications

LOA:36’6″
Beam:13’2″
Fuel Capacity:410 gal.
Dry Weight Without Power:14,950 lb.
Max HP:1,350
Certifications:NMMA
Powered By:Yamaha

Grady-White Boats – Greenville, North Carolina; 252-752-2111gradywhite.com