Boat test for the 2005 Grady-White 360 Express with boat pictures, boat specifications, and boat test results. Includes pricing, videos, engine test reviews, and ratings for the 2005 Grady-White 360 Express.

By the time we reached the fishing grounds, the wind had diminished to nil, and the ocean was checkerboard-flat. It was now time to fish.

We deployed the optional 24-foot Lee outriggers, using the four standard in-gunwale rod holders to set up two flat lines and two short-'rigger lines with skirted ballyhoo baits and set the long 'rigger baits into the lowest rocket launchers on the side of the 360's hardtop piping. (There are three per side, and both the hardtop and rocket launchers are standard.) The 'riggers and flat lines made for an attractive six-line spread, enhanced by our ability to cut the outboard motors and troll on just the center engine. The advantage? Consistently clean water where your baits are, making it much easier to see fish coming up (and a 5-gph fuel burn didn't hurt). Our test boat was also fitted with an optional Release bolster in the center of the 96-square-foot cockpit, which allows for running a way-way-back (WWB) bait down the center or a place for pitch baits.

The lines were out, and within five minutes the left flat line started screaming. In short order PMY assistant editor Jeff Moser had his first 40-pound-class yellowfin tuna. We then placed it into the standard digitally climate-controlled, 269-quart, in-transom fishbox, a Grady-White first and a big improvement over the 360's little sister, which requires a lot of ice in her insulated transom fishbox to keep fish cool. I remember nights on the 330 when we had tuna bags and extra coolers onboard to hold fish. The new design doesn't require you to carry superfluous coolers or bags and therefore saves valuable cockpit space. All we had to do was put in some salt water from the standard washdown and set the temperature on the control panel just inside the companionway steps in the saloon. We were able to keep our catch, which also included a couple of nice dolphin and a wahoo, as fresh as when we caught them.

With the fishing-friendly open layout and an abundance of standard angling amenities, the 360 is a sportfisherman first and foremost, but she also features a comfortable, open saloon/cabin/galley offering 6'8" headroom, complete with a forward berth that is more than six feet long and six feet wide, an aft berth that's the length of a full and the width of a queen, and a port-side dinette table that can convert to a double berth for kids. The below-decks area is accented with a warm teak interior and teak-and-holly sole, both standard.

Add to this the fully equipped galley (see specifications), 16,000 Btus of standard air conditioning, and a generously sized shower with 6'6" headroom, and nights spent either at the canyon with your buddies or on the hook with your family should feel just like home. Except that you can—and will—take this home fishing.

So if anyone out there is looking at the 360 Express and needs a deckhand, I'm available.

Grady-White Boats
(252) 752-2111

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