Key West 188 BR Boats For Sale

The Key West 188 Bay Reef, also sold as the 188 BR, is the smallest model in the Bay Reef lineup, an 18-foot-8-inch bay boat built for inshore and flats fishing while still working as a weekend family boat. It carries a 7-foot-4-inch beam, a 17-degree deadrise, a 25-inch transom, and a 12-inch draft. With a 115 Yamaha four-stroke and full fuel it weighs under 3,000 pounds, light enough to tow behind a smaller vehicle, and it floats in roughly 12 inches of water while running through about 10. A draw for many buyers is that it fits in most two-car garages, especially when ordered with the removable windshield and handrail and the folding trailer tongue.

Power options run from a 115 hp Yamaha four-stroke up to a 150 hp Yamaha V-MAX, the latter pushing the boat to around 50 mph. The hull runs on a flat bass-boat pad that widens to a strake at the stern for stability on plane, and electric Bennett trim tabs by Yamaha Marine help hold it level and stop porpoising at low speeds. The transom has a slight bump-out that adds leverage and cleaner water to the prop, letting the engine mount higher to run shallow even without a jack plate, though a four-inch jack plate that raises six inches is available. Hydraulic tilt steering is standard.

The console carries a flat dash face with room for large electronics, with setups running a 12-inch Garmin or 9-inch Simrad touchscreen with a 3-in-1 transducer for side and down view, plus a compass, VHF, and standard Yamaha gauges. Stereo options include Clarion or Fusion units with USB and Bluetooth, wired into the hull sides at the factory since the foam-filled construction makes after-market speaker runs difficult. The two-post leaning post is standard, carries four rocket launchers, and keeps the cockpit open. Underneath, a false floor centers up to five full-size batteries low in the boat for balance, with normal storage left clear above.

For fishing, the 188 BR carries dual recirculating live wells, a 14-gallon usable well forward and a 26-gallon usable well at the stern, both drawing fresh water from outside. The bow has a flush-mount anchor locker with a standard trolling motor plug wired back to the console, a dry storage compartment, and a fish box molded for a five-gallon bucket. Molded-in rod storage runs both gunnels, holding three rods per side with a cutout for longer rods, and the design lasts the life of the boat rather than relying on plastic inserts. A raw water washdown, popup cleats, a swim platform with a telescoping ladder, and an optional removable polling platform round out the deck. The cockpit is self-bailing with a crowned floor and molded rain channels that gutter water to the drains and out, bypassing the bilge.

Build quality is no-wood, no-rot composite, foam-filled for a solid feel in chop, backed by a 10-year hull warranty and the highest USCG flotation rating, keeping it level and upright even when swamped. It seats five to six and fishes two or three comfortably, two on the forward casting deck and one on the rear platform when the jump seat is stowed.