In the market for a center console to keep at their second home in Naples, Fla., Tracey and Tom Dekrone headed to the 2020 Fort Lauderdale Boat Show last November. The Long Island, N.Y., couple had owned several performance boats during the years, but they were ready to make the transition to something more versatile.

The first Mystic clients to own an M3800 center console powered by quad Mercury Racing 300R outboard engines with Advanced Mid-Sections, Tracey and Tom Dekrone took delivery of the boat yesterday at the company’s media event on Captiva Island. Photo courtesy/copyright Mercury Racing

But they had two unbendable rules: Whatever they chose, it had to be spacious and it had to be spectacular.

And they found exactly what they were looking for at the Mystic Powerboats display in the form of a striking burgundy M3800 that the Deland, Fla., company built as a demo boat for the 2021 boating season. That was the original plan, at least.

For Tracey Dekrone, it was love at first sight.

“First of all, it’s stunning—it’s like a jewel, or even a jewel box,” she said. “And for me it was wider and easier to walk up and down than some of the other boats we were looking at.”

“Tracey wanted this boat from day one,” said her husband. “But it originally wasn’t available. Then it became available.”

What the Dekrones didn’t know—but Mystic’s director of sales and marketing director Greg Weber and company founder/owner John Cosker did—was that boat was going to be repowered with four new Mercury Racing 300R AMS outboard engines. The 38-footer had to be ready for this week’s 300R AMS debut on Captiva Island in Southwest Florida.

Tom and Stacey Dekrone. Said Tracy, “With Mystic, you feel like you’re joining a family.”

Weber knew how much the Dekrones loved and wanted the boat, and in the end that won out over Mystic keeping it as a demo model.

“We didn’t originally plan to put it up for sale until later this summer,” he said. “Then Tom and I started talking again.

“I had to work a bit to get John to let the boat go, but eventually he came around,” he added, then chuckled.

Still, until the Monday unveiling the Dekrones had not seen the M3800’s engines and knew nothing about them other than they were “something new” from Mercury Racing. During a demo ride they took earlier this year in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., with Weber and Mercury Racing’s Roy Mitchell, a product applications manager, the outboard powerheads were covered. They did get a sneak peek of the color application on the cowling covers, but that was it.

“Greg called me and said, ‘It’s going to have these new Mercury Racing motors but I can’t tell you what they are,” said Tom Dekrone. “He told me I could have the original motors that were on the boat in Fort Lauderdale if I wanted them. I said, ‘Why wouldn’t I want the latest and greatest, state-of-the-art technology?’ It’s kind of an exciting thing to have them on our new boat.”

So far, the 38-foot stunner has reached 79.6 mph, and Weber believes they can get it to 80 mph with a little setup work. Though the Dekrones praised the center console for its acceleration and handing manners—as well as its build quality and styling—they saved their highest praise for the people who built it.

“I call myself a ‘fake boater’—I even get seasick,” Tracey said, then laughed. “Tom is a real boater. He was telling me about the engines and I’m like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ But with Mystic, you feel like you’re joining a family. That makes you very comfortable when you are making a big purchase like this.

“I didn’t even know these guys a couple of months ago,” she added. “Now, they truly feel like friends.”

And the name of the boat? “We’ll either call it Mystic Jewel or Mystic Gem,” said Tracey. “It’s like a garnet.”

The Dekrones will keep the boat in Naples and plan to participate in Fort Myers Offshore fun runs in 2021-2022.

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