2002 Marlin 300 - looking for advice, tips, things to avoid?

[davep]

Hi everyone—my wife and I are excited to be two weeks into owning a 2002 Grady-White Marlin 300. I’ve loved Grady-Whites since I was a kid, and we finally pulled the trigger on upgrading from our center console. We loved that boat, but it wasn’t ideal for family use.

We have several projects ahead of us, in no particular order:
- Electrical: There’s significant corrosion around the batteries, switches, and various connections. The windlass, freshwater pumps, and radio work intermittently. We’re hoping that cleaning up and replacing the corroded connections will solve many of these issues.
- Dash modernization: The boat currently has a nonfunctional depth finder, an older Garmin chartplotter that works fine, and a Raymarine open-array radar. The radar works, but the system isn’t nearly as user-friendly as the Garmin 8616 I’m accustomed to. Unfortunately, the dash panel appears too small for our 8616 without substantial fiberglass work. We’re considering making a new acrylic panel for a 12-inch display or two 10-inch displays. We may also troubleshoot the existing depth finder and leave everything as-is for now. My biggest frustration is that the current chartplotter is mounted in the hardtop cubby, requiring me to look too far away from the water.
- Captain’s chair: Reupholster it.
- Generator: The original generator was ruined by water in the aft bilge. We’re unsure whether we’ll need one, but we’re considering adding a replacement.
- Enclosure: The current Isinglass is extremely cloudy, and visibility is poor. We’re considering replacing it with new traditional Isinglass, upgrading to EZ2CY, or exploring another option. We’d appreciate recommendations—particularly regarding visibility, durability, cost, and whether EZ2CY is worth the premium.
- Transom: The hull surveyed very well overall, but the transom—while still “hard”—showed evidence of water intrusion and swelling between the engines. The surveyor believes it doesn’t require immediate attention but should be addressed within the next season or two.
- Repower: The boat still has its original 2002 Yamaha F225s, with approximately 700 hours each. They run well, but one has substantial corrosion, and the other has thermostats stuck open. According to the surveyor, they could last several more seasons—or one could “go tomorrow.” We’re debating whether to repair the transom and repower this offseason or keep running the current engines until they force our hand.

We’re thrilled to start this project and would welcome any thoughts, advice, or experience—especially from other Marlin 300 owners. Thanks!

 

[kirk a]

Looks clean. I'm in the 7th year of owning a 2003 330, and it had a long list of things to address.

My .02 - get all the safety stuff corrected first. The electric would be step 1. Engines step 2. You can either get ahead of the issue and repower, or risk losing a season or better part thereof with an untimely failure. One of my 225's failed 40 miles offshore first week of Aug. That ended the season early.

For the enclosure - I had a great experience sending my enclosure to A&J Canvas down in the Carolinas, they are the OEM manufacturer and did a great job at a good price.

Removed the generator, and have no better solution currently. You can do some research here about replacements and/or battery systems with an inverter.

My boat had mostly Raymarine, and like you I found the UI a bit challenging at first, but stuck with it and have upgraded most of it over time. Depending on the age of the components, taking a fresh start may be a good plan.

Ultimately, this all comes down to money/budget.

 

[Fishtales]

1,) Chair. Check out the Llebroc line of chairs for the helm chair. They build them for GW. Won't sell you the exact chair, but they sell the same model without the GW do-dads. Taller, seat folds as a bolster, high back and excellent arms. The GW chairs prior to the new ones by Pompanette are too small and inadequate if you ask me.
2.) Enclosure. You can send your originals to A&J Canvas in Vanceboro NC. They make them for GW. You can go with the blue Sunbrella or the white Stamoid. Glass has two options standard Eisenglss or Strataglass. Get the latter for a few more sheckles.
3.) I'd skip the genny unless you are on the hook or need it. Really comes down to your use case. I've had 2 stuck starters over the years and knock on wood still runs and works fine. Low hours on it as I'm on a slip.
4.) Get the transom evaluated and decide now what to do. It will only get worse with time. I did it very early and it worked out great. Glass it over and get rid of that stupid bang plate. Worse transom design around if you ask me.
5.) Run the engines into the ground if you are boating locally. Get towboat or seatow. If one goes, you'll get in fine on one motor. If you are doing extensive travel from port, might be worth a repower.

Good luck.