new grady

[Halfhitch]

I wish they had addressed the heavier weight of 4 strokes on the 228, you stand in water lots of times. I solved that with some flap valves.

Have a different aftermarket Gil bracket made with more flotation, if you want more freeboard at rest.

 

[luckydude]

Have a different aftermarket Gil bracket made with more flotation, if you want more freeboard at rest.

I've thought of that as well but I've pretty much solved the problem with some brass flap valves.

 

[luckydude]

It would be interesting, and informative, to know what percentage of Grady Whites ever make it west of the Mississippi River, much less the west coast. Some days, it seems like they are 50% of the under 35 boats using Beaufort Inlet, which is the inlet nearest to the factory.

It's by no means 50% in my harbor, Santa Cruz, CA, but there are probably dozens in there. Lots 226/228, 232, Marlins, Expresses, Canyons.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

It's by no means 50% in my harbor, Santa Cruz, CA, but there are probably dozens in there. Lots 226/228, 232, Marlins, Expresses, Canyons.

It's kind of funny, at our beach cabin we used to call it an "Arima beach" because everyone owned an Arima, but now it's the complete opposite where everyone owns a Grady White. I've got my 228 Seafarer, the neighbor to one side of me has a 270 Islander, another has either a 235 or a 255 Freedom, and then the last neighbor has a 192 Tournament. Jacobsen's Marine is the local Grady White dealer in Edmonds, and they're the only one I believe for the entire PNW until you go across the border into Canada or go down to central California. There's a good deal of GW's around here but I don't think they're even close to 50% either as you've got a ton of Arima's, some Stripers, Trophy's and other fiberglass boats. Then you've got the aluminum crowd, which I've personally never been a fan of but people seem to love them, which would be Wooldridge, North River, Duckworth, Alumaweld and so forth. And finally you then tend to see a good deal of older boats from the 1970's and 1980's that are usually in very poor condition, which makes me wonder how they're still even running/floating.

For GW's specifically, most seem to be walkaround models but few of those seem to be 226's/228's, most are typically 208 Adventure's, 232 Gulfstream's and even the bigger ones. Occasionally you'll see DC/CC Grady's like the neighbors have, but those aren't quite as common as the WA's. Arima's around here are like a cult following as they were built in Seattle and now they're built in a place called Bremerton, which is about an hour drive from Seattle out on the peninsula. I owned two 21' Arima's before and they were great when the water was calm and flat, but goodness you'd take a pounding in them when there was 1'-2' chop and greater, which is why I sold those and bought my 228 Seafarer. It is always nice to see other Grady owners here, especially a 228 Seafarer as they aren't as common, I'll always give them a nod or a wave as I go by. I don't think that GW's will ever be as prominent out here on the west coast as they are on the east coast because that's where they're made, and most out here want a WA style of boat, which Grady more and more seems to be going away from.

 

[Rayvon]

Agree with ^^^^^ .I'm on the Canadian side of the border,Victoria/Vancouver Island,we see lots of Grady's here, some are charter boats but hardly ever see an open CC obviously because of our weather.It looks like the east coast(US) has mostly open boats for the same reason.I wonder how many CC/DC boats they build compared to WA/Express? Probably more CC/DC considering the population of the SE (US).

 

[Gone Coastal]

Well correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t see how that flip down door on the port side of the new 281 would work when tied to a dock, the dock would have to be very low for that door not to hit. Look at my signature picture for example of my 228 tied to the dock. I realize they are different hulls but does the 281 have that much more freeboard? Or is it just a swim platform?

I know this is an old thread, but the door on the 281 isn’t designed for boarding from a dock. It’s for use getting in and out on the water. There’s also a retractable pole style ladder in the transom

I’m still getting used to the scuppers on this hybrid bay boat, water will come in when drifting in saucy waters. With the door down, water will come in as well with any kind of wave action. Right now the water is too cold for us to really use the door though! I’ve thought about looking into finding flaps for the scupper exits, but that could slow water drainage. There isn’t as much slope available from the deck to the water line as with the canyons. I have the twin 300s and 3 trolling motor batteries in the stern, so all of that is added rear weight

 

[Karen Ann IV]

Don't know who their target market is, for a 28 foot CC, with only 4 gunnel rod holders, but 8 cup holders. Only 4 in the rocket launcher, and the 4 behind the helm seat are just in the way of anyone trying to fish in the tiny cockpit.

I am adding 2 rod holders on my 306 canyon. You never have too many rod holders. Their market is mostly family boating, not fisherman.

 

[Fixit]

28 ft CC with a 16 degree dead rise and a port side party door? I got a little excited to hear of a new 28ft Grady but I think they missed the mark. so not an offshore boat, is it supposed to be a sandbar cruiser?

 

[Renn987]

I agree partially, though I honestly don't think that they needed essentially a 21, 22 and 23 foot boat in a model that most people probably don't even consider buying. To me, it seems like that was the reasoning for cancelling the 226/228 Seafarer as well as 208 Adventure and making the 218 Adventure instead of having 3 "similar" sized walkaround models and essentially combining the two boats together. I think the better option imo, though I obviously have no idea about sales and numbers of boats GW sells, but that would be to have a walkaround size in between the 232 Gulfstream and the 300 Marlin. As you mentioned before, I'm sure that there are more than a handful of people out there that would like to buy a brand new 25'-28' walkaround Grady White. But, if one wanted a brand new walkaround in that size range, they'd either have to go with a 232 Gulfstream or all the way up to a 300 Marlin. Which the size as well as price difference between those two boats is going to be quite insane and probably to where most people will have to resort to a used Grady, if they wanted a walkaround in that size/price range. In a perfect world, I think the better option would've been to keep the 228 Seafarer as well as the 232 Gulfstream as it's a pretty big boat comparatively, and then done maybe another 270 Islander or 282 Sailfish. But I'm assuming GW did what they did because they weren't selling enough walkaround boats in that size range and it was strictly a dollars and cents type of decision. I will say though, that it seems like with the cancellation of the 228 Seafarer that it's increased the value of the used ones quite a bit as there is a pretty big crowd out there that really enjoy them, myself included.

Looking through older threads because I'm considering the 232 Gulfstream. Can't afford the Marlin, and was wondering why there wasn't enough demand for a model in between. Also planning to move soon to Seattle area for retirement.

The biggest drawback for me is the windshield that doesn't go up to the hardtop. Will most often want to stand at the helm and don't like looking through isinglass.

That problem is addressed by the Boston Whaler 285 Conquest, but it's as expensive as a Marlin.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Looking through older threads because I'm considering the 232 Gulfstream. Can't afford the Marlin, and was wondering why there wasn't enough demand for a model in between. Also planning to move soon to Seattle area for retirement.

The biggest drawback for me is the windshield that doesn't go up to the hardtop. Will most often want to stand at the helm and don't like looking through isinglass.

That problem is addressed by the Boston Whaler 285 Conquest, but it's as expensive as a Marlin.

I agree in part with the models. I'm assuming that GW likely wasn't selling enough units to justify continuing production of them. Which is interesting because the 282 Sailfish seems like a really popular model. Out here in the Seattle area/PNW, almost everyone has a walkaround style of boat for fishing in the Puget Sound as well as out in the open ocean. A few will have DC's/CC's, like my neighbor had a 235 Fisherman but he sold it because he rarely ever used the boat, and there are those kinds of boats seen in the rivers fishing or for water sports in the lakes. But, I'd say 90% of the boats out here are walkarounds. I'm guessing that with GW being an east coast boat company, that over the last 20 years their clientele must've changed up a bit. 20 years ago it seemed like there were just as many, if maybe not even more, walkaround models of Grady Whites out there. Then, there was a huge push to do DC's/CC's and to where there's now only 3 walkaround GW's left, 5 if you include the Express cabin models. In regard to the hardtop/windshield, it is kind of annoying while sitting down and having the top windshield trim right in your line of vision. That being said, I typically always stand up when cruising and the only time I sit down is when trolling for salmon. It's frustrating, but definitely a first world problem. Lastly, I have isinglass for my boat but have never installed it, I've just left it off for coming up on 5 seasons now. But yes, the Boston Whaler boats look great and I'm sure they make an awesome boat, but good lord almighty they're expensive.

 

[Renn987]

We're thinking alike. The boat won't be all fishing. Instead of extra seating / fishing platform in the bow, I'll appreciate a cabin, for the wife and for grandkids when they visit to have a chance to get out of the weather, and for lockable storage. I think I want the somewhat softer, quieter ride of fiberglass over aluminum. So far I've settled on a cuddy cabin walkaround, and the 232 Gulfstream ticks almost all the boxes for me, in the target price range. The windshield is the biggest negative -- a "first-world problem" indeed. In a couple days the wife and I are flying up for the Anacortes boat show, where Jacobson's has a Gulfstream on display. Should get more info then.

 

[luckydude]

There's a guy on here who, with his dad, has owned around 14 different Gradies and the 232 was his favorite.

As for the bar, consider doing what I did and replace the hardtop with a custom pilot house:

Thread 'Pulling the trigger on a pilot house on the 228'

Jan 9, 2024

To get rid of the bar that is right where I look when driving the boat and to able to look through glass when chasing tuna.

My hardtop is sold but the windshield will go up for sale at some point soon. Someone should jump on that, a friend sold his for a pile because apparently you can't source that windshield any more.

I'll post pics as we make progress. The guy doing it is Charlie Hicks, he's done several pilot houses for 228s in the SF Bay Area. I'm hopeful it will go well.

• luckydude
• Replies: 133
• Forum: General Discussion

• 

 

[Mustang65fbk]

We're thinking alike. The boat won't be all fishing. Instead of extra seating / fishing platform in the bow, I'll appreciate a cabin, for the wife and for grandkids when they visit to have a chance to get out of the weather, and for lockable storage. I think I want the somewhat softer, quieter ride of fiberglass over aluminum. So far I've settled on a cuddy cabin walkaround, and the 232 Gulfstream ticks almost all the boxes for me, in the target price range. The windshield is the biggest negative -- a "first-world problem" indeed. In a couple days the wife and I are flying up for the Anacortes boat show, where Jacobson's has a Gulfstream on display. Should get more info then.

The only boats that I can think of in the 22'-23' range that will have a full pilothouse would be a Parker 2320, Sea Sport, Defiance, Arima and so forth. I like the look of the Parker and the Defiance boats, but I've heard they can pound quite badly, especially if you get a Parker that's a modified vee as opposed to one that's a deep vee hull. I used to have a 21' Arima Sea Ranger with the skip top on it and loved the amount of fishing space on that boat. Unfortunately it was a very light boat, it would pound in the chop, the wind would cause the waves and spray to come up over the windshield and other windows and it just wasn't the right boat for me. They do make a hardtop version of the boat that is fully enclosed, but if you're over probably 5'10" or so, you won't be able to standup underneath the hardtop without smacking your head on it. I'm 6'2" tall and had to tilt my head to the side when I stood up inside of one, again it wasn't the right boat for me. I've heard Sea Sport makes a really nice boat, but I've heard that they're also quite expensive.

 

[Renn987]

The only boats that I can think of in the 22'-23' range that will have a full pilothouse would be a Parker 2320, Sea Sport, Defiance, Arima and so forth. I like the look of the Parker and the Defiance boats, but I've heard they can pound quite badly, especially if you get a Parker that's a modified vee as opposed to one that's a deep vee hull. I used to have a 21' Arima Sea Ranger with the skip top on it and loved the amount of fishing space on that boat. Unfortunately it was a very light boat, it would pound in the chop, the wind would cause the waves and spray to come up over the windshield and other windows and it just wasn't the right boat for me. They do make a hardtop version of the boat that is fully enclosed, but if you're over probably 5'10" or so, you won't be able to standup underneath the hardtop without smacking your head on it. I'm 6'2" tall and had to tilt my head to the side when I stood up inside of one, again it wasn't the right boat for me. I've heard Sea Sport makes a really nice boat, but I've heard that they're also quite expensive.

I have experience with a 25' Parker. Fine for inland fishing out of Dana Point. Maximized cockpit space, even with huge live well in the middle of the deck. Even had a a flybridge helm. They quit making the extended cabin, and the current Parker pilothouse is too small for alternative family use. It's not in the budget, but the Life Proof Full Cabin looks like a top tier aluminum boat. Lucky Dude's custom pilothouse is remarkable.

 

[Renn987]

There's a guy on here who, with his dad, has owned around 14 different Gradies and the 232 was his favorite.

As for the bar, consider doing what I did and replace the hardtop with a custom pilot house:

Thread 'Pulling the trigger on a pilot house on the 228'

Jan 9, 2024

To get rid of the bar that is right where I look when driving the boat and to able to look through glass when chasing tuna.

My hardtop is sold but the windshield will go up for sale at some point soon. Someone should jump on that, a friend sold his for a pile because apparently you can't source that windshield any more.

I'll post pics as we make progress. The guy doing it is Charlie Hicks, he's done several pilot houses for 228s in the SF Bay Area. I'm hopeful it will go well.

• luckydude
• Replies: 133
• Forum: General Discussion

• 

I had never seen a custom pilothouse on a GW walkaround. It's fantastic! I already e-mailed the Jacobson's rep in Edmonds, WA, and got a reply. He's seen similar in Puget Sound, and a couple of his friends have made windshield mods. He laments that GW does not offer a pilothouse option, especially for the PNW.

P.S. Eldest son (now 40) is a Banana Slug. Degree in physics. Good position with Facebook. It's his two kids, 5 and 3, I hope will be regular visitors after we move to Washington.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I have experience with a 25' Parker. Fine for inland fishing out of Dana Point. Maximized cockpit space, even with huge live well in the middle of the deck. Even had a a flybridge helm. They quit making the extended cabin, and the current Parker pilothouse is too small for alternative family use. It's not in the budget, but the Life Proof Full Cabin looks like a top tier aluminum boat. Lucky Dude's custom pilothouse is remarkable.

I guess that's where we differ as I just don't see the need to add a custom pilothouse to a GW for up here in the Puget Sound area. I'm admittedly much more of a fair-weather fisherman in that if it's freezing cold, there's 15+ mph winds, really bad chop, etc... I'm likely going to stay home for the day as the conditions aren't going to be very fun to go boating in, and it's going to make it that much more difficult to try and fish in. I generally launch my boat and put it on the mooring buoy in front of our beach cabin on Whidbey Island usually in late June or early July. Then I'll usually take it out at the end of September or early October, depending on when the fishing season ends and how the catch reports have been. With boating during those months and the Puget Sound being mostly protected waters, you don't get a ton of bad weather to where you need the protection of a pilothouse. I've been out in my boat a few times when the weather turned a bit nasty and never felt the need for it either as the hardtop keeps the rain out. Years ago with another boat, I did a winter black mouth fishing derby with a buddy out in Port Angeles where the temperatures were sub freezing and didn't have any issues, especially since our boats don't have heaters on them, unless you were to bring a buddy heater or something similar. I guess my point being that I don't see the need for the added expenditure for the kind of fishing/boating that I typically do, though your, as well as others, mileages may vary.

 

[Renn987]

I guess that's where we differ as I just don't see the need to add a custom pilothouse to a GW for up here in the Puget Sound area. I'm admittedly much more of a fair-weather fisherman in that if it's freezing cold, there's 15+ mph winds, really bad chop, etc... I'm likely going to stay home for the day as the conditions aren't going to be very fun to go boating in, and it's going to make it that much more difficult to try and fish in. I generally launch my boat and put it on the mooring buoy in front of our beach cabin on Whidbey Island usually in late June or early July. Then I'll usually take it out at the end of September or early October, depending on when the fishing season ends and how the catch reports have been. With boating during those months and the Puget Sound being mostly protected waters, you don't get a ton of bad weather to where you need the protection of a pilothouse. I've been out in my boat a few times when the weather turned a bit nasty and never felt the need for it either as the hardtop keeps the rain out. Years ago with another boat, I did a winter black mouth fishing derby with a buddy out in Port Angeles where the temperatures were sub freezing and didn't have any issues, especially since our boats don't have heaters on them, unless you were to bring a buddy heater or something similar. I guess my point being that I don't see the need for the added expenditure for the kind of fishing/boating that I typically do, though your, as well as others, mileages may vary.

I'm thinking the same for my own fishing. But I'm also wanting to maximize the comfort of the wife and little grandkids, cruising increasingly farther afield on day trips as they grow up over the next decade. I've been on the water in small boats while vacationing during summers in the PNW a half dozen or so times -- out of Shilshole Bay, Bainbridge Island, Friday Harbor, Vancouver, and Sonora Island BC. Have been to the PNW only once in winter and didn't get on a boat (not counting the Bainbridge ferry). Don't know if it makes sense to try to boat year round or whether I may as well pull the boat for dry storage October through March. Spoiled by SoCal weather, which I'm ready to trade for beautiful scenery. But I have no experience to understand possible unexpected changes of weather, wind and sea conditions even on days that start promising -- again, primarily not for me, but for the extended family.

Never yet been on Whidbey / Fidalgo Islands, but we will drive around there a bit from an Anacortes hotel this upcoming weekend. I like the idea of having access to the city but don't prefer to put up with living in the Seattle Metro. (I've enjoyed having access to LA for the past 45 years but never wanted to live closer than South Orange County -- and even less so lately, as LA has turned into a homeless $#!7hole.) I was attracted to Whidbey until reading about the Navy air bases. I have no understanding of jet noise in, e.g., Coupeville, and whether other areas are even affected, like Clinton. Hope later in 2025 to start renting somewhere up there -- location not yet determined.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I'm thinking the same for my own fishing. But I'm also wanting to maximize the comfort of the wife and little grandkids, cruising increasingly farther afield on day trips as they grow up over the next decade. I've been on the water in small boats while vacationing during summers in the PNW a half dozen or so times -- out of Shilshole Bay, Bainbridge Island, Friday Harbor, Vancouver, and Sonora Island BC. Have been to the PNW only once in winter and didn't get on a boat (not counting the Bainbridge ferry). Don't know if it makes sense to try to boat year round or whether I may as well pull the boat for dry storage October through March. Spoiled by SoCal weather, which I'm ready to trade for beautiful scenery. But I have no experience to understand possible unexpected changes of weather, wind and sea conditions even on days that start promising -- again, primarily not for me, but for the extended family.

Never yet been on Whidbey / Fidalgo Islands, but we will drive around there a bit from an Anacortes hotel this upcoming weekend. I like the idea of having access to the city but don't prefer to put up with living in the Seattle Metro. (I've enjoyed having access to LA for the past 45 years but never wanted to live closer than South Orange County -- and even less so lately, as LA has turned into a homeless $#!7hole.) I was attracted to Whidbey until reading about the Navy air bases. I have no understanding of jet noise in, e.g., Coupeville, and whether other areas are even affected, like Clinton. Hope later in 2025 to start renting somewhere up there -- location not yet determined.

My uncle used to think the same thing about boating... he wanted a 30'+ boat so that he could have the entire family out and fishing on it. I mentioned to him a couple of times while he was looking for a boat to buy that with different schedules and everything else, it's likely pretty rare that we'll ever have 5-6+ people out fishing on the boat with us. That was back in 2015 or so, and since then I think there's been maybe two times where we've had that many people out fishing with us. One of those times was last Labor Day weekend where we went out with 4 adults and 2 kids, and in my 228 Seafarer there wasn't any issue about not having enough room. Since then he's mentioned multiple times that he thinks my boat is the perfect size for being out on the sound. My neighbor at our cabin, who has a GW 270 Islander, mentioned that he bought that boat because of the size, that he wanted to take his kids and wife out in it. He's owned the boat for 4 years as well and he said his wife has been out with him once, and his kids maybe 2-3 times each. If the wife and grandkids are anything like most wives, kids and grandkids, I imagine they won't go out anywhere near as often as you think. Though, I could obviously be mistaken. In regards to Whidbey Island, we are down in Clinton and Oak Harbor is about a 45-60 minute drive away to where we don't ever hear the military jets flying over.

 

[Renn987]

My uncle used to think the same thing about boating... he wanted a 30'+ boat so that he could have the entire family out and fishing on it. I mentioned to him a couple of times while he was looking for a boat to buy that with different schedules and everything else, it's likely pretty rare that we'll ever have 5-6+ people out fishing on the boat with us. That was back in 2015 or so, and since then I think there's been maybe two times where we've had that many people out fishing with us. One of those times was last Labor Day weekend where we went out with 4 adults and 2 kids, and in my 228 Seafarer there wasn't any issue about not having enough room. Since then he's mentioned multiple times that he thinks my boat is the perfect size for being out on the sound. My neighbor at our cabin, who has a GW 270 Islander, mentioned that he bought that boat because of the size, that he wanted to take his kids and wife out in it. He's owned the boat for 4 years as well and he said his wife has been out with him once, and his kids maybe 2-3 times each. If the wife and grandkids are anything like most wives, kids and grandkids, I imagine they won't go out anywhere near as often as you think. Though, I could obviously be mistaken. In regards to Whidbey Island, we are down in Clinton and Oak Harbor is about a 45-60 minute drive away to where we don't ever hear the military jets flying over.

Thanks for your thoughts. With every decision a trade off, the 232 Gulfstream looks like the boat for me for the PNW. I'll use it a while before deciding on mods. Not interested in having a lot of people on board, and so don't want a Freedom, but do want something the wife and little kids can find comfortable. Puget Sound is going to be a whole new adventure (maybe my last big one -- based on how my Dad aged in his 80s, I probably don't have a lot longer than a good decade of vigor left). Don't know if longer island-hopping trips into the San Juans or beyond will be desirable in a 232, but it will be fun finding out.

 

[luckydude]

Thanks for your thoughts. With every decision a trade off, the 232 Gulfstream looks like the boat for me for the PNW. I'll use it a while before deciding on mods. Not interested in having a lot of people on board, and so don't want a Freedom, but do want something the wife and little kids can find comfortable. Puget Sound is going to be a whole new adventure (maybe my last big one -- based on how my Dad aged in his 80s, I probably don't have a lot longer than a good decade of vigor left). Don't know if longer island-hopping trips into the San Juans or beyond will be desirable in a 232, but it will be fun finding out.

I think you are making the right choice. I'd own a 232 if I could get it to my house but I can't. Narrow twisty road.

Be sure to get one with twin engines, much more pleasant to maneuver.