Newbie needs help please_FIRST boat- new vs. used GW?

[Rlloyd]

In terms of where to find a good used GW, I’d look hard at the Great Lakes region - a used freshwater boat is usually in much better shape than the same boat in the salt.

 

[jep1]

Here you go:

2010 Grady White Tournament 225 | Port of Egypt Marine

2010 Grady-White Tournament 225 Powered By A Yamaha F250 XCA Outboard With Only 140 Original Engine Hours! This Boat Was Purchased NEW By The Owner And Has Been Dealer Maintained Since That Time. Equipped With A Bow Cover, Cockpit Bolsters, Head W/Deck Pumpout, Livewell, Sun Platform Insert With...

www.poemarine.com

Thanks, I'll check it out!

 

[jep1]

Yes you can trim up the motor but at some point you will lose some control. That may or may not be an issue depending on things like wind and current.
There is also a limit to how much you can trim up before the prop ventilates and/or the motor starts sucking air instead of cooling water

Thanks, I'll have to factor that into my decision on how big to go!

 

[jep1]

In terms of where to find a good used GW, I’d look hard at the Great Lakes region - a used freshwater boat is usually in much better shape than the same boat in the salt.

Thank you, I had heard about the corrosion that can't be seen on salt water boats. It's one of the reasons I want to avoid Florida boats. Do you know of any safe websites for Great Lakes boats for sale or just craigslist/FB?

 

[jep1]

You said that you worked hard in order to be able to fish, so go ahead and put a good trolling motor on that boat, and use it to leave and approach the dock when the water is low.

That's a great idea!

 

[jep1]

Either way will work for you. Some things likely most repeats - get a good survey, check for water intrusion, check general conditions of gelcoat, hull (any damage or signs of repair), upholstery, any upgrades done, maintenance, how was it prepped and cared for prior to and during layup and finally maintenance records? You can tell a lot about the boat based on how it was maintained and looks.

Great advice, Thanks!

 

[jep1]

Keep in mind that if you frequently operate in low water, you should change the water pump/impeller more often...just sayin'

Will do, thanks so much!

 

[jep1]

Yes you can trim up the motor but at some point you will lose some control. That may or may not be an issue depending on things like wind and current.
There is also a limit to how much you can trim up before the prop ventilates and/or the motor starts sucking air instead of cooling water

That makes sense, thanks!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I spent just over a year trying to find a boat before I finally bought mine on the east coast, though I live in Seattle. A few easy ways to know if it's a scammer or not is by the price, in that if it's too good to be true then it likely is. Also, I always look at the pictures to see if the numbers on the side of the boat, or a license plate on the trailer, match the state it's supposed to be listed for sale in. If there's a boat that says CF for California and it's listed on the east coast, then it's very much likely a scam. There are definitely a few scammers on Craigslist, but they've even gone to the paid websites like Boat Trader and a few others as well. Another good way of telling is that most scammers are lazy and have one to two pictures on the posting with very minimal information, or information that's copied and pasted from the Grady White website or elsewhere. Obviously the guys that don't allow you to ever see the boat in person are a dead giveaway, and a lot are trying to get your personal or financial information to then bombard or spam your email address with. I'd make up a "burner" email address if you're responding to ads from guys you don't know, or you think might be a scam. That way, if they do hack your account or fill it with spam, you can delete it without any issues and there isn't any personal or private information on it. As mentioned above, any boat purchase I'd recommend a surveyor to come out and look at it with you or for you. Type into Google "nationally accredited marine surveyors" and you'll get the Marine Surveyors/NAMS websites to look at. It's well worth the less than $1k or so to have a boat surveyed, especially if the boat is at all close to the years where the Yamaha motors had the dry exhaust corrosion issues. I also believe that CL only lets you search for a certain range and I don't think you can search nationwide with them in only one search. I think it's their safety feature so that you don't potentially get scammed with out of state purchases. Here's a used. 2020 GW 215 Freedom for sale with a Yamaha F250 on it for $50k from Cannon's Marina, of which they also just so happen to be in Florida and a GW dealer as well. Good luck!

Grady-White Freedom 215 boats for sale - Boat Trader

Discover a vast collection of Grady-White Freedom 215 Boats for sale. Experience the thrill on the water today! Find your perfect vessel and start exploring.

www.boattrader.com

 

[jep1]

I spent just over a year trying to find a boat before I finally bought mine on the east coast, though I live in Seattle. A few easy ways to know if it's a scammer or not is by the price, in that if it's too good to be true then it likely is. Also, I always look at the pictures to see if the numbers on the side of the boat, or a license plate on the trailer, match the state it's supposed to be listed for sale in. If there's a boat that says CF for California and it's listed on the east coast, then it's very much likely a scam. There are definitely a few scammers on Craigslist, but they've even gone to the paid websites like Boat Trader and a few others as well. Another good way of telling is that most scammers are lazy and have one to two pictures on the posting with very minimal information, or information that's copied and pasted from the Grady White website or elsewhere. Obviously the guys that don't allow you to ever see the boat in person are a dead giveaway, and a lot are trying to get your personal or financial information to then bombard or spam your email address with. I'd make up a "burner" email address if you're responding to ads from guys you don't know, or you think might be a scam. That way, if they do hack your account or fill it with spam, you can delete it without any issues and there isn't any personal or private information on it. As mentioned above, any boat purchase I'd recommend a surveyor to come out and look at it with you or for you. Type into Google "nationally accredited marine surveyors" and you'll get the Marine Surveyors/NAMS websites to look at. It's well worth the less than $1k or so to have a boat surveyed, especially if the boat is at all close to the years where the Yamaha motors had the dry exhaust corrosion issues. I also believe that CL only lets you search for a certain range and I don't think you can search nationwide with them in only one search. I think it's their safety feature so that you don't potentially get scammed with out of state purchases. Here's a used. 2020 GW 215 Freedom for sale with a Yamaha F250 on it for $50k from Cannon's Marina, of which they also just so happen to be in Florida and a GW dealer as well. Good luck!

Grady-White Freedom 215 boats for sale - Boat Trader

Discover a vast collection of Grady-White Freedom 215 Boats for sale. Experience the thrill on the water today! Find your perfect vessel and start exploring.

www.boattrader.com

WOW!! Thanks so much for your sharing your time and knowledge with me! So much valuable information here that I will definitely put to use. I'll check the GW 215 at Cannon's Marina out today! Congratulations on finding your new Gray and hope you have many great memories!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

WOW!! Thanks so much for your sharing your time and knowledge with me! So much valuable information here that I will definitely put to use. I'll check the GW 215 at Cannon's Marina out today! Congratulations on finding your new Gray and hope you have many great memories!

Thanks! It was definitely a lot of work trying to find the boat and spending almost a year doing so to get the right one. I put offers down on a couple of boats, had a surveyor go out and inspect one that I didn't end up buying and so forth before I finally found mine. Then, I flew out to Maryland from Seattle, looked at my boat, put an offer down on it, sea trialed it and finally rented a U-Haul truck and trailered it back 3,009 miles across the country. Was fun, though I've done it three times total now and I'm not sure if I'd do it again anytime soon. Caught lots of salmon and crab up at our beach cabin on Whidbey Island last summer, hopefully this year we have the same luck! Good luck with checking out the boat, let us know how it goes and if you move forward with it.

 

[jep1]

Great story and pictures. There's nothing like fresh salmon! I was in Seattle one time for a 7 day conference. The hotel was literally across the street from the airport. We had lectures all day everyday for 10 hours-brutal but I have great memories because I ate the best Salmon twice a day every day for the entire week! Gotta get back there and take a look around your beautiful Pacific Coast and catch me some salmon!!

 

[luckydude]

Go to google and type in what you are looking for like so

Grady-White Freedom 215 site:craigslist.org

and you will get nationwide search results.

Go to the menu and find time and change it to be the last week or last month to get rid of old crud.

 

[jep1]

Go to google and type in what you are looking for like so

Grady-White Freedom 215 site:craigslist.org

and you will get nationwide search results.

Go to the menu and find time and change it to be the last week or last month to get rid of old crud.

I'll try it. Thanks!

 

[Fishtales]

Northern boats usually have better gel coat as the vast majority are wrapped or covered in the winter months. I've seen some 5 year old Fl boats that look like 10 year olds.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Agreed... I was looking at a few Grady's down in Florida during the search for my boat and pretty much all of them had some pretty intensive spider cracking, I'm assuming from the heat and moisture. A few others looked like they had some hurricane damage and so forth, which I was really fortunate to be able to find my boat in Maryland.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Great story and pictures. There's nothing like fresh salmon! I was in Seattle one time for a 7 day conference. The hotel was literally across the street from the airport. We had lectures all day everyday for 10 hours-brutal but I have great memories because I ate the best Salmon twice a day every day for the entire week! Gotta get back there and take a look around your beautiful Pacific Coast and catch me some salmon!!

Indeed! Love salmon fishing along with halibut, crabbing and even shrimping... though the season for that is extremely limited. Did you take a look at that boat yesterday?

 

[jep1]

Agreed... I was looking at a few Grady's down in Florida during the search for my boat and pretty much all of them had some pretty intensive spider cracking, I'm assuming from the heat and moisture. A few others looked like they had some hurricane damage and so forth, which I was really fortunate to be able to find my boat in Maryland.

So true, but it's really the boats going offshore in the saltwater (salt = corrosion) that differ drastically to those kept in the freshwater bays. People also go out nearly year round over here because of the milder temperatures. So yes, a lot more sun exposure too!

 

[sturgstev]

I have the same boat and year as Mustange65 and live here in Cal - fish and game just cancelled salmon season for 2023. Caught some last year.

Will have to target halibut along with everyone else.

Good luck on your boat search.

steve

 

[luckydude]

I have the same boat and year as Mustange65 and live here in Cal - fish and game just cancelled salmon season for 2023. Caught some last year.

Will have to target halibut along with everyone else.

And sole and and sable fish and rockies and lings. And bluefin if they come back and albacore up at Fort Bragg. And crab. And maybe we learn (or I learn) how to target white seabass. No salmon sucks, I feel it, but it's not like the ocean has nothing else.

Tight lines out there, if you launch out of Moss or Santa Cruz lets do a 2 boat launch some day.