WTB Seafarer 226 or 228

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MarcM

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Good afternoon, I'm located in SWFL. My budget is under $40K. I'm looking for 1998 and newer. Repowered or not, no trailer, no problem.
Thanks
 
Are you willing to travel at all? If so, how far? I'm guessing that you're looking for a boat with a hardtop on it? If you're looking to potentially travel a bit for a boat, I'd look at the second link. If looking for a 226 Seafarer and don't mind traveling, I'd look at the third option, it also comes with a newer repower on it.



 
I'd like to keep it under 1000 miles. And yes, I definitely want a hardtop. I saw that one in Palmetto earlier.
Thanks a lot for the links!
 
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What's the concensus here between the 226 and 228?
I've read in a following sea or backing up the Grady drive becomes a problem. What are the pros and cons of each?
 
I think that's a bit of a rumor or hearsay. I've got a 2004 Grady White 228 Seafarer and have never really noticed any issues. That being said, I'm not trying to back down on game fish as fast as I can. I rarely ever use reverse unless I'm docking or pulling out of a dock, even then it's still not something that would deter me from buying a 228 Seafarer. I much prefer the fully enclosed transom with the transom bracket as opposed to a notched transom for a multitude of reasons, first would be you won't have the water intrusion in an enclosed transom, second would be safety and third would be more fishing space as well as an actual usable live well. If you're at all considering either or both, I'd actually step on both boats though and see what you think about them.
 
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With the 226 you have the much maligned transom bang cap and associated wet transoms. Unless length is an issue for storage etc, I don’t see any advantages of a 226 over a 228.
 
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The only real advantage of the 226 is that it will stay on plane at a lower speed than the 228. This can be important in rough seas. They both handle like crap during docking manuevers in general.
 
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Doc Stressor said:
The only real advantage of the 226 is that it will stay on plane at a lower speed than the 228. This can be important in rough seas. They both handle like crap during docking manuevers in general.
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This is definitely true. There is a reason no newer Grady’s have a bracket anymore. Only one left is the gulfstream model.
 
Summertop511 said:
This is definitely true. There is a reason no newer Grady’s have a bracket anymore. Only one left is the gulfstream model.
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I mean... I think it's more for other reasons as to why there aren't many Grady White's that have the transom bracket on it anymore as opposed to strictly the function of it alone. Imo, there's only 3 GW walkaround models left, 5 if you include the "Express" models, of which it seems to me like the biggest reason as to why there's essentially none with a transom bracket is because most people aren't boat shopping for a walkaround boat. 15-20 years ago GW had probably 3 times as many walkaround models as they currently have today as they seemed like more of a walkaround fishing boat company. Slowly over the years, that focus has shifted to Dual Consoles and Center Console models of boats, GW included. Now, GW has over 20 different versions of a DC/CC style of boat and as mentioned above, there's only 3 walkarounds, 5 if you include the Express models. They've gotten rid of the 208 Adventure, the 226/228 Seafarer, the 248/258 Journey, the 265 Express, the 270 Islander, the 282 Sailfish, etc. On top of that, a lot of people for some reason really seem to like the Euro style of transom and a lot of boats manufacturers are switching to this style. Not many people anymore really want the walkaround/enclosed style of cabin along with the enclosed transom and the transom bracket to allow for more fishing space and/or gear. Most want a boat they can fish and cruise in with the family, pull an inner tube with the kids on it, hang out at the sandbar all day, etc. That being said, of the walkaround variants, the 232 Gulfstream has been around for the longest, of which it is still offered for sale today and it still comes with the transom bracket on it. Which should speak a bit to its popularity, at least amongst the walkaround models of boats.
 
Mustang65fbk said:
I think that's a bit of a rumor or hearsay. I've got a 2004 Grady White 228 Seafarer and have never really noticed any issues. That being said, I'm not trying to back down on game fish as fast as I can. I rarely ever use reverse unless I'm docking or pulling out of a dock, even then it's still not something that would deter me from buying a 228 Seafarer. I much prefer the fully enclosed transom with the transom bracket as opposed to a notched transom for a multitude of reasons, first would be you won't have the water intrusion in an enclosed transom, second would be safety and third would be more fishing space as well as an actual usable live well. If you're at all considering either or both, I'd actually step on both boats though and see what you think about them.
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This true, there is less walk around cabin style Grady’s these day. Doesn’t change the fact after redesigned the seafarer and adventurer they decided to drop the bracket and make a longer swim platform on both sides of the motor. Sailfish started out as a bracket then euro then ended with today’s current Grady style stern.

Brackets are a pain at low speed maneuvering, brackets maintenance and special paint they need, no trim tab needed for lower speeds on plane, stays on plane in ocean rollers, and not to mention ton there is no way to get line wrapped around the prop of the prop.

For faster style cc the bracket or euro style is better for speed but on a heavy family boat Grady the bracket is not superior.

I owned the 226 specifically looked for one and test drove many 228’s while working as a kid at a marina plus I owned the bracket 206g overnighter. 1987.

The bracket always had the ass end of the boat way lower then mounted on the transom and overal liked the transom mount better as a whole.

Now for the bang plate and water intrusion is another topic but on my 226 and 282 I have replace the aluminum bang plate for the poly one they use today. Cleaned with acetone and resealed with 5200 underneath. Solid transoms.
 
Summertop511 said:
This true, there is less walk around cabin style Grady’s these day. Doesn’t change the fact after redesigned the seafarer and adventurer they decided to drop the bracket and make a longer swim platform on both sides of the motor. Sailfish started out as a bracket then euro then ended with today’s current Grady style stern.

Brackets are a pain at low speed maneuvering, brackets maintenance and special paint they need, no trim tab needed for lower speeds on plane, stays on plane in ocean rollers, and not to mention ton there is no way to get line wrapped around the prop of the prop.

For faster style cc the bracket or euro style is better for speed but on a heavy family boat Grady the bracket is not superior.

I owned the 226 specifically looked for one and test drove many 228’s while working as a kid at a marina plus I owned the bracket 206g overnighter. 1987.

The bracket always had the ass end of the boat way lower then mounted on the transom and overal liked the transom mount better as a whole.

Now for the bang plate and water intrusion is another topic but on my 226 and 282 I have replace the aluminum bang plate for the poly one they use today. Cleaned with acetone and resealed with 5200 underneath. Solid transoms.
Click to expand...

To each their own. I'd much rather have the extra fishing space on the 228 Seafarer as well as actually having a full sized live well, the added safety of a fully enclosed transom, transom bracket and so forth for passengers onboard the boat. I'm coming up on owning my boat for the 5th season, of which I've never noticed an issue going in reverse compared to any other boat that I've owned/operated before. Same goes for the boat supposedly sitting low in the stern, I've never had an issue with that, though I usually do keep a half tank or less of fuel in the boat and don't have it loaded down too heavily. I think the biggest reasons for owning the 228 over the 226 though would be the safety issues mentioned above, not having to deal with water intrusion through the bang cap/plate and I leave my boat on a mooring buoy sometimes unattended for a week or more straight, and for 3-4 months total during the summertime. I sleep much better at night having a boat out on the buoy with a fully enclosed transom as opposed to one with a notched out transom on it. I've had issues before with previous boats where the bow line gets wrapped up and the stern is facing the wind and the waves, where water is splashing overboard or coming in through the motor well. The fully enclosed transom almost prevents having that issue entirely. I can't speak to the Euro style of transom or those with the swim platforms as I don't ever see myself pulling someone on an inner tube or waterski, even though the boat could definitely do that if I wanted it to. But, the swim platform and the swim ladder are more than up to the task at hand and have considerably more square footage than a small swim platform on each side.
 
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