WTB Seafarer 228, 2000-20016

vachaj

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A few thoughts on the matter... I'd been looking for a 1998 and newer Grady White 228 Seafarer for just over a year before I finally found my boat back in Deale, MD from a dealership called Tri State Marine. I'd owned a boat before called a 21' Arima Sea Ranger that had a skip top on it. For the Puget Sound, it was a decent boat with lots of fishing room but it wasn't anything compared to a Grady White after going on the sea trial run and purchasing my Seafarer. The Grady is 100x the boat that the Arima was/is, a much more comfortable ride, not as wet of a ride either and just an all around better built boat. I sold my Arima for $27,500 and bought my Grady White for $26,500 so I actually saved some money and upgraded to a tremendously better boat. I live in Seattle and the same boat as mine just sold out here on the local Craigslist for $55k, although it did have a few more options than mine has, like radar, a kicker motor and newer electronics. I also don't think those things combined are worth more than $5k total, or so, and I'd value my boat to be in the high $40k's to low $50k's, but again I only paid $26.5k for the boat motor and trailer. Anyway, in terms of pricing... I bought my Arima in 2017 and after a couple months fishing on it I realized I wanted something much better, bigger and more comfortable. So I've been looking off and on at Grady White 228 Seafarer's for years and have yet to see one as new and nice as mine sell for under $25k. To make a long story short, I think you'll be very hard pressed to find one as new as the one you put an offer down on for under $25k, and sure as heck ain't going to find one for $20k... even in 2 years, in my opinion. These boats hold their value incredibly well, especially out on the west coast and the Pacific Northwest, and yours being a 2006 with an asking price of $40k without a trailer, hardtop, kicker motor, radar or anything else really just proves what people are willing to pay for them.

I think that if you waited another month or two - January or February - that you'll see the prices dip down maybe even a bit further, but come spring time, they're just going to jump right up again to where they were, at least that's my opinion. Other matters you mentioned above would be the hardtop... I'm 6'2" tall and my uncle is around 6'5" yet neither one of us have ever hit our head underneath on the hardtop when standing or fishing. I think the hardtop is great if you're like me and very fair skin with a light complexion and sunburn rather easily. I love that it will keep you out of the elements like the sun, rain, sometimes even snow if you fish year round, and I think the biggest thing is that it looks better than the bimini top as well as increases the value of the boat in regards to resale value. Most guys want the hardtop as opposed to a bimini top and you'll likely get a much broader range of potential buyers interested in a hardtop if/when you go to sell the boat, and it'll bring more money. The canvas curtains/isinglass also keep out the rain and other elements, as well as the hardtop giving you extra weight in the mid/front section of the boat for better weight distribution and oftentimes can help with better ride comfort. Lastly, in regards to the hardtop it'll give you a spot to put radar, should you want it, or should the potential next buyer want it, should you go and sell the boat. If you have a bimini top and want radar then you'll need a radar arch, which can be costly, and I think looks out of place compared to the standard hardtop. My uncle's previous boat had radar on it and yes, we only used it a handful of times or so, and most of those were for "practice" if it were to become foggy or to familiarize yourself with the equipment. That being said, there were probably 2 times out of the handful where the fog was incredibly thick and you couldn't see more than oh maybe 25' in front of you or so. And at that point, I was very much appreciative that we had radar as well as a brand new GPS/chartplotter as I would've gotten lost without it. Because of that, I'll likely be getting radar for my boat here before the summer, even though it doesn't really "need" it and although I'd likely rarely ever use it. That being said, it's worth the $1k - $1.5k investment, imo, and is only going to increase the value of the boat as well.

In regards to the engine... the lower unit issue is something that can't be seen from the outside of the motor. It's called a dry exhaust corrosion issue, and it effects the inside of the motor where you need to drop the lower unit, look up inside the motor and see if it's rusted out, pitted or so on. This can be done very quickly, within an hour or less if you have a surveyor/inspector or take it to a shop and have it inspected there. Most of the time, and I repeat ... most of the time, you can tell if there's an issue because the seller will be hesitant about having a surveyor/inspector look over the boat/motor, or they won't want to take it for a sea trial run or just avoid any questions about the motor altogether as they generally know of the issue. And is likely one of the reasons why they're selling the boat. Oftentimes you can also tell of the issue by starting up the motor, especially if you're actually in the water, and seeing if you get any overheating alarms, if it won't get up to WOT or full speed, if there's any smoking or so on. Any decent surveyor/inspector should know about the potential issue as it's very common and a very well known issue. Tri State is a Grady White dealership and they said that they scoped the motor on my boat, also combined with a great sea trial run, I bought the boat without a surveyor to inspect it. Which is the first time I'd done so as surveyors at the time were 2-3 weeks out and I couldn't wait that long being that it was an out of state purchase. So, I "rolled the dice" so to speak but when I got the boat back home I had the local GW dealership drop the lower unit to double check when I had the boat in for it's winterization and they said "it looked perfect."

Good luck with your purchase, hopefully it's what you want and there's a favorable survey/inspection, as well as the motor not having the dry exhaust corrosion issue. I guess from my standpoint, I don't know what your offer is but my boat is only 2 years older, a 2004, and also came with a hardtop, trailer, the nicer rear seat cushions and so forth but I only paid $26.5k for it. Yeah, you don't need a trailer because you already have one but that's something you could've potentially gotten with the boat, sold it separately and made some of your money back. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, based off what I paid for mine and what came with it compared to yours, I wouldn't be spending anywhere near that kind of money for it. And I honestly mean no offense. That being said, your boat does have a Yamaha 250 vs mine which is only a Yamaha 225, but I don't really care about top speed and mostly use my boat to troll for salmon. I think yours has a leg up on mine in that regard being that is has the bigger motor, but to pay what I'm only guessing is likely $10k more for a boat with a slightly bigger motor, 2 years newer, but doesn't come with a trailer, hardtop, kicker motor or anything else... makes me think there's a reason why it's been for sale for as long as it's been for sale for. Again, I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, I've just paid very close attention to Grady White 228 Seafarers for years, and I think there are much better deals out there to be had. But, if you like the boat and it's what you want, for a price that you're comfortable paying, then by all means... it's your money, spend it how you want to spend it. Good Luck with the potential purchase!
Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the time it took you to write all of your thoughts up. Still in the process of buying the boat. Hull inspection passed. This coming week it will probably get dropped in the water for a sea trial and we will complete the inspection.

I prefer faster top end for me (and can never have to much power) and the hard top doesn't matter but everyone has their own view on these things. I am also more of a klutz than most people (related to hard top) That is why Grady probably offered it both ways!

My thinking is that in two to three years, everyone who bought boats over the last year is going to decide they can't afford the upkeep and the market is going to be flooded with boats. Manufacturers will also eventually start meeting demand or will overcompensate. This will all force prices down. The Seafarer may be a bit of an exception as people want them and Grady stopped making them. We'll see. I don't plan to sell for 10 to 15 years though so that is really irrelevant to me. Radar is definitely good for fog or even looking for birds or other boats but not worth it to me for once every 25 years. (literally, I have been caught in fog once in 25 years).

Is there some reason I would need a kicker motor? I have trolled for years on Grady White Seafarers and it was never an issue. Is that what it is used for? What is the advantage?

Jeff
 

vachaj

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Also, what's your concern about the 228 vs the 226? I know that some prefer the 226 for reasons of "handling better" although I'm honestly not sure what that means or what sort of "evidence" they have for claiming that, other than it just being subjective. I've never personally driven a 226 before but I like the 228 for several reasons... most of which would be not having the notched out transom while out on our mooring buoy in front of my beach cabin for weeks/months at a time. I'm sure it likely wouldn't be an issue, knock on wood, but I don't like the idea of the motor just chilling on the back of the boat and not having a motor well to stop any potential waves or water from coming into the cockpit area, especially if the boat got turned around in a storm. I have a 6 year old niece and older parents in their 70's and the idea of having a boat with a notched out transom is a bit unnerving. I love the idea of having the extended transom bracket to extend the boat's overall length, you have the swim platform for ease of climbing into the boat if God forbid you were to fall overboard or had people waterskiing/inner tubing behind the boat. You can also use the swim platform to net fish on, strap a cooler to and it gives the 228 more fishing space imo with the live well there as opposed to the flip down cutting board on the 226. It also gives you a live well as mentioned above for bait, being able to use it as a cooler if you don't need it for bait, in that you can put ice in there as well as food, water and other beverages. Or even smaller sized fish/crab. To me, I think the benefits of having the 228 with the transom bracket far outweigh the "cons" of some claiming it doesn't handle as good as the 226 does, or that it's harder to go in reverse with the transom bracket compared to the 226. Those are things that I can gladly live with for the added benefits that the 228 provides.
Thanks for the thoughts here. I can see your issue with the notched transom and a little one. I wouldn't want that. I do like being able to pull fish over the open transom and the boat being a little shorter. In the 1987 Seafarer I fished on a long time, waves would come over the transom at times and you would have to throw up the wall and it would drain. In hindsight, that probably wasn't great for the boat as some of that salt water eventually ended up in the bilge. After years, everything probably wasn't sealed perfectly It never felt like a safety issue or anything from a water coming over perspective. I look forward to seeing how the 228 works out and having the bait well is nice. Honestly, I really wanted this boat to be 20 to 22 feet but I just couldn't buy the Adventure as I wanted better performance in the ocean and the ones I saw just seemed too small in the back. So the 228 is just adding more length to me over my length budget! The 228 is clearly much larger than 20 to 22 feet.

Jeff
 

vachaj

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Hi Jeff, congrats on putting in an offer on this boat. I seriously considered it myself, but two things stopped me - well three things. First, I am from CA so CT as a ways to travel to get the boat. Second - no trailer, and I store my boat in my shop building so I need a trailer to get it home and then take it to the water and back. Third - while the pics don't show it, I assume this boat has bottom paint, and I also don't need that or want to maintain it. Mustang 65 has good points on his guidance above and has been very helpful to me looking at other boats. Who knows what prices are going to do in the future, but I am guessing they are not going to go down much. It seems these are popular boats and if they are priced right, they sell. Boats a couple years younger than this one jump to $50-60K range, and low hour boats are closer to 100-120K. New they were 140K and above. This boat has some hours on it (over 600) but that is not even half of what they say gets you into territory where major work can be expected (1200-1500 from what I have read). The 2006 boats should also have much better resistance to wood rot, also according to what I have read about GW reducing and eliminating wood in substructures. If you don't need or want a T-top, a bimini should serve you just fine - it is what I currently have on my Sunbird and works great. But as Mustang says, if you want a radar, it's the way to go. Also helps with outriggers - gets them out of the way and above your head. Do a water trial and survey, scope the exhaust for corrosion issues and you should be well protected in buying this boat. Good luck and keep us posted!

CA is a long way to buy a boat. I bought my last boat in FL and I am in NJ and that was too far.

The boat does have bottom paint. Even though that is painful too me (I hate bottom paint), it is a necessary evil keeping the boat in the water in NJ. My last boat I was all excited about not having bottom paint. It looked beautiful. This until I saw how much it cost to bottom paint it the first time. I'd rather have it done than even go through the pain of watching them sand/destroy a good hull and paint it. i just need to make sure the paint doesn't need to be blasted off or anything.

Thanks for the thoughts. I'll let everyone know how this goes over the next week or two.

Jeff
 

vachaj

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It's somewhat difficult to tell from the pictures, and since the boat is in the water, but if you look at the 8th picture of the boat on the Boat Trader website that shows the entire front/bow section of the boat... you'll see a couple inches up from the water line that the boat does in fact have bottom paint on it. Some people love bottom paint, some don't... I'd prefer not to have it and not to have to re-paint it every couple of years but it's what my boat came with and is next to impossible and/or very expensive to have reversed. And with the price that I paid for my boat, I'll simply deal with it. There's a 2020 on Boat Trader here at a local GW dealer Jacobsen's Marine in Edmonds that just sold and was listed for $120k, which I thought would've sold quicker in that it only had like 30 hours on it. I had my boat in there a couple of weeks ago for a winterization and saw it when I was in there dropping it off and picking it back up again. The dealer told me the seller paid $140k for it the year before, which is crazy that it dropped over $20k in just over a year... although they don't make the 228 Seafarer anymore and it is December. So maybe if they'd waited until spring or summer of next year, they might've gotten a few bucks more for it? Either way, yes... these boats are very popular and during the winter you can sometimes find a fair deal on some of them, but I don't think that they're going to be in the low $20k's anytime soon. The ones that are a good deal, or even a great deal, typically don't last more than a day or so. I was looking at a 2001 GW 228 Seafarer back in Virginia that I think they had listed for $26k on Craigslist and it sold within a day. Others that are great deals or are similarly priced typically won't last more than a couple of days at most. But yes, I think it'll be 5+ years before you see the 2000 and newer 228 Seafarers consistently down in the $25k range, or less. And that's on the east coast, on the west coast they're still selling for $50k or more.
Yes.. The good ones go fast. There was one in Delaware in the fall I believe that was a 2016 for around $75k. 228 also with a 300hp. I called a day after it was posted and the dealer told me some guy called within like an hour of it posting and sent them cash without looking at it. That is the market we deal with. I think I just timed this one right with someone else falling through on the purchase.

Why the huge prices on the west coast?
Jeff
 

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Thanks for the feedback! I appreciate the time it took you to write all of your thoughts up. Still in the process of buying the boat. Hull inspection passed. This coming week it will probably get dropped in the water for a sea trial and we will complete the inspection.

I prefer faster top end for me (and can never have to much power) and the hard top doesn't matter but everyone has their own view on these things. I am also more of a klutz than most people (related to hard top) That is why Grady probably offered it both ways!

My thinking is that in two to three years, everyone who bought boats over the last year is going to decide they can't afford the upkeep and the market is going to be flooded with boats. Manufacturers will also eventually start meeting demand or will overcompensate. This will all force prices down. The Seafarer may be a bit of an exception as people want them and Grady stopped making them. We'll see. I don't plan to sell for 10 to 15 years though so that is really irrelevant to me. Radar is definitely good for fog or even looking for birds or other boats but not worth it to me for once every 25 years. (literally, I have been caught in fog once in 25 years).

Is there some reason I would need a kicker motor? I have trolled for years on Grady White Seafarers and it was never an issue. Is that what it is used for? What is the advantage?

Jeff
Congrats on the boat passing the hull inspection, but the biggest issue in my opinion is typically the motor, especially a motor of that vintage. Have you had it inspected for the dry exhaust corrosion issue yet? If not, I'd start there before doing a sea trial run or wasting anymore of your time or money on something that could potentially have that as an issue. The boat could still potentially pass a sea trial inspection yet still have the dry exhaust corrosion issue or having it just starting and be a potentially bigger issue in the future. I think there's definitely such thing as too much power where the extra weight of the outboard and the power it produces makes the stern sit too low in the water and thus hurts fuel economy and performance. We were talking about this in another thread about a 208 Adventure and where the 150 Yamaha isn't really enough power for the boat yet the 250 Yamaha is somewhat overkill and gets worse performance numbers than the 200 Yamaha. I don't see the reason to pay more for a bigger motor that will get you worse performance and fuel economy than saving the money to buy a smaller motor that will get you better mpg/gph for fuel burned. To me, Grady White's aren't speed boats and if I wanted a speed boat or to get every bit of performance that I can out of a boat, then I'd likely go with another boat manufacturer altogether. That being said, the majority of what I do is trolling for salmon, crabbing, drifting for halibut or shrimping. The rest of the time I just enjoy being on the boat and cruising with my family or friends. Unless the water is like glass, very rarely do I ever feel the desire to go balls to the wall and see what is the fastest I can go in my boat. And if I do, it's for a very short period of time.

In regards to the kicker motor... I've never run a kicker motor before because as stated above, the majority of what I do is trolling for salmon or drift fishing. And I can do all of those things on my main motor without having to pay for the added cost and maintenance of another outboard. Plus, unless you have the throttle/steering controls for kicker motor up at the helm, you're going to have to sit on the back of the stern. Which isn't very comfortable and with a windshield/hardtop on my boat, it makes it much more difficult for you to see other boats, logs or obstructions in the water. I don't have a kicker motor for several reasons, a few of which are listed above, but I do 99% of my fishing in relatively protected waters and do have towing for my boat out on the water included in my insurance policy. So, if I did have an issue where I needed to be towed back in, knock on wood, I'd just drift and wait for them to come pick me up. I also have several neighbors up at my beach cabin that I could call and have them likely come tow me back in as well, if need be. I've owned 3 different boats now over a period of almost 10 years, and fished my uncle's/parent's boats before then, and knock on wood, have never needed to be towed back in. And hopefully it doesn't ever come to that. But as stated, I have towing insurance if it does happen, or a quick call to a neighbor will likely solve the issue as well. A lot of guys like using them to keep the hours off their main motor or to have just in case their main motor won't start up or breaks down. If my boat came with one, I'd likely sell it and use the money to help offset some of the costs of purchasing the boat in the first place, or put the money to better use like with newer electronics, fishing gear and so on.
 
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Mustang65fbk

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Yes.. The good ones go fast. There was one in Delaware in the fall I believe that was a 2016 for around $75k. 228 also with a 300hp. I called a day after it was posted and the dealer told me some guy called within like an hour of it posting and sent them cash without looking at it. That is the market we deal with. I think I just timed this one right with someone else falling through on the purchase.

Why the huge prices on the west coast?
Jeff
I feel like I did the same thing with my boat but I think the biggest thing with it was that all of the for sale ads of my boat, the main image that you saw had the wrong boat in the picture. I bought my boat back in Maryland from a Grady White dealer called Tri State Marine and when they posted my boat on BoatTrader.com, they had the wrong boat as the main picture. Which was of I believe a 205 GW Tournament that they also had for sale at the time. I first saw my boat for sale on BoatTrader.com and noticed it was a "2004 Grady White 228 Seafarer" but obviously the profile picture wasn't of a 228 Seafarer and figured it was a typo. I was about to pass on it altogether but was curious to see what kind of boat it actually was, when to my surprise it was actually a 228 Seafarer. I double checked it by checking out Tri State Marine's website and they had the same for sale post but with the correct pictures for the same price. I called right away on it but didn't tell them about the incorrect photo as they said they only did business in person and not over the phone, which is another reason that I think I got the boat before someone else did. Even though the boat had been listed for around 2 weeks at the time where I finally left Maryland and started driving back to Seattle. The sales rep said they'd had a few phone calls on it but that I was the only one who had come to look at the boat in person, and I think after two weeks of trying to sell it, they were looking to get rid of it.

I think the best answer for "Why the huge prices on the west coast?" would be partially because of the limited supply and demand. There is, I believe, only one Grady White dealer in the states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho... and maybe others. I don't think there is another Grady White dealer one until you get into central or southern California but they're fantastic boats with a great reputation, so when they do come up for sale, they tend to bring a premium. Currently there's a handful of them on Craigslist and half of those are dealers that are advertising boats that they have for sale. With Grady White boats being made out in North Carolina, I think it probably also costs a bit more to have them shipped out here as well as a bit more goes toward dealer mark up. On top of that, I think the other aspect would be that everything costs quite a bit more out in the Seattle area as well as the west coast in general. The Seattle area, as well as the west coast in general, have some of the highest taxes in the country, as well as the highest prices for homes, vehicles, gasoline, utilities, liquor and so on. I think it just goes without being said that if everything else costs an arm and a leg out here, that boats aren't going to be any different. Which is exactly why I look for boats on the east coast, because I don't want to spend $55k on a boat when I can buy essentially the same one for $26.5k. Even if it costs me a few thousand dollars to trailer it back to Seattle, I'm still almost $30k ahead of the game in terms of money saved.
 

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I will just add Jeff that where I live in CA we don't have a tow service, so it's up to you or a good Samaritan to get back in if your main motor won't start. And as Mustang mentioned above, my mechanic suggested I do all trolling on the kicker - keep the hours off the big motor (plus he says the big motors aren't designed for long hours at troll speed. I do have a steering link and can set the trolling speed on the motor and it will hold.

Happy New Year everyone!
 
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Here on the Island I believe about 90% of the boats I see on the tack are running kickers. Yes its does keep trolling hours off the main, but also as KEZ mentioned, here we don't have a tow service I know of. In the winter months fishing can be a lonely venture with no other boat to be seen. I have always had a kicker.......thankfully have never needed it for back up to get me home. The maintenance on a T8 is quick and easy, under an hour approx. once a year. Yes more weight on the stern, but balanced with two batteries on the opposite side works great. Just my 2 bits from 50 years of flotin and botin.
 

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Here on the Island I believe about 90% of the boats I see on the tack are running kickers. Yes its does keep trolling hours off the main, but also as KEZ mentioned, here we don't have a tow service I know of. In the winter months fishing can be a lonely venture with no other boat to be seen. I have always had a kicker.......thankfully have never needed it for back up to get me home. The maintenance on a T8 is quick and easy, under an hour approx. once a year. Yes more weight on the stern, but balanced with two batteries on the opposite side works great. Just my 2 bits from 50 years of flotin and botin.
Good point about balancing with the batteries - my first boat had them both on the starboard side and there was a definite starboard lean to the boat, especially without a passenger to balance the captain at the helm. Current boat has batteries and kicker on opposite sides - MUCH better!!
 

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I've never understood my boat manufacturers don't offset the weight of the batteries and put them more in the center of the boat..? On top of that, I wonder why they don't put them up in an elevated position of make watertight battery boxes for them? I think it would be much more advantageous having dual batteries underneath the captain's and passenger's seats, or I guess one on each side. That way, they're in the center of the boat to distribute out the weight a little bit but they'd also not be sitting in about the lowest, furthest rearward part of the boat possible. So... if your boat were to take on water, hopefully the scuppers start to drain it out and aren't clogged because it seems to me that where the batteries are currently on these boats, that it's the first place water is going to go as well and short circuit the batteries so you can't run the bilges. I'm sure placing batters underneath the captain's and passenger's seats wouldn't make the batteries or cables as accessible, but I think I'd rather have them there for the wait distribution and to not short out if the boat were to take on water.
 

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Not sure but I would guess they put the batteries towards the transom for a smoother ride - if the boat is bouncing off waves, it is the bow of the boat that takes the worst beating and you would want the batteries to reside in the stern to give them the smoothest possible ride. In my current boat, the batteries are sitting at deck-level, so the water would have to be pretty deep to get to the top of the batteries. And the hull does have floatation built in - not sure how deep the water would be if it was fully scuttled - and hope I never find out!
 

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Not sure but I would guess they put the batteries towards the transom for a smoother ride - if the boat is bouncing off waves, it is the bow of the boat that takes the worst beating and you would want the batteries to reside in the stern to give them the smoothest possible ride. In my current boat, the batteries are sitting at deck-level, so the water would have to be pretty deep to get to the top of the batteries. And the hull does have floatation built in - not sure how deep the water would be if it was fully scuttled - and hope I never find out!
It's interesting because on my 21' Arima they were at deck level as well as the only thing below that was the bilge area but you couldn't fit more than a bilge pump in there and barely a hand or two to remove or replace it. Interestingly enough, the Arima also has foam pumped into it but my boat had an issue with one of the plastic drain tubes from the motor-well that was broken and leaking water down into the bilge. I had 3 separate occasions where the neighbor's up at my cabin would call my parents or myself and say that my boat looked like it was taking on water. The last time I went out there, there was probably 6" or so of standing water in the boat, and with all of the weight in the rear, it got almost to the tops of the two batteries. Luckily the batteries were still operable and I could then use them to pump out the water, as well as using a 5 gallon bucket. Which is frustrating though, because if boat manufacturers put the batters more in the center of the boat and elevated up off the deck, it doesn't seem like you'd ever have to worry about them getting submerged. Unless of course the boat flipped over or was completely filled with water. Luckily the boat had flotation though, as well as the neighbors calling when they did because it didn't do any damage to the motor, batteries or anything else, though it could've been much, much worse. Which is about the only thing that keeps me awake at night over the Grady White's, being the self-bailing deck with the scuppers. It seems like if the scuppers didn't seal correctly and were at or near the water line, then it could make for some serious potential issues.
 

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It's interesting because on my 21' Arima they were at deck level as well as the only thing below that was the bilge area but you couldn't fit more than a bilge pump in there and barely a hand or two to remove or replace it. Interestingly enough, the Arima also has foam pumped into it but my boat had an issue with one of the plastic drain tubes from the motor-well that was broken and leaking water down into the bilge. I had 3 separate occasions where the neighbor's up at my cabin would call my parents or myself and say that my boat looked like it was taking on water. The last time I went out there, there was probably 6" or so of standing water in the boat, and with all of the weight in the rear, it got almost to the tops of the two batteries. Luckily the batteries were still operable and I could then use them to pump out the water, as well as using a 5 gallon bucket. Which is frustrating though, because if boat manufacturers put the batters more in the center of the boat and elevated up off the deck, it doesn't seem like you'd ever have to worry about them getting submerged. Unless of course the boat flipped over or was completely filled with water. Luckily the boat had flotation though, as well as the neighbors calling when they did because it didn't do any damage to the motor, batteries or anything else, though it could've been much, much worse. Which is about the only thing that keeps me awake at night over the Grady White's, being the self-bailing deck with the scuppers. It seems like if the scuppers didn't seal correctly and were at or near the water line, then it could make for some serious potential issues.
Yeah, that is one reason I have always trailered my boats - not as convenient as leaving it on a dock or buoy but certainly does relieve the worries about leaks!
 

Mustang65fbk

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Another 228 just popped up on Boat Trader's website today. Looks like a clean boat and nicely maintained, although it doesn't come with a trailer, if you needed one.

 

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And I have some good news to report! I contacted PopYachts about the Miami boat and they confirmed that the listing had expired. I had spent a good deal of time yesterday trying to find the boat on other listings (Craigslist, local dealers, etc) with no luck. But the broker said they could still take an offer to the seller if I wanted. I Had planned to wait until the end of the month and offer $63-64 but given the listing is no longer valid, I thought I might only get one shot at the seller again before he said ENOUGH with this guy! Knowing the Maryland boat (2009 with bottom paint and no trailer) is under contract for $64, I decided to go ahead and offer $65 and it was accepted. I have a surveyor identified, he should be able to get to it in about a week, and I will be taking off driving on the 20th to get there by the 25th, do an water trial and close the deal by the drop dead date of 31st. If for any reason I don't like the boat I get my deposit back in full. Surveyor will do the exhaust inspection just to be safe but thinks that with a 2008 motor on a trailered boat, we should be plenty fine on that. Will keep you posted but I am pretty happy about that boat - it is the one I have liked the most, even though the price was a little high. Champaign time!
Congrats! Hopefully everything goes as according to plan with the inspection, sea trial run and getting it safely back home. Cheers!
 

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Well I have been on the hunt for a seafarer for a while now, I also currently own an Arima 19' I repowered last year and out of Oregon. I put a deposit on one of the Grady's mentioned from the first thread from VA with the 200HPDI. I wanted to find a boat to repower and this one certainly fits this criteria, the plan is to replace with a new Yamaha 250 which I just found one locally that I put a hold on. At the end of the day this one has a brand new trailer, and I'll be into the boat at a total of $60K with transport. This may seem like a lot but after selling my 21' North River aluminum boat and the crazy prices for an equivalent ocean going hardtop boat this is a deal to me and the Grady is an actual ocean boat! I don't plan to sell the Arima and I'll use the Grady as an ocean boat mostly. I do plan to put a 9.9 kicker on it as well. Cheers!
 

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Well I have been on the hunt for a seafarer for a while now, I also currently own an Arima 19' I repowered last year and out of Oregon. I put a deposit on one of the Grady's mentioned from the first thread from VA with the 200HPDI. I wanted to find a boat to repower and this one certainly fits this criteria, the plan is to replace with a new Yamaha 250 which I just found one locally that I put a hold on. At the end of the day this one has a brand new trailer, and I'll be into the boat at a total of $60K with transport. This may seem like a lot but after selling my 21' North River aluminum boat and the crazy prices for an equivalent ocean going hardtop boat this is a deal to me and the Grady is an actual ocean boat! I don't plan to sell the Arima and I'll use the Grady as an ocean boat mostly. I do plan to put a 9.9 kicker on it as well. Cheers!

I’m assuming that you’re talking about the 2001 Grady White 228 Seafarer in Richmond for $35k? If so, a few thoughts on the matter from someone that just bought a 2004 GW 228 Seafarer back in early October after looking for over a year would be… unless you’re buying the boat for under $30k your total cost involved is going to be over $60k… at least from what I can see. I’ve seen this particular boat for sale since I believe late this last summer so I’m assuming you’re not paying the full asking price at $35k. But if you are, then figure $35k plus at least $4k-5k for shipping costs to get it from Virginia to Oregon. On top of that, the MSRP on a brand new Yamaha 250 is a minimum of $25k, up to over $30k, depending on which model you buy. I don’t know if you have a 9.9hp kicker motor but a Yamaha 9.9 high thrust kicker motor is $4k or more after tax. I’m not sure what Oregon charges for sales tax on a boat but in Seattle I paid 10.4% back in October, which would be another $3,500+ depending on your purchase price. On top of that, the electronics look older and pretty basic, which I’m assuming you’ll need to buy new ones fairly soon. As well as you’ll have to buy insurance for the boat, tabs, not sure if you need downriggers or not… I’m assuming so since you’re in Oregon and am assuming you’re trolling for salmon? Basically if you’re anywhere close to what I mentioned above then you’re going to be considerably over $60k as the $35k asking price and the $25K for the new motor alone is going to put you over that. And you don’t even have the boat back to Oregon at that point.

I personally bought my boat in Maryland back in early October from a Grady White dealer. It’s a 2004 GW 228 Seafarer with a 2004 Yamaha F225 with under 1k hours on the motor and a 2009 aluminum I-beam trailer. They had it listed for $28k and I offered $26.5k which they gladly accepted my offer. I rented a Uhaul truck to drive it back to Seattle because none of the other truck rental companies would do a one way truck rental for a pickup truck. I’d say I probably spent $3,500 or so doing the trek back to Seattle and also got multiple quotes from shipping companies to see what it would cost to have it shipped back. The cheapest quote was $4k and the highest was I believe over $7k but they were also 2-3 weeks out and then it would’ve taken another week on top of that for them to do that drive. I didn’t want to wait that long so I did the trek myself and while I didn’t save much money going this route, I safely did it my own way and didn’t have to wait 3-4 weeks for my boat to get shipped to me. I personally like the other two boats on Boat Trader a bit more, the 2003 from Florida for $33k as well as the 2002 from South Carolina for $35k. The one from Florida comes with a trailer but the one in SC doesn’t but they both have a 4 stroke motor on them that should get you multiple seasons of usage instead of having to buy a brand new motor right off the bat. I personally think those would be much better buys in terms of money spent as well as not potentially having more money invested into something than what it’s worth. I think if you did all of the upgrades that you’re wanting to do to your boat, I honestly don’t think it’ll be worth over $60k, even with a brand new motor on it. Also, why keep the Arima if you’ve got a Grady White? I owned a 21’ Arima Sea Ranger skip top and after owning a Grady White, I’ll never go back and wouldn’t ever want to ride in an Arima again. If you go through with the purchase, I think you’ll find the same thing and won’t want the Arima anymore. I’d be selling that during the summer, make as much money off of it as you can and put it towards the Grady. No point in having multiple boats, in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide on doing and safe travels.
 
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Parthery

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I'd run the boat with the 200 HPDI until it quits.

I had an '01 226 with a 200 HPDI. Propping is critical for this setup. I went with a Mirage Plus 17. Top speed was 41 at 5400 RPM but you had to trim it way out. Optimum cruise was around 32 at 4200 RPM.

The 150-200 HPDIs were good motors...the 250/300 big blocks were a mess.
 

RIVERTEC_FISH

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I’m assuming that you’re talking about the 2001 Grady White 228 Seafarer in Richmond for $35k? If so, a few thoughts on the matter from someone that just bought a 2004 GW 228 Seafarer back in early October after looking for over a year would be… unless you’re buying the boat for under $30k your total cost involved is going to be over $60k… at least from what I can see. I’ve seen this particular boat for sale since I believe late this last summer so I’m assuming you’re not paying the full asking price at $35k. But if you are, then figure $35k plus at least $4k-5k for shipping costs to get it from Virginia to Oregon. On top of that, the MSRP on a brand new Yamaha 250 is a minimum of $25k, up to over $30k, depending on which model you buy. I don’t know if you have a 9.9hp kicker motor but a Yamaha 9.9 high thrust kicker motor is $4k or more after tax. I’m not sure what Oregon charges for sales tax on a boat but in Seattle I paid 10.4% back in October, which would be another $3,500+ depending on your purchase price. On top of that, the electronics look older and pretty basic, which I’m assuming you’ll need to buy new ones fairly soon. As well as you’ll have to buy insurance for the boat, tabs, not sure if you need downriggers or not… I’m assuming so since you’re in Oregon and am assuming you’re trolling for salmon? Basically if you’re anywhere close to what I mentioned above then you’re going to be considerably over $60k as the $35k asking price and the $25K for the new motor alone is going to put you over that. And you don’t even have the boat back to Oregon at that point.

I personally bought my boat in Maryland back in early October from a Grady White dealer. It’s a 2004 GW 228 Seafarer with a 2004 Yamaha F225 with under 1k hours on the motor and a 2009 aluminum I-beam trailer. They had it listed for $28k and I offered $26.5k which they gladly accepted my offer. I rented a Uhaul truck to drive it back to Seattle because none of the other truck rental companies would do a one way truck rental for a pickup truck. I’d say I probably spent $3,500 or so doing the trek back to Seattle and also got multiple quotes from shipping companies to see what it would cost to have it shipped back. The cheapest quote was $4k and the highest was I believe over $7k but they were also 2-3 weeks out and then it would’ve taken another week on top of that for them to do that drive. I didn’t want to wait that long so I did the trek myself and while I didn’t save much money going this route, I safely did it my own way and didn’t have to wait 3-4 weeks for my boat to get shipped to me. I personally like the other two boats on Boat Trader a bit more, the 2003 from Florida for $33k as well as the 2002 from South Carolina for $35k. The one from Florida comes with a trailer but the one in SC doesn’t but they both have a 4 stroke motor on them that should get you multiple seasons of usage instead of having to buy a brand new motor right off the bat. I personally think those would be much better buys in terms of money spent as well as not potentially having more money invested into something than what it’s worth. I think if you did all of the upgrades that you’re wanting to do to your boat, I honestly don’t think it’ll be worth over $60k, even with a brand new motor on it. Also, why keep the Arima if you’ve got a Grady White? I owned a 21’ Arima Sea Ranger skip top and after owning a Grady White, I’ll never go back and wouldn’t ever want to ride in an Arima again. If you go through with the purchase, I think you’ll find the same thing and won’t want the Arima anymore. I’d be selling that during the summer, make as much money off of it as you can and put it towards the Grady. No point in having multiple boats, in my opinion. Good luck with whatever you decide on doing and safe travels.
I've got it all worked out it will be dialed in under $60K looking at what is available engine wise looks like I have the following options after talking with a local dealer. A new Yamaha 250hp ($27K *no kicker) or Honda 250 ($22,500) I can have them installed by June. I have a buyer lined up for the HPDI ($3500) and lowered the purchase price of the boat ($31K) I also have a friend that transports boats he said $3,500, so I'll be into the Grady ~$31K (No tax as an Oregon buyer btw) and it comes with a brand new trailer. Fishing in Oregon on the rivers you need to be nimble when you are tightly packed between boats holding the line at Bouy 10 (The Arima kicks but there). I want the Grady for targeting TUNA and those rougher days on the pacific, I really enjoy trolling for salmon out of the Arima compared to other boats I've owned or used in the past I also fish solo often on the Willamette river. As you know the Arima's are not known for performance or ride quality so playing on in the ocean is not really ideal unless its an ideal "flat" ocean. I re-powered the Arima last year and I'm into it at $18K so its hard to replace the capabilities of what an Arima can offer for that price. In my thinking I was about to pull the trigger on a 22' Fastback North River ($130K+), What I'll have into the Grady + the Arima would be much less and I'll have a swiss army arsenal allowing me to choose the right boat for the conditions. The only reason I'd sell the Arima is to replace it with a sled, but dang the Arima is a fish killing machine for me!!
 
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Mustang65fbk

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I've got it all worked out it will be dialed in under $60K looking at what is available engine wise looks like I have the following options after talking with a local dealer. A new Yamaha 250hp ($27K *no kicker) or Honda 250 ($22,500) I can have them installed by June. I have a buyer lined up for the HPDI ($3500) and lowered the purchase price of the boat ($31K) I also have a friend that transports boats he said $3,500, so I'll be into the Grady ~$31K (No tax as an Oregon buyer btw) and it comes with a brand new trailer. Fishing in Oregon on the rivers you need to be nimble when you are tightly packed between boats holding the line at Bouy 10 (The Arima kicks but there). I want the Grady for targeting TUNA and those rougher days on the pacific, I really enjoy trolling for salmon out of the Arima compared to other boats I've owned or used in the past I also fish solo often on the Willamette river. As you know the Arima's are not known for performance or ride quality so playing on in the ocean is not really ideal unless its an ideal "flat" ocean. I re-powered the Arima last year and I'm into it at $18K so its hard to replace the capabilities of what an Arima can offer for that price. In my thinking I was about to pull the trigger on a 22' Fastback North River ($130K+), What I'll have into the Grady + the Arima would be much less and I'll have a swiss army arsenal allowing me to choose the right boat for the conditions. The only reason I'd sell the Arima is to replace it with a sled, but dang the Arima is a fish killing machine for me!!
You should take a look at Suzuki outboards as they make a Suzuki 250 that you can typically find for less than $20k depending on where you live. I've even seen them advertised on Boat Trader or elsewhere around the $15k range, sometimes even slightly less than that. If I were ever to re-power I would go with a Suzuki because of their warranty, service, great reputation and most of all the price. The Yamaha is roughly $10k more and I'm not going to pay an extra $10k just for the name. Even at a buying price of $31k when you add the price of a new Yamaha outboard at $27k, that's already $58k. It sounds like you might be able to make a wash of transportation costs along with potentially selling your old motor but you'll still need a kicker motor, newer electronics at some point and possibly downriggers? Not exactly sure all of what you have compared to what you need but those are all going to cost more than a total of $2k as a Yamaha 9.9hp High Thrust is over $3,500. But again, it's your money and if that's really what you want to do and how much you want to spend then by all means go for it. I do like that your boat doesn't have bottom paint on it and that it comes with a brand new trailer. I looked at the pictures in the ad multiple times but it wasn't the boat for me at that price. The Arima was a decent boat for me but fishing in the Puget Sound can get a little choppy at times and you'll have 1'-2' chop which you'll just get pounded in with the Arima. It wasn't a bad boat for fishing solo or even with a couple of buddies and for only being a 21' boat it had a surprising amount of fishing space in it. It also did pretty well on fuel, even at WOT when you were cruising it still did pretty well.

That being said, those are about the only things I liked about the Arima as I thought the cabin was too small, the helm area wasn't really big enough for two larger people sitting in the captain's and passenger chairs. I hated the ride quality in the Arima and it would slap you around even with the tiniest bit of chop or wind. It was so light of a boat that the wind would push you around as would the current and after owning it for a couple of months I told myself I wanted something much different and much better as well as nicer. The Arima's have an almost cult-like following in the PNW, I think mostly because they're made in the Seattle area, but I don't understand why. I think they're so completely overrated and I'd never want to own another one again, and I owned two 21' Sea Rangers. They work great when the conditions are flat and calm but what boat doesn't perform perfectly in those conditions? I did the sea trial run for my 228 Seafarer and there was 1'-2' chop and started bending my knees to brace for the impact of the waves when we hit them but with the Grady, you just slice right through the waves and the water. It's a fantastic boat and the ride quality is night and day compared to the Arima. I think you'll likely take the Grady out a couple of times and realize how much better the ride quality is along with it being an easy boat to steer, manage and fish by yourself, and then you'll not use the Arima hardly ever again. The quality of the Grady is also hands down just so much better than the Arima with the fit and finish, the fiberglass, the stainless steel hardware and cleats, the no slip texturing and the thing I really appreciate about the Grady is the toe rails. I can't for the life of me figure out why boat manufacturers don't all use some sort of toe rail or something similar so that people aren't falling overboard. I remember the first time I looked at my boat and thought "Wow" this thing looks great, especially compared to the Arima. I'd say the Grady is probably an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 in regards to how nice it is with the fit, finish and quality of materials used. The Arima comparatively? Probably a 2 or 3? At best? My last Arima was a 2003 and it always looked faded, even when I washed, waxed and buffed it all out. It still looked faded, dirty and just felt like a cheaply made boat that was only meant for fishing. With the Grady you can go fishing, crabbing, shrimping, cruising, sail-gating or whatever you want to do with it.
 
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