Introduction

[DChapp]

Hello All,
New Grady owner here, live in Greenville NC and do majority of Boating out of Morehead City. Bought a 2006 Bimini 306 last week from Port of Egypt Marina on Long Island, Tuesday June 26, 2012.
I will try and get some pics up as soon as I figure the site out. I have been lurking for months and have found this place to be a great source for information, so thank you. Brought boat back from Long Island by water and have been very pleased with the boat. Happy July 4th to all.

 

[Capt Bill]

Congrats on your Bimini 306 (really nice boat), and :welcome to GreatGrady. Yep, post up some pics of the new ride, and tell us about the maiden voyage, and did you get'er bloody yet?

 

[Parthery]

Welcome aboard :goodjob

 

[megabytes]

Well you are certainly close to the factory so do the tour.
Enjoy your new boat!

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Welcome aboard and i think you bought my x-boat.

P.S Which i should have never sold.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Post some pictures, the inside of the console too.

 

[DChapp]

Well here goes....sorry for long read.....last Monday 6/25, we left NC bound for Long Island NY. A broker/friend, T Harris of Harris Marine had hepled me locate a 2006 Bimini, and I had worked out details with the marina. Landed at LGA around 11 am, rented a car and headed for Port of Egypt Marina in Southold NY. We had never been to that part of Long Island, nice part of the country. Arrived at marina around 2 and immediately met Elisa at the Boat yard. I had my wife, 14 year old son, and 2 other friends to help evaluate the boat.
We had seen a lot of pictures of the boat, it is painted blue so it was easy to spot.
For those of you that do not know, Port of Egypt is a family run marina. Elisa, handles sales, and her brother Bill does the test rides. So we loaded up the crew on the boat and proceeded to take a ride with Bill around the Shelter Island area. Boat was everything we had hoped for. The previous owner had installed teak decks on the boat, I was a little concerned about how they would look, they looked great and really dressed up the boat. We got back to the marina and started going over the boat in detail. My wife and one of our friends went and checked in at the on site hotel, very nice accomadations. After a few hours of testing out all of the systems, we pulled the trigger and committed to the boat, but it was after 5 so the wire transfer of the $$$$ would have to wait for morning. Our plan was always to take the boat home on her own bottom so we had some logistics to plan and accomplish.
Had dinner that night at the restaurant right there at the marina. Monday night is Lobster Bake night, everything from the vegetables to the lobster was local and delicious. Had a great time with our group and turned in early, it had been a long day and more days like it were on the way.
Our friends left at 6 am to head back to the city for their trip home and my wife, son and I got to work. Called the bank to initiate transfer and we got to work. We wanted to prepare the boat for travel. Elisa lent us her car and off to West Marine we went. The marina had most of the necessities for the boat, but my son wanted one of those boat bean bags for the long trip ahead. By the way, the bean bag is a great addition. After West Marine, wife went to grocery store for food and drink, we went back to the boat and began loading.
Ice, fuel, drinks and food loading while Bill gave me local tips on getting to Long Island Sound. We received word about 130 pm that the transfer of funds was complete and we were ready. We said our goodbyes to Elisa and Bill and shoved off........more to follow

 

[DChapp]

2pm Tuesday June 26
We depart Port of Egypt Marina bound for Port Jefferson on Long Island, this leg of the trip is 57nm and we felt it would be a good shakedown for the boat and crew. Leaving Gardiners Bay thru Plum Gut and into Long Island Sound was very choppy but we felt like the conditions would improve once into the sound. Wind was blowing about 15 knots out of the northwest. Once out into the sound the tide and wind turned that body of water into a mess. The 40 some miles from Plum Gut to Port Jefferson were miserable. The seas at time were head high and seemed about 6 inches apart. I have spent a lot of time on the water in my 46 years and I can say that was about the most miserable 4 hours I have ever encountered. Seas were too close together and the wind built, we were happy to get to Port Jefferson and the Danford Hotel. The boat did great and we felt like we had learned a lot . Port Jefferson was a nice place and we wished we would have had a little more time there. Fueled up and got secure in our slip around 615. Nice hotel.
6am Wednesday June 27
Our plan for the day was to leave Port Jefferson and head towards New York City and then head into the ocean with a stay at Atlantic City, Cape May or in a perfect world, Ocean City Md. Conditions in the sound were much improved and we cruised along at about 28 knots towards the East River. Hit the tide perfectly and as we went thru Hells Gate I decreased the speed to no wake and looked at the GPS and we were making 16 knots over the bottom. Tide was cranking and I was thankful it was with us. Hit the tip of Manhattan about 815 and was dodging the ferries, and then rolled past the Statue of Liberty. I was very nervous about going thru the City, but it turned out to be a piece of cake. Cruised out of New York Harbor and hit the open Atlantic. Hung a right and found the ocean flat and we had a nice ride down the Jersey Shore. In fact the conditions were so nice we flew right by Jersey, crossed the Delaware Bay and set a course for Ocean City Md. Went thru the inlet about 3 pm and tied up at Sunset Marina, very nice place. Boat and crew did great and we cleaned her up before a nice meal and a few orange crushes at Teasers Bar and Grill. Total Distance 214nm.
6am Thursday June 28
Our plan for the day was to follow coast of Md, Va, and NC and hit Oregon Inlet. From there we could go about 60 miles to Ocracoke or about 100 on to Morehead. Once we cleared Ocean City Inlet we found the ocean to be slick. I gave up the idea of following the beach and set corse directly for Oregon Inlet, a distance of 151nm. May have been the calmest I have ever seen the ocean and we set the auto pilot and made for NC. Hit Oregon Inlet at 1115 and entered the Pamlico Sound, felt like I was home. Talked with my crew and we decided to go to Ocracoke and stretch out our adventure one more day. Cruised down the sound and made it to Ocracoke about 230. Tied up at the Ancorage Marina. Great day and total distance was again right at 215nm.
7am Friday June 29
Wind picked up and made the Pamlico pretty choppy. Uneventful trip to Morehead and had the boat on the lift about 1030 and started to unpack. Total distance 60 nm. Total distance was about 550 nm

Really like the new boat, no problems. Grady White builds a strong boat and the people from the factory to the dealers are top notch.
Really like the people at Port of Egypt, felt like I was leaving family. Bill checked on us each day. One day I neglected to call him and let him know we were in and he texted me at 2am worried about us.
I have lived in Greenville NC for 33 years and trying to figure out why I waited so long. I traveled a long way to buy a boat built across town. I would like to think my next one will be new but we enjoyed the adventure so much we might be looking for our next one in Texas or Maine..........sorry for any grammar or spelling issues......dc

 

[DChapp]

I posted 2 pics in the Gallery

 

[Average Joe]

Congratulations and welcome aboard! 8)

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Glad you guys made it back home safe. As far as POE, yes, they will treat you as family on the sale day but also 10 years down the line, this what in my opinion make them shine among other dealers Grady or not. I saw the blue boat parked across the street from their showroom a few weeks ago and wanted to stop and take a look, i guess i lost my chance. She looked really good in that color.There is a local shop who paints all the Gradys for POE, he's a little "salty" but does awesome job.
About Bill, did he dock your boat with closed eyes? He does that once in a while :lol: I think this guy has salt water running in his veins.

 

[richie rich]

Welcome aboard.......thats a hell of a trip through the calm and cozy LI Sound and all the way to NC...I personally would have towed it, but you learned alot about your boat doing it this way......congrats on the new ride :goodjob

 

[DChapp]

Thanks guys......as for towing it home, not an option. I would be hospitalized from the anxiety of pulling that thing, but I don't even like pulling our small flat bottomed skiff. Our plan all along was to go by water, once we had confirmed the boats condition. Fun trip, and try one of the bean bags, very comfortable.

 

[bfrank]

Grady White builds a strong boat and the people from the factory to the dealers are top notch.
Really like the people at Port of Egypt, felt like I was leaving family. Bill checked on us each day. One day I neglected to call him and let him know we were in and he texted me at 2am worried about us.

Now that's high quality customer service! :wow

Sounds like an awesome trip did you guys take any pics during the trip?

As for towing you would need a pretty big truck to tow a monster like that! I live in DE and taking a boat that big down I-95 through Baltimore and DC would be no picnic.