frat said:
I spoke with a couple of guys from South Carolina and Louisiana i think. They said they love their 24 offshores. They both said if you get into bigger chop you just slow down a bit and you plow right through it. The guys say it's a tank. They like the boat for all the reasons i am interested in it. The large fishing deck and the newer outboards are nice. Good range with the twin fuel tanks of 150 gallons total.Hard top with furuno radar and furuno gps/depth. I have been salmon, striper and halibut fishing the ocean and bay for 10 yrs now with my little Wellcraft v20 with and old '85 merc. 150 hp. I don't have alot of money to spend so i thought this would be a nice upgrade for me.
I had an 85 Offshore and I loved the boat. Enormous cockpit, deep gunnels and big fish box's. Had it out to the Baltimore canyon, (70 miles) and plenty of trips beyond 50 miles. I also had 2 Overnighters, (both non Sea V2 hulls) and imo, they were very good too. Are the Sea V hulls better... absolutely, but as long as the hull is in good shape, I wouldn't hesitate to own a non Sea V2 Grady. As mentioned above, the 24 Offshore is a tank. As far as the pounding goes... yea, it does pound, but you'd be surprised how well you can reduce it with tabs. Another somewhat negative characteristic that stood out was... it broached pretty bad when it caught a big wave from the side. Nothing that was terrifying, but it was noticeable. Probably due to it's somewhat narrow 8' beam and 24' length. The hull is kind of on the tall side too. If you ever see one in a slip, next to say a 20 or a 22 Grady, you'll see what I mean. Again, those 2 negatives, (pounding and broaching) would not stop me from owning one. Imo, it's still a tough and capable hull.