282 Sailfish vs. Eastern Boats 27 Islander

[KingJ]

Greetings,
We're dreaming ahead for the move up someday, and I've always had my heart set on the 282 Sailfish which is the dream boat. There are a few Eastern 27's in our marina and I'm curious to get opinions on these. I understand that they're two different boats in many many ways for sure. We don't really fish seriously anymore, spending our time on the water in Southern California and Channel Islands primarily cruising, exploring, picnicking, anchoring, snorkeling etc. It's the Grady White build-quality and seaworthiness that I'm familiar with from my Adventure, and in the conditions experienced, that's what I like. Other than a future sea trial on an Eastern 27, I'm not finding much about seaworthiness and build except vague stuff from the company and dealers themselves. I was able to walk on an Eastern 248 the other day which was more stable than I had anticipated, but not a sea trial. I have read that they are wet boats, which my Grady surely was not. Now I'm wondering what other compromises I'd need to make/ or what the trade-offs would be. Sorry to do this on our Grady focused forum, but Grady White set the bar for me and what everything else always gets compared too. One thing for sure is that the dream boat's is going to run Evinrude G2s. Thanks and hope you're all having a great summer on the water.

 

[HBSteve]

We have a 282 in Huntington Harbor. Catalina in a pinch over an hour. Speedy comfortable ride. anything less than 28' is an immediate disqualifier. I say stick to your dream boat. Grady has the quality, reputation and value.

 

[gw204]

A good friend of mine has a 27' Judge. It's a very close relative of the Eastern 27. The ride on that boat is awful. It is very stable and a nice platform for fishing and general cruising though. VERY efficient with a single Honda 225.

Completely different boat than the Sailfish. I say look at both and figure out which design would work better for your intended use.

 

[KingJ]

Thanks very much Steve, Brian.

That's what I'd expect and wanted to hear I guess - regarding the ride - especially in not-so-nice conditions. That's important here! There were a few finish and component issues I noticed on the Eastern- no biggie. But this is another area where we've been conditioned by Grady White and others.

Steve, spending 3 to 5 days on anchor and moorings with just my wife and I is the goal. Feel free to reconfirm how suitable the 282 is for this kind of thing!

Thanks again,

 

[HBSteve]

Other than day trips fishing, our overnighters have all been to two harbors and avalon. Longest we've stayed is two nights. We bring a roll up inflatable that slides perfectly under the aft bench in the cockpit. We haven't run out of water nor filled the holding tank. We recently bought a yamaha ef2000 generator to heat up the water after the first day. It fits perfectly in the forward part of the walkaround just aft of the anchor locker on the bow. Use the starboard fish box for food storage, the bait tank for snorkel/wetsuits and the transom fish box for magma bbq. Been across twice in periods of small craft warnings, swell with chop. The boat has always handled it safely and dry. Returning with a big following/beam sea and chop keeps you busy at the helm though. For two people it's great. Although my wife would have preferred the Marlin or Express, both were too expensive given we wanted 4 strokes and and a 2005 or newer. We average 1.5 mpg at 23-26 mph on the Catalina runs. Hope this helps.

 

[Legend]

We overnight on our Sailfish 282 quite a bit and we think it is very comfortable. The aft birth was great when my daughter used to join us. We also have a golden retreiver, he uses the aft bunk now. We also have a Honda generator and it gives us a chance to keep the hot water steaming and the batteries topped off The refrigerator can drain the batteries after extended times on a mooring. We split out time 50 50 between rentingg slips with power and renting moorings. Great boat and we have been caught is some snotty weather and the 282 handles it nicely

 

[KingJ]

Thank you again for the feedback - and that all does help very much. And feeds the dream as well! It's always about trade-off with boats...

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

I have never heard of Eastern boats until this thread. I went to their terrible website and the best I could tell was they make a down east style center console. Is the 27 Eastern a walk around? If not you are comparing two different animals. The Eastern hull from what little info I could glean from their website seems tp be coastal near shore kind of design based on lobster boats and the needs of weatherman working harbors and such. It does not look like a dry boat to me. Then again I saw two pictures and have never seen the boat in person. Take Grady out of the equation for a minute and I am biased towards a walk around or express style boat over a cents console because I want to cruise, venture and so forth. Having a cabin is a nice thing even if one has just a 22 footer. Put Grady back in the mix and I think your options are between Grady and Pursuit in the small glass hull boats in the 28 foot range.

 

[DennisG01]

I've never ridden on an Eastern (or heard of them before). But from vacationing in Maine my whole life I have two other recommendations for you - both of the "Downeast" style. The first is Hinckley Yachts - I believe 29' is the first model they currently offer, though. I have ridden on a 34 (and been aboard others) and all I can say is... "Wow". Wonderful boat. Wonderful. The downside of looking at one of these is that they will likely spoil you for all others of this style. Another boat line to look at in the Downeast style is Back Cove Yachts.

Given what you mentioned in your first post, it almost sounds like a Sea Ray Sundancer or Express Cruiser might work very well for you? I have a 28' Sea Ray myself, and what you mentioned in your post is pretty much exactly what my wife and two kids use the Sea Ray for. Even some occasional fishing (not serious fishing). The boats are extremely well made, very solid and have a high attention to detail using top-notch materials. Just a thought!

 

[KingJ]

Thanks again all. Here's the Eastern 27 Islander. http://easternboats.com/270-islander/

The 248 is what caught out attention, then the 27 as it happens. They offer a Tournament version that is more fishy and claim to make them to your specs/ needs. However there doesn't seem to be may used ones available yet. I'm aware of the Hinkley Boats and they are a premium vessel indeed. I think the Nordhavn 35 Coastal Pilot was meant to compete with Hinkley, but both are so expensive due to their super high quality...

I do need to spend some time on Pursuit Boats and to check out Black Cove Yachts. However I'm going to stick with outboards (main reason why the Eastern's looked so appealing). Sea Rays etc aren't on the radar. We cruised by an GW Express yesterday and have seen some Marlins...something about the Sailfish for years now. I should probably stick with that instinct. Time to hit the boat show circuit again!

 

[DennisG01]

Yeah, you're right on the pricing of the Hinckley, Nord! Verrrrryyyy pretty boats, though! There's a T40 MKII moored about 1/4 mile in front of our cabin in Maine - straight out from us - almost like it's taunting me!

Just for fun, check out this Sea Ray (it's OB powered - brand new, but also bigger and more money - but it's still a very interesting design): http://www.searay.com/Page.aspx/pageId/ ... nture.aspx But definitely not the same style of boat you're looking for. Just a neat boat for those into "cruisers".

The VP of design for Back Cove lives around the corner from us up there. Nice house - modest, down to earth. Not extravagant by any means. I don't know much more about Back Cove than ones I've seen on the water - nice running attitude by the way - or pictures/review of them. All seem pretty positive, though. But I do think they're only available with inboards (typically diesels) - great for cruising, though!

 

[KingJ]

It's been awhile since I've taken a peak at the Hinckley boats, and wow are they nice. All jet powered now it seems. Sea Ray has always seemed to have great layouts and use of space. They look nice too, but just not what we're after for ourselves - especially being I/Os. I'll need to sea trial an Eastern 27 and re-check out the hardware used etc. Our 208 Adventure "Vedette" was such a well-built, sea worthy boat for her size - and that kept her value - it's going to be hard to be swayed away from a 282 or larger Grady White. The only thing so far is the better efficiency apparent with the Eastern Boats. Boat show time! Thanks again.

 

[capeguy]

I own a 282 ('06) and have seen a lot of Easterns around here. I think you are looking at two completely different boats and your decision will be more about what type of boat you want. I can tell you the Sailfish 282 is a tank. It handles the waters around MA and the Cape easily and is very dry. Everything about it is solid. The Eastern is wider by nearly a foot, and has significantly more structure overhead, yet weighs about the same as the 282. The 282 is just more solid from the gunwales down and you will notice it. While the website doesn't say, I am guessing the Eastern is a much shallower V, enabling it to plane with only twin 150s. No way a 282 functions with twin 150s.

My guess is that if you need to come home in 4' seas you will be very thankful you bought the 282...

 

[KingJ]

Capeguy,
Thanks - roger that. I just needed the confirmation to what I had already thought about the comparison between the two hulls. You pretty much provided that confirmation.