33 Grady White

[libassman361]

I am looking to buy a used 33' ft Grady. I fish offshore and love the Grady 30'. I have looked at a few. The last two had 225hp engines, seems a bit on the light side. Any thoughts? Also several boats did not have the bow thruster, any comments on that as well? I have to travel to get to the tuna so I do need a decent cruising speed with good gas consumption. Thanks, Gary

 

[Blackbird]

I'd have to agree w/ your thoughts on the engines. That's a lotta boat for a pair of 225's. I have a 283 w/ 250's and wouldn't want any less. EBay just posted a 33 foot Canyon w/ a pair of 350's. This looks like it the going power for a boat this size.

 

[Fishermanbb]

Do a search....There are many posts about this same subject. I had a 330 with 225's and no thruster. It cruised 1 MPH slower and burned LESS fuel that my buddies with the 250's - Turning the SAME RPM. I never needed more power and was happy to save the fuel. WE took that boat offshore plenty of times with no issues. Sure with 350's the thing will fly but it is just fine with 225's and you really won't even notice the difference with the 250's other than at top end.

Handling without the thruster was a piece of cake. My slip has high current and wind and in all but the worst conditions I had no issues. Having the thruster is nice - No doubt - but I never needed it with the 330.

 

[Moxsea]

I agree with Fisherman, the 225's run great, sip fuel and I pass plenty of boats in all but the flattest of seas (pretty rare). would consider the new 300's but my 225's are still babies. I'm launching on Thursday, really excited.

 

[Coconut330]

I have a 33 with 225's. Plenty of power . Last summer we ran with a couple of other 33's with 250's to the Bahamas. The 225's got better fuel economy and ran the same speed. I don't have a bow thruster either and the boat handles just fine. I cruise usually between 28 and 30 mph and we run 40 to 100 miles of the coast to fish. Compare a same size diesel express and the 33 with 225's is usually faster and will burn a lot less fuel.
Great boat. One other thing I prefer the gas generator over the diesel that way I only have to worry about one kind of fuel.

 

[alfa1023]

Another "opinion" - not bashing anyone elses' opinion.

I have F250's on my 330 Express. Can not imagine having any less power. I had F250's on my 272 Sailfish before this and considered that the perfect power for that boat. Where my Sailfish easily jumped up on plane, my Express requires a healthy dose of throttle and obviously more time to do the same. I have never been on a 330 with the F225's, so have no basis for comparison, either as to performance or fuel burn.

As to the bowthruster - I was the first to make fun of those that had them and never saw the need for one. But my boat has one and damn if it isn't a blast having it. Been out a couple of times this winter with a serious crosswind and the bow thruster really lets you swing the bow around. So do you need it - absolutely not. Is it a nice thing to have - absolutely.

 

[BobP]

How fast do you want WOT?

35, 40, 45?

If considering F350s, I don't think older hulls can take the F350s due to weight, I believe transome were modified later, check it out.

Suzie 300s then.

F350s are very heavy.

 

[soho50]

33 express going up for sale

i have a 2004 express 33 getting ready to list for sale. if interested let me know. if no broker there is room in price. boat located in mass. never fished and just under 220 hours. always stored inside heated storage off season.

 

[wrobinson]

I have a 330 that had 225s on it when I bought it. I repowered with 250s and honestly the 250s are maybe slightly faster and burn a bit more fuel. In my experience the 225s are fine if the hours are low.

I put a bow thruster on mine and love it. It is really nice when you are by yourself and the wind and current are strong. By the way you can always add the thruster. Florida bowthruster did mine.

My piece of advice would be stay away from the gas generators. Mine was a constant headache and I switched it out to a Fisher Panda diesel and have not had a bit of trouble. Good luck. PM me if you have any questions.

 

[Seanik]

I wanted to repower my 2001 with 350's but it wasn't an option as the transom couldn't take them so I went with the 250's. Not a big difference really from the 225's except maybe at top end. Still, I wouldn't mind a little more power, especially in following seas.

 

[ocdansar]

soho50 I see you have yours listed on another website for sale. I see you have 300 yammies I asume they are hpdi's. I was considering repowering my 01 which has 250 ox66's with the 300 hpdi's, What kind of performance do you see with the 300's ?

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

This has been quite informative as I was thinking the express 33 with f350s was the only way to go and it is good to hear the 33s with f225s is still a great ride. I lookforward to someday , hopefully sooner than latter sea trialing a 33.

 

[ahill]

A friend has a 33 with tower. Must have close to 2000 hrs on F 225's. Runs to Governors Harbor from S. FL every summer with no problems.