I see pine trees, not palm trees, in your photographs, which look more like the Carolinas than Florida. North Carolina is home to many wooden boat builders. What is your actual location?
There was nothing special, or unique, about Grady White‘s boat building technique, so don’t let the name limit your resources. By all means, ask your questions, and keep us up-to-date on your progress here, but I would be looking for wooden boat building forums to get a wider range of professional opinions.
My first two Grady‘s were lapstrake, but they were fiberglass, early 70s models. GW started in 1959, so that truly is a vintage model. Their customer service(252-752-2111) is very helpful about providing building info, but I doubt their records go back that far, although they might take a special interest in helping with such a nicely preserved '61.