Fishable, Trailer-able Family Friendly Grady options

[Browny]

Hello,

New to the forum, not new to boating and looking for some light to be shed on our search for our next boat. We currently boat and fish in Lake Ontario, NY, with a'86, 36' Hatteras Sportfish and are now looking to downsize. We're simply not using the boat like I had hoped/planned on using it. My idea was to travel to the 1000 Island region, being able to sleep our family of 5 (3 kids under 8) for weekends and longer trips, have a good fishing platform and family boat. The Hatt does all those things very well with tons of room, in a heavy solid, safe rig - however my wife isn't having it. She doesn't like the bridge, with the small kids one of us is at the helm as the other (me) is setting lines or with kids up and down the ladder. So, she wants a "one story" (an express style) boat.

I still want to be able to sleep on the boat, with my son, possibly the family overnight, and/or a few friends for these days we head out real early. I'll still slip the next boat, but want to be able to trailer the boat for winter storage or for a trip or two in the summer around the NY region (i.e. Lake Erie for a month). For winter storage, the boat will have to roll under a 13' door for us to be able to store it in a heated building at our home. Being able to have the boat home will be a major bonus, as the Hatt is stored indoors an hour away. Makes the winter tinkering much more a chore.

Here are a few must haves: Cabin, flushing head (for girls), AC, seating for 5, able to trailer.

I love the 305 & 330 express, but they're not going to fit under 13'. I really like the Marlin, its right at the cusp of being able to, somewhat easily, trailer and I believe it will fit under the 13' with the radar removed. I understand when we tow it, it will be a permitted load but is it easily trailered? I've looked at a few, and was told sitting on the trailer is was 9500ish pound (with 250 yam 2 stroke). I've also read on this forum that some are 14K+ pounds. Big difference.

Will other sizes, like 28SF, be too cramped? I'm not opposed to going smaller, but I really want to be able to spend a night or two on this without being on top of each other.

I'll be 100% honest, some of the transom issues and quality issues I've read about have made me a bit anxious on the Grady's. I've always liked their looks but have never really picked a GW apart before. Our Hatt, even at 37 years old, is rock solid. Everything works as it should (with maintenance of course), its dry, the paint is extremely bright, as is the hardware and interior wood. Its a tank. I've had it out in some really nasty sh*t and it just plows through, 3'ers while salmon trolling you can walk to the fridge for a beverage.... Everyone seems to love their Grady's, so I have to assume these boats are solid?

So, any advice on my best option given my planned mission? Trailer-able boat, that can fish and be family friendly for our young crew.

*I understand this is a loaded first thread. I'm a huge research guy, so just want to make sure I ask the experts on real options for us. Thank you for any and all advice!

 

[family affair]

Trailerable + under 13' + family of 5 overnight + not be cramped = ain't gonna happen.
Subtract cramped and you might be able to get there for a couple years or after you make cannabis part of your boating routine.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

A couple of thoughts on the matter... I think a 300 Marlin wouldn't be too bad of a choice based off the pictures, having what looks like to be a decent sized sleeping area underneath the stairs and still able to be trailered. But that will leave you still likely being over 13' tall on the trailer, of which can you replace the garage door with a slightly taller one? I think the 300 Marlin would work, as Family Affair stated above, for a couple of years, or at least until the kids turn into teenagers and get considerably bigger. Although, at that point you might be able to have one of them sleep on the deck on an air mattress if all 5 of you did want to overnight on it? Just a few thoughts, I've obviously got a much smaller boat so I couldn't give you the best of opinions on the matter but if you haven't looked at one in person yet, that might be the first thing for you to do.

 

[Chessie246G]

My Explorer won't fit in a 12ft door without removing the radar..... Height is going to kill you on this one.

 

[SkunkBoat]

Anything truly trailerable will be a shock going down from a 36 Hatteras.

265 express is 13' 1" on the hauler's trailer, without the radar. It hits branches in the neighborhood.
I had hopes of getting it in my sister's garage with a 12' door. Not going to happen.
Thought about buying or building those rolling floor stands that the dealers use in showrooms and shows. That would drop it almost to the ground.

Marlins and 265/305/330 expresses are not a "trailer" boat in any realistic sense. Yes some people launch & recover for day trips and don't dock but IMO thats just crazy. They are certainly "trailerable" in the sense of owning a trailer to move and hold them in the off season. They are all going to sit just below the 13'6" limit.
IMO, they are not "easily trailered" by people who don't regularly haul big things. They are very big, wide, and heavy. You will need a 3/4 ton truck minimum.

 

[glacierbaze]

If you could accept only towing it twice a year, to and from storage at your house, how far would that be?

 

[magicalbill]

I own and have towed a 300 Marlin. Figures & facts below.

1.) Total weight-boat/tri-axle trailer=14,600lbs.
2.) Height on the trailer with radar dome removed, 13' 2".
3.)To be legal, you need permits (that vary from state-to-state) "Oversize Load" signs and red flags on the front of the truck and the stern of the boat. It's also a requirement to have rotating amber lights in the same areas. Some follow these laws, some don't.
If you don't you could easily get pulled over; the Marlin is not a small rig, and will get noticed if not equipped properly.
4.) Beam is 10' 7"

As Skunk mentioned, this is not a normal "trailerable boat." Yes, you can do it, but it's a hassle on several levels..

1.) You need a heightened sense of awareness of low tree branches, low rooftops in gas stations, etc.
2.) In most states, you can only tow during daylight hours.
3.) You can't just pull off the exit ramp and enter the drive-thru at Burger King. You need a Wal-Mart parking lot to leave the Beast while you go eat. Hotels with enough parking are hard to find.
4.) A Diesel Pickup, preferably a dually is really your only safe towing option. I get 10-11MPG when I move mine with my Dodge Cummins Dually.
5.) Your trailer needs to be properly set up. Electric Over Hydraulic Brakes, Goodyear Endurance Tires and 3 7K axles.
6.) You'll have to re-install the radar every time you launch and remove it for your trip home to stay under 13' 6"

I hauled mine from Fla to Northern Michigan and back. Once.

The positives? Yes there are some....

The Marlin is a great overall boat. Handles chop to 2 feet comfortably and swell much larger. Lake Ontario will be doable in anything under 20kt winds.

It's very "in tune" with itself. My Marlin doesn't need a lot of babysitting underway with tabs & trim. It is not athwartship-sensitive with it's wide beam and features a nice mid-berth that sleeps two. We don't fish, so we use the stove, head, A/C, Fisher-Panda Generator, all the stuff.

It is not near as roomy and won't ride like your Hat, but it's "one-level" as The Admiral requires.

Got long-winded here...sorry! Luck to "ya!

 

[Mustang65fbk]

3.) You can't just pull off the exit ramp and enter the drive-thru at Burger King. You need a Wal-Mart parking lot to leave the Beast while you go eat. Hotels with enough parking are hard to find.

A. I’m hoping that the drive-thru at “Burger King” comment is sarcasm as I couldn’t imagine trying to go through most drive-thru’s with even a small utility trailer. B. I bought my 228 Seafarer late last September out in Maryland and drove it back 3,009 miles across the country to just north of Seattle where I live. There was only one hotel out of the 3 that I stayed in where it didn’t have turn around parking, which took me a few minutes to do an “Austin Powers” turn around move before I got the boat and trailer facing toward the exit. That being said, the hotels that I was staying in were in much smaller towns to hopefully avoid the U-Haul truck or my boat being broken into overnight or vandalized. I could've gone to another hotel with better parking if I wanted to but I didn’t feel the need to do so. I guess my point would be that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hotels along the way, of which a little planning ahead and looking at pictures of the location online will give you an idea if you can easily park your boat overnight there or not. Obviously my boat is a bit smaller but the two hotels where I did stay that had a turn around parking lot had dozens of open parking spaces to utilize for a truck, boat and trailer. Also, just being cognizant of where big shopping malls are, Walmart and so on will help bring the stress levels down as you can generally always find lots of parking there to take a break for lunch or whatnot. Lastly, always check your overhead clearance, especially at gas stations as they aren’t all the same height. Some have a very low overhead that can rip the radar dome off, or even the hardtop. There was one along my way back in Idaho that had a low overhead and luckily there were signs out as well as I was paying attention.

 

[magicalbill]

A. I’m hoping that the drive-thru at “Burger King” comment is sarcasm as I couldn’t imagine trying to go through most drive-thru’s with even a small utility trailer. B. I bought my 228 Seafarer late last September out in Maryland and drove it back 3,009 miles across the country to just north of Seattle where I live. There was only one hotel out of the 3 that I stayed in where it didn’t have turn around parking, which took me a few minutes to do an “Austin Powers” turn around move before I got the boat and trailer facing toward the exit. That being said, the hotels that I was staying in were in much smaller towns to hopefully avoid the U-Haul truck or my boat being broken into overnight or vandalized. I could've gone to another hotel with better parking if I wanted to but I didn’t feel the need to do so. I guess my point would be that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hotels along the way, of which a little planning ahead and looking at pictures of the location online will give you an idea if you can easily park your boat overnight there or not. Obviously my boat is a bit smaller but the two hotels where I did stay that had a turn around parking lot had dozens of open parking spaces to utilize for a truck, boat and trailer. Also, just being cognizant of where big shopping malls are, Walmart and so on will help bring the stress levels down as you can generally always find lots of parking there to take a break for lunch or whatnot. Lastly, always check your overhead clearance, especially at gas stations as they aren’t all the same height. Some have a very low overhead that can rip the radar dome off, or even the hardtop. There was one along my way back in Idaho that had a low overhead and luckily there were signs out as well as I was paying attention.

A. I’m hoping that the drive-thru at “Burger King” comment is sarcasm as I couldn’t imagine trying to go through most drive-thru’s with even a small utility trailer. B. I bought my 228 Seafarer late last September out in Maryland and drove it back 3,009 miles across the country to just north of Seattle where I live. There was only one hotel out of the 3 that I stayed in where it didn’t have turn around parking, which took me a few minutes to do an “Austin Powers” turn around move before I got the boat and trailer facing toward the exit. That being said, the hotels that I was staying in were in much smaller towns to hopefully avoid the U-Haul truck or my boat being broken into overnight or vandalized. I could've gone to another hotel with better parking if I wanted to but I didn’t feel the need to do so. I guess my point would be that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of hotels along the way, of which a little planning ahead and looking at pictures of the location online will give you an idea if you can easily park your boat overnight there or not. Obviously my boat is a bit smaller but the two hotels where I did stay that had a turn around parking lot had dozens of open parking spaces to utilize for a truck, boat and trailer. Also, just being cognizant of where big shopping malls are, Walmart and so on will help bring the stress levels down as you can generally always find lots of parking there to take a break for lunch or whatnot. Lastly, always check your overhead clearance, especially at gas stations as they aren’t all the same height. Some have a very low overhead that can rip the radar dome off, or even the hardtop. There was one along my way back in Idaho that had a low overhead and luckily there were signs out as well as I was paying attention.

It has an element of sarcasm in it, yes. My point was that when towing something as big as a Marlin, you can't avail yourself of all the options at an exit like you can in your car, or towing a smaller rig.

I found it easiest to just stop at Rest Areas along the interstate. Easy in, truck parking, vending machines, easy out. That is much easier than horsing the Titanic On A Trailer through intersections, parking lots and crowded streets, all of which are invariably waiting for you off most exit ramps that mark a town. The Cracker Barrel is never in a convenient spot.

My Marlin, as mentioned, was 13' 2" high. I stated in my reply that a heightened sense of awareness is needed regarding low branches, overhangs, etc, especially when towing off the "Beaten Path" such as interstates & main thoroughfares.

The LOA of the Marlin on the trailer was 48 feet from the lower units tilted up for trailering to the ball hitch in the front. Then add 19 feet for a long bed diesel dually pickup. Many hotels, at least on I-75 between Michigan and Florida may have the space to accommodate that big a footprint if you had the hotel to yourself and there were no other cars in the parking lot. I suppose Murphy's Law comes into effect here, but the aforementioned guests had a positive genius for parking in the exact spot that would thwart my maneuvers. Compound these problems with the limited room allowed to turn the rig around back by the hotel dumpsters and it becomes an inconvenience, which is what I was trying to get across to the OP.

Indeed there are hotels with truck parking that you can google, etc. Recall, though, that you are only allowed to run in daylight, making distance calculations and arrival times critical when targeting those particular hotels. One or two construction and/or accident back-up's and you won't make that hotel with truck parking before dark.

I had a Seafarer like yours for 10 years. I towed that thing everywhere and never had a problem finding a spot in a hotel parking lot, or most anywhere else. The difference between towing a Marlin and a Seafarer is beyond Night And Day.

The overall point here, is that I was trying to let the OP know that towing a Marlin is an option for his future plans, but not a viable one in a practical sense.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

It has an element of sarcasm in it, yes. My point was that when towing something as big as a Marlin, you can't avail yourself of all the options at an exit like you can in your car, or towing a smaller rig.

I found it easiest to just stop at Rest Areas along the interstate. Easy in, truck parking, vending machines, easy out. That is much easier than horsing the Titanic On A Trailer through intersections, parking lots and crowded streets, all of which are invariably waiting for you off most exit ramps that mark a town. The Cracker Barrel is never in a convenient spot.

My Marlin, as mentioned, was 13' 2" high. I stated in my reply that a heightened sense of awareness is needed regarding low branches, overhangs, etc, especially when towing off the "Beaten Path" such as interstates & main thoroughfares.

The LOA of the Marlin on the trailer was 48 feet from the lower units tilted up for trailering to the ball hitch in the front. Then add 19 feet for a long bed diesel dually pickup. Many hotels, at least on I-75 between Michigan and Florida may have the space to accommodate that big a footprint if you had the hotel to yourself and there were no other cars in the parking lot. I suppose Murphy's Law comes into effect here, but the aforementioned guests had a positive genius for parking in the exact spot that would thwart my maneuvers. Compound these problems with the limited room allowed to turn the rig around back by the hotel dumpsters and it becomes an inconvenience, which is what I was trying to get across to the OP.

Indeed there are hotels with truck parking that you can google, etc. Recall, though, that you are only allowed to run in daylight, making distance calculations and arrival times critical when targeting those particular hotels. One or two construction and/or accident back-up's and you won't make that hotel with truck parking before dark.

I had a Seafarer like yours for 10 years. I towed that thing everywhere and never had a problem finding a spot in a hotel parking lot, or most anywhere else. The difference between towing a Marlin and a Seafarer is beyond Night And Day.

The overall point here, is that I was trying to let the OP know that towing a Marlin is an option for his future plans, but not a viable one in a practical sense.

The OP mentioned that he lives in Lake Ontario, NY of which I have obviously no idea exactly where he lives… but he did mention possibly taking the boat to Lake Erie or 1000 islands, which appear to be around 200-300 in miles each direction? If that’s the case, I don’t foresee there being any serious issues, even with a 300 Marlin as 300 miles of driving at 60 mph would take around 5 hours or so to get there and it definitely isn’t a 1000+ mile each direction type of thing. As long as he takes it nice and slow, has the appropriate sized tow rig to pull the boat, has the trailer/brakes/tires/bearings and so forth inspected and plans ahead some… I don’t think he’ll have any problem at all. Sure, the back roads can be a little tight but if you know what you’re doing and know how to tow a boat trailer then it shouldn’t be too bad.

I’ve towed my neighbors GW 270 Islander before as well as my uncles old 26’+ Bayliner for hundreds of miles of which only about half of those were on the highway and I never had any issues. As mentioned above, allow yourself some time when traveling, pay attention and drive defensively, figure out if/where you’re going to overnight, get reservations well in advance and you could even drive each leg of the trip in your own vehicle first, if you’d never been there before to get you familiar with the area. Plan on where you’re going to fill up with fuel, stop for food and so forth. There can definitely be issues faced along the way that can’t be avoided like accidents, construction, backups and so forth, but if you allow yourself plenty of time, leave early in the morning and whatnot then you should be ok.

 

[magicalbill]

One last thing:

Recall, the OP will have to re-install his radar at the boat ramp before his day on the water and remove it at the end of the day before he begins his drive home to stay under 13' 6". Oh, and don't forget the paperwork and phone calls to get permits and keep them up-to-date IF he wants to stay legal and have his insurance work for him in case of a crack-up.

Yes, it can be done. If the OP is a go-getter and has experience jerking heavy loads around, maybe a Marlin is a good marriage for him. Yours Truly and, I assume, most others would want no part of it.

The Forum here has once again become a useful tool to Grady Owners that have questions. Different points of view have been outlined here and the OP now has the info to make his own call going forward.

Thanks to all of you for your "Likes." on my posts here.

 

[Chessie246G]

Legality of towing is what took several models off my radar for purchase. Live in Maryland, anything over 8ft wide requires a permit (500$ per day) anything over 10ft requires a chase car and even more $ in permits.

 

[Browny]

Thanks very much for all of the replies. I've been out of town for a bit, so have some catching up to do.

The garage door is stuck at 13'. My buildings ceiling is only 14', so its a tight squeeze in there now as it is. I could probably modify, but the existing 18' x 13' door cost a small fortune and is only 4 years old, so she's staying where she's at.

The next boat, if its as big as a marlin or even sailfish, will still be slipped. It would only be trailered, to winter storage and/or if we wanted to move lakes for a month of so in the summer. Salmon fishing is very good in May and June so the boat will stay in Lake O, but we might take it up to Lake Erie for July, as its a more family friendly lake. Even if we were to take it up to the 1000 islands region its just 3-4 hours up the highway... and ~150 miles by water. With something that's faster and more efficient (Hatt is 19 mph @ 38 gph), the lake route would absolutely be more fun than trailering. My point is trailing would be very sporadic and relatively short distances.

I'm not afraid to tow the larger models, I regularly tow a 30' travel trailer. Yes, this will be bigger but should handle better than a TT. Tow vehicle will be a F350, with the 7.3 Godzilla gasser in it.

All that said, the Marlin might be out simply due to how close it will be to my height restrictions, and how the 14K weights. The truck can pull it, but we had hoped to also pull this next boat with a Super C RV, which limits out around 10K pounds.

Will the 28 sailfish, offer me much of a savings in regards to height or weight? The only weights I can find published are without power.

 

[billyttpd]

I understand your Hatteras has a flybridge and that is a point of contention with your wife. Does that Hatteras have a station on the salon? Would investing in a rear deck or salon helm perhaps solve your issue and give you the "one deck" you are seeking. I guess what I am suggesting is upgrading the Hatteras to a second station either mounted on the salon bulkhead or gunwhale. For line of sight I think inside the salon would be the best option. Another plus would be the pilothouse feel maybe extending your season a bit.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

All that said, the Marlin might be out simply due to how close it will be to my height restrictions, and how the 14K weights. The truck can pull it, but we had hoped to also pull this next boat with a Super C RV, which limits out around 10K pounds.

Will the 28 sailfish, offer me much of a savings in regards to height or weight? The only weights I can find published are without power.

I think you'll be over the 10k lb limit with a 282 Sailfish, especially one that's moderately or fully loaded, as the GW website says one that's dry and without power will be 6,781 lbs. Which obviously doesn't account for 1,100-1,200 lbs for the motors, 1,200 lbs or more for a full fuel tank and probably 1,100-1,200 lbs or more for a trailer depending on if you go with aluminum or galvanized. You can obviously lower those numbers down a bit by going with an aluminum trailer and not filling up the boat with fuel until after you've already reached your destination. But even then you'll still likely imo be over the 10k lb maximum tow rating for the vehicle, even if it's just for a short trek. My boat by itself with about a half tank of fuel was 5,300 lbs with pretty much no gear on it and my trailer is almost 1k lbs exactly. With only having a 92 gallon fuel tank, if the boat was full of fuel and had another 45 gallons in it, as well as a bunch of extra fishing gear, food, water, ice, bait and so forth... I'll bet it's close to 7k lbs total with boat, motor and trailer. The dry weight for my boat on the GW website says 3,510 lbs, which your boat is already more than 3,200 lbs heavier than mine with just the dry weight alone. If the total weight of my boat is 7k lbs or close to it, then I'd be willing to bet you're around at least 10k lbs, if not maybe closer to 11k lbs, maybe even slightly more with it fully loaded.

 

[Browny]

I understand your Hatteras has a flybridge and that is a point of contention with your wife. Does that Hatteras have a station on the salon? Would investing in a rear deck or salon helm perhaps solve your issue and give you the "one deck" you are seeking. I guess what I am suggesting is upgrading the Hatteras to a second station either mounted on the salon bulkhead or gunwhale. For line of sight I think inside the salon would be the best option. Another plus would be the pilothouse feel maybe extending your season a bit.

It does not, where the lower helm would have been... is a wet bar lol, not a terrible thing but usually hinders navigation instead of helping. It has autopilot, so I typically will just set a point and then set lines. Honestly, if you underway, there isn't a better vantage point than being on the bridge, the view cannot be beat. But its still the kids up and down the bridge ladder that wont go away. I've just accepted to stop fighting it.