Grady Warranty 1999 Sailfish

[Andrew93]

As I was browsing THT I noticed an ad for a 1997 Marlin for sale (not that I am looking, but its fun anyways!). It may be a members boat here, not sure. What caught my eye is that the original owner of that boat had the hardtop replaced for free from Grady in 2010 for chipping and peeling of the gelcoat. Mine is doing the same thing on the hardtop, pulpit, transom door, and live well door as I am sure many others have too. I have the electronic PDF of the manual with me but cannot find the warranty info on it, I should have the hard copy on the boat, but I am not local to that now.

I am wondering what it would take for Grady to honor a lifetime warranty on these surfaces? I bought the boat last year form the original owner and still have his contact info in case anything has to be officially transferred for their "lifetime warranty" on certain aspects of the boat. I am not sure what happened to the process of these surfaces, but I can say there wasn't a chip in my 1986 Offshore's hardtop and am slightly disappointed that a newer boat's factory hardtop actually looks worse than one 13 years older.

Andrew

 

[g0tagrip]

It never hurts to ask Grady. They will want your hull number.

 

[Andrew93]

Thanks, I did send Grady a request with the HIN. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with replacement hatches etc so I could reference past practice should it be needed.

 

[fellinger]

I have a 1995 and the manual says 5 year hull warranty and 1 year other workmanship warranty to the original purchaser. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out for you.

 

[Jaeger Grady]

What did Grady say?

 

[Andrew93]

I did hear back from Grady and they pretty much said they were not aware of any problems. My father was near the boat today and took some photos I sent to Grady. It almost looks like they did not gelcoat the bottom of the lip, or they did and then it got cut or sanded off. Seems like a defect in the process to me when Grady's of other vintage do not look anywhere near this.

I still love the boat, bit maybe if anyone else has similar problems send Grady an email. I do not really think they will replace everyones hardtops, but they should at least be aware.

Andrew

 

[fellinger]

I had the same issue but, not to the extent as you. My glass guy touched it up for me at the end of last season. They know about it. Anything that had an edge on my Sailfish chipped just like your top. My fishbox and livewell lids were BAD!

I'd like the hear what they have to say.

 

[Fishtales]

I'd document it and continue to discuss with GW. In parallel, I'd go get it fixed. I doubt GW is going to cover it under warranty for an 18 year old boat. Not probably what you want to hear, even if there are know issues. I believe that top is balsa core, so you want to ensue no water intrusion. Good luck!

 

[ROBERTH]

I had similar as well, but also not to the extent you have. I read where this is due to the water on bottom edge freezes in the winter and expands the gelcoat then it chips off. I noticed on the bottom edge all around, it appears where Grady ground it smooth and even from the mold, but did not re-seal the edge.

I was able to grind/sand the areas with 80 grit, use marine filler, sand smooth/flat, and apply gelcoat with a artist brush until I had a good build up. Then sanded and polished. Also went around the entire edge and sealed the bottom so the water would not continue to wick up.

So far, so good.

 

[Andrew93]

I had similar as well, but also not to the extent you have. I read where this is due to the water on bottom edge freezes in the winter and expands the gelcoat then it chips off. I noticed on the bottom edge all around, it appears where Grady ground it smooth and even from the mold, but did not re-seal the edge.

I was able to grind/sand the areas with 80 grit, use marine filler, sand smooth/flat, and apply gelcoat with a artist brush until I had a good build up. Then sanded and polished. Also went around the entire edge and sealed the bottom so the water would not continue to wick up.

So far, so good.

Thanks for the info, this is what I was planning on doing as well after talking to a friend of mine who has some experience in this field. I do not think Grady would really do anything, but was shocked they would let something like this go unnoticed from the factory. I plan on working on it this weekend and am hoping there is not too much damage after the areas are exposed and cleaned.