Grady White 228 Pilot House

[glacierbaze]

Maybe it's just too soon to drill a bunch of big holes in a newly restored boat.

 

[Doc Stressor]

Fishing in the Pacific NW is a lot different than Florida. It's almost all slow trolling for salmon. The typical setup is 2 downriggers mounted near the stern. That allows 4 rods to be fished if each rigger has 2 rod holders and the lines are stacked both high and low on the wire. Because of strong currents, stacking is sometimes not a good idea, so 2 rods are all that get run. The Grady with the pilot house has an additional downrigger mount on the transom. That's a better setup than stacking multiple rods on the same downrigger.

Fishing is done with long 2-piece rods that fit easily under the gunwales. There is no need for multiple pitch rods, dredges, outriggers, etc. Other than slow trolling for salmon, bottom fishing is done almost exclusively with jigs. Bait is rarely used except for halibut. And they are only available in certain areas.

 

[leeccoll]

Yep Doc,

That would describe how I fish, except I don't have a pilothouse.

We all fish using the best methods that yields results.

 

[Finest Kind]

Fishing in the Pacific NW is a lot different than Florida. It's almost all slow trolling for salmon. The typical setup is 2 downriggers mounted near the stern. That allows 4 rods to be fished if each rigger has 2 rod holders and the lines are stacked both high and low on the wire. Because of strong currents, stacking is sometimes not a good idea, so 2 rods are all that get run. The Grady with the pilot house has an additional downrigger mount on the transom. That's a better setup than stacking multiple rods on the same downrigger.

Fishing is done with long 2-piece rods that fit easily under the gunwales. There is no need for multiple pitch rods, dredges, outriggers, etc. Other than slow trolling for salmon, bottom fishing is done almost exclusively with jigs. Bait is rarely used except for halibut. And they are only available in certain areas.

Thank you for the explanation, makes sense now.
I guess you guys need to open up your motors to WOT every chance you can when you are in a stretch of flat water, all that slow trolling can really load up your motors with carbon!

 

[leeccoll]

Most use a 9.9hp kicker while trolling. Totally different animal out here as Doc said.

 

[Jimm H]

Been thinking about doing this mod to my 98 228. Needs pole holders on the roof. Side windows need to slide open. Roof Handle would be Stainless. Anybody have plans drawings to fabricate
something like this?




How about this:

 

[JJMag]

Between the two I like the look of the top one .
but must definitely have a sliding window to cool yourself off.
And on the top one I’m not too sure if it goes far enough back to keep the passengers warm and dry but it definitely looks more stylish than the bottom one.
And I would eliminate the problem of the aluminum frame of the windshield right at the drivers line of sight !
and I know a lot of people won’t like it because it will change the classic lines of the Grady 228 .

 

[mkslug]

The looks of the top one seem to retain the Grady lines better. I think you should do something like that and report to us along the way. It’s something I have pondered occasionally, such as every time I clean the isenglass or if I’m sitting at the helm and the windshield top obstructs my view like others have mentioned. Keep this thread going.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

I've seen lots of DIY pilot houses. Most are ugly as people get the lines wrong. This one is dialed and he's made several subtle mods that make this 87 look great. Saw it for sale in Canada last year. If I didn't have a hardtop would def get a pilot house-made!

If someone could duplicate that house for $5k I'm in!

Lemme know.


Didn't get the lines right.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Of the 4 boats pictured, I think the first one from Jimm H looks the best and most natural looking. The others with the straight up and down or forward facing front windows make the boat look too boxy in my opinion. I like the look of the Defiance pilothouse boats but I owned a 21' Arima before my Grady, of which Defiance owns Arima, and I wouldn't ever want to buy another one of those again. The Arima's have a cult following around here for some reason, I think mostly because it's a local boat company, but I wouldn't want to own another one.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Yep yep! He's got pantographic wipers on there too and really nice window from Motion in Vancouver, WA. Matches the squareness of the old Grady's like how he delete the front windows too. I think the newer rounded top caps of the 228 would need some more curves.

Found the same boat on an expired classified section in Victoria. https://www.usedvictoria.com/power-boats/33442311/photos?i=0

Agreed about the Arima's Mustang. Did you see there's a guy making custom pilothouse's for Arimas on Camano Island. They boat right on. I had one too. There obviously really flat bottom (by design). Made to be powered by small motors to be economical. Design has barely change since '84! Cult following is nuts right. Perfect for the Sound though. I've owned worse boats though!

Defiance obviously a totally different design. They own Allied too with is like a tank of an aluminum boat. Wouldn't mind a Defiance San Juan or Admiral. I think they've taken what Parker started and improved it. No wood, longer warranty etc. Would be interesting to go off shore in a Grady, Parker and a Defiance (all 22's) to test the ride.

 

[JJMag]

Here is my pilot house that a local fabricator did for me, Fishing northern California in cold foggy weather for glass Windows and side sliding windows on those hot days enough rod holders mounts for antenna nets radar Dome and tubing to hide all electrical wiring and underneath netting to put clothing or lifejackets perfect for my application!

Getting rid of the isinglass that I despise personally the safety factor of having a full windshield is well worth the expense of having full view of what’s in front of me and not hitting any debris .

And was able to sell the original windshield to justify the cost.

 

[Fishtales]

I think it is fine. If it fits the owners use case, I say beautiful, but I tend to lean utilitarian and over built versus style and comfort on the water.

 

[Punchline Cap]

Agree 100%. I got to go out and fish on one quite a few years back in the gulf. My knees were sore from leaning against the bolsters and having to support myself from hyperextending my knees backwards. I'm 6'2" and had to duck going into the cabin before stepping down on the 2320. The cockpit area in the back for fishing was massive though for a 23' boat. I appreciated being able to go out on it and experience it. I still like the look of the Parker, but very happy with the Grady.

I was on a 23’ Parker at the Atlantic City Boat Show a few weeks ago and also noted the short gunnels. The thing that really surprised me though was the lack of under deck storage and/or fish boxes in the deck. The same style boat in the Northstar seemed to have a much better layout.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Here is my pilot house that a local fabricator did for me, Fishing northern California in cold foggy weather for glass Windows and side sliding windows on those hot days enough rod holders mounts for antenna nets radar Dome and tubing to hide all electrical wiring and underneath netting to put clothing or lifejackets perfect for my application!

Getting rid of the isinglass that I despise personally the safety factor of having a full windshield is well worth the expense of having full view of what’s in front of me and not hitting any debris .

And was able to sell the original windshield to justify the cost.

I definitely like the look and lines of your pilothouse. It flows with the boat so much more than the others that look like they just put a box with windows on top of their boat.

 

[glacierbaze]

JJMag, did he build it to the same line that the original windshield frame attached to, or was there some glass work below the house addition? Not sure if your boat had the curved, or the angled windshield.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

Yep yep! He's got pantographic wipers on there too and really nice window from Motion in Vancouver, WA. Matches the squareness of the old Grady's like how he delete the front windows too. I think the newer rounded top caps of the 228 would need some more curves.

Found the same boat on an expired classified section in Victoria. https://www.usedvictoria.com/power-boats/33442311/photos?i=0

Agreed about the Arima's Mustang. Did you see there's a guy making custom pilothouse's for Arimas on Camano Island. They boat right on. I had one too. There obviously really flat bottom (by design). Made to be powered by small motors to be economical. Design has barely change since '84! Cult following is nuts right. Perfect for the Sound though. I've owned worse boats though!

Defiance obviously a totally different design. They own Allied too with is like a tank of an aluminum boat. Wouldn't mind a Defiance San Juan or Admiral. I think they've taken what Parker started and improved it. No wood, longer warranty etc. Would be interesting to go off shore in a Grady, Parker and a Defiance (all 22's) to test the ride.

From this angle it doesn't look too bad but it still looks a bit funky, out of place or disproportional to the rest of the boat... almost like it's too tall or something. I used to be on the Arima owners forum before when I had my Arima and then on my way out I think is when that guy started to make them. I stopped going to the Arima owners website as their members were all basically drinking the Kool-aid as well as their admin and moderators had favorites and were so politically left leaning that it was ridiculous. And they knew that I wasn't, so they definitely tried pushing me out for a long time. I loved how my 21' Sea Ranger had a ton of open room in the back for fishing and that it did fairly well with regards to fuel economy. I couldn't stand the pounding though that you'd get when going through 1-2' chop and the boat sat so low that you'd get waves and spray over the windshield or the sides of the boat. Any boat is great on a perfect day with perfect weather conditions and so forth but the Puget Sound during the tide change and when it gets windy can get a little nasty. There were several times where we would be fishing in Edmonds and have to drive the boat back to the south end of Whidbey Island where our cabin is and you'd have chop all the way back for 15+ miles. You'd either have to slow down to 15 mph or so because anything more was brutal, or if you didn't have the time to go slow you'd have to just deal with it. It wasn't more than a couple of trips out there and dealing with that to where I realized it wasn't the boat for me. My 228 Seafarer is night and day different with regards to ride quality and comfort, and is Imo a much better suited boat for the Puget Sound. Of which I even sold my Arima for $1k more than what I bought my Grady for, so I'll put that towards the fuel and other expenses, and I'll gladly spend a little bit more on fuel to be more comfortable and dry.

The Defiance brand boats are decent, I've been on a couple at the boat shows and they seem almost like a copy and pasted version of the Parker's. My frustration with them is that they're a pretty "bare bones" boat in that they don't have many optional features. The biggest of which is something very small, and that is toe rails, of which Grady White offers them as standard equipment. But with Defiance, Arima and other manufacturers they aren't even an option. I mean, I'm sure you could probably pay extra to have some custom made but it's a huge safety thing for me when leaning over the side of the boat and after having them on my Grady, I wouldn't want a boat without them. I think Parker implemented them back around 2007 or so? but before then they didn't have them. And Parker boats seem like they're even more expensive than Grady White's are. I also am not a fan of the Parker 2120 with the notched out transom, so I'd want the 2320 with the transom bracket on it, which brings the price up quite a bit. I'm also not a fan of the step down into the pilot house and the low overhead of the roof when doing so. The cabin inside just having a curtain to me just seems cheap as well, and as another member mentioned previously if you have the pilothouse as opposed to the walk around you'll probably need two sets of steering and throttle controls as well as two different setups for navigation and electronics... which only adds more and more money to things. Looking at Parker's also has shown that they're typically at least $15k-20k more than what I paid for my Grady, which was $26.5k. Most of the mid 2000's Parker 2320's are in the low to mid $40k's it seems like and I could almost buy two Grady's for that price. The Parker walk around wouldn't be bad, but I think the Grady looks much better. Not trying to bash on any brand of boat, just my opinions on the matter since I've owned two Arima's, have been on a few Defiance boats and even looked at a couple of Parker's in person. I think Grady is the answer for me. If I ever sold my 228 Seafarer and wanted something bigger, which I don't think will happen unless I moved somewhere else, then I think the Pursuit 2470 Walkaround might be worth "Pursuing" har har har.

 

[JJMag]

JJMag, did he build it to the same line that the original windshield frame attached to, or was there some glass work below the house addition? Not sure if your boat had the curved, or the angled windshield.

glacierbaze he built it to the same lines as original windshield frame did not have to do any additional glass work. And it did have a curved angled windshield . The fabricator and myself was very happily surprised how beefy the the original fiberglass wooden area where the windshield and pilot house mounted, he has built hundreds of pilot houses multiple different manufacturers of boats and has never seen one as beefy as Grady White !