Grady White Factory Tour

[alfa1023]

My wife and I will be up in eastern NC later this month and plan to stop and do the tour at the Grady White facility. For those that have done this, any hints on what specifics we should ask to do or see? Anything that isn't normally included unless you know to ask?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[ElyseM]

it's a great tour. at the end, you'll understand where the money goes.

they walk you through pretty much everything. only design/engineering is verboten for obvious reasons.

have fun, ron

 

[Average Joe]

The only thing I can think of that you might ask is whether or not they have one like yours under construction. I was fortunate in that they had a 208 at a point where I was able to see things that you can't once it's complete. It also gives you a chance to ask the craftsmen working on it any questions you might have.

Other than that it's a very thorough tour.

Oh yea, you might want to make sure you meet the nice lady that answers the phone there...."Grady White Boats".

 

[JiminGA]

You probably already did this, but if you haven't, do yourself a favor and give customer service a call and make that connection before you show up. They'll likely have a nice little gift bag for you and if she's available, you'll likely meet Kris Carroll.

The tour is awesome and you'll leave very impressed with the boats AND the people there. My wife and I had a chance to talk to a couple of workers who were working on a 228 like ours. They were delighted to meet us and one of them smiled and proudly said to us, "I helped build YOUR boat!"

A class operation at GW.

 

[Bob's Cay]

I have taken the tour a couple of times and you will enjoy it. Very worthwhile.

The only suggestion I would have is to call and see what the production schedule is. Given the economy they maybe only working 4 days a week or shutting down for a week. I stopped in once on short notice and the production line was shut down which was disappointing but on the other had I was given a tour of the design and engineering shop. Had a great visit with a couple of engineers.
This was a several of years ago and when I spotted a very large center console back behind the R&D curtain they simply said "you didn't see that".

The people you meet at the factory are all great.

 

[alfa1023]

Thanks guys for all the comments. We did call and booked a time/date for the tour and also asked if there was anyway to specifically see the production of a 330 Express (would love to see all the little hidden details and be able to ask dumb questions). She didn't say anything about production being down - hopefully we catch them in full swing. It sounds like everyone there is very friendly and willing to entertain unscripted questions.

Any other thoughts or comments - keep em coming.

 

[ElyseM]

I stopped in once on short notice and the production line was shut down which was disappointing but on the other had I was given a tour of the design and engineering shop. Had a great visit with a couple of engineers.
This was a several of years ago and when I spotted a very large center console back behind the R&D curtain they simply said "you didn't see that".

never fails. sooner or later, you always find out who it was that screwed it up for the rest of us. :mrgreen:

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

That was the 336 behind the curtain.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

Alfa, when you go there try to pick behind the curtain and see if there is a HUGE center console behind there(like a 42'er :mrgreen: ).
I know Yamaha is been playing around with the F350 for a while now. :wink:

 

[Bob's Cay]

it was in fact the 336.

 

[NOTHING ELSE MATTERS]

it was in fact the 336.

:wink: :wink:

 

[ksgoldman]

I flew down from Boston in January just to take the tour - it was incredible.

See my posting at viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12419

They couldn't have been nicer.

Enjoy.

 

[alfa1023]

Thanks for the link to your previous post. Guess I should have done a search on this topic. We are definitely looking forward to the tour - we long ago "drank the GW coolaid" and can't imagine not having a Grady in the fleet (have to admit that I am a Scout fan also - our Scout 162 SF is the baby brother to our Grady 330 Express).

Thanks to everyone - will post review comments when we get back. Also will try and take any pics that would be of interest here (maybe some spy shots?!)

 

[alfa1023]

My wife and I really enjoyed the tour. Bert walked us through the entire construction process in detail, answered numerous questions and followed up on a couple he didn't have answers for with an email response. Got to see the inside guts of the 330 Express which was one of my main objectives. Asked Bert about any plans for something bigger than the 36 and he said that at this time they have nothing in the works, but if/when outboards get bigger, they will consider it. There were no curtains blocking off any areas that we saw and didn't see any mysterious "big" hulls back in a corner or anything.

Would strongly recommend the tour to anyone with a Grady or contemplating one.

Thanks again to everyone for their input before we went.