Just days away from first GW Adventure 208 2021! Am I on the right track?

[Compuserbs]

Pacific Northwest Portland rivers and Puget Sound, for fun, family some fishing, adding heater downrigger, plotter fish finder Seadeck and plan fun for family rivers mostly, sound occasionally! First boat, want to use it all seasons if possible. Convince me I’m not nuts? Will it be okay anchored? Heard deep
V may be wobbly in water, plan to trailer it. Ugh big decision, tell me Grady is Not Like Bayliner??? Better than an aluminum cuddy cabin? Help GW fans?

 

[Hookup1]

Buying a boat, especially your first boat, is a very personal choice. You really have to think they your use case which you have done. I think you will like the Adventure and it should work out for you use. Forget what you heard about deep see hulls. GW SeaV2 hull will work well for you.

Aluminum hulled boats are not popular where I do my boating. I don't like the combination of salt water and metal and personally would not buy one.

I own an 268 Islander which is a similar bigger version. I trailer it to and from Florida in the winter for the last 13 years. I fish offshore and in the bay in FL and Delaware Bay and ocean in NJ. My boat is perfect for me.

 

[Fishtales]

You'll be fine. Have the right safety gear, know your and your boats limits, use it and have fun...

 

[efx]

Good boat. Easy to trailer. Know the weather. Have safety gear and a float plan. Get a sense for open water.

 

[jbloom]

This is a great first boat. You will love it, I know I did, I had a 2015 Adventure 208. We used it for fishing, towing a huge three-man raft for the kids, cruising to different beaches, and going to area towns shopping and dining. Easy to tow and launch. If you have any questions ask me, or this is a great forum.

 

[luckydude]

Pacific Northwest Portland rivers and Puget Sound, for fun, family some fishing, adding heater downrigger, plotter fish finder Seadeck and plan fun for family rivers mostly, sound occasionally! First boat, want to use it all seasons if possible. Convince me I’m not nuts? Will it be okay anchored? Heard deep
V may be wobbly in water, plan to trailer it. Ugh big decision, tell me Grady is Not Like Bayliner??? Better than an aluminum cuddy cabin? Help GW fans?

That's the little brother to the 228 which is perhaps the most popular Grady White. The 208 is exactly the same as a 228 except the cockpit is 2 feet shorter and the smaller 200hp engine is transom mount rather than mounted on the swim platform. I looked at both and I own a 228. It was something like $30K more, crazy, but it was worth for me. I drop crab pots and it is tight in the bigger cockpit, it would be close to impossible in the 208.

If you are fishing 2 people, the 208 is fine. If you want to fish more than 2 people it is going to be very crowded.

The plus side of a 208 is it has the same helm/cuddy cabin as the 228. That helm is *warm*. I came from a center console, my harbor is Santa Cruz, CA, I used to bundle up in the center console. I run the 228 in a t-shirt in almost all conditions, it's that crazy warm. So that's a plus for the 208.

I'm happy to get on the phone and talk boats for as long as you want (or until my family tells me to shut up already). I absolutely adore my 228, she's a great seaworthy boat. The 208 is gonna be tight but still a nice boat.

 

[TUNAHUNTER197]

Grady is not like a Bayliner, plain and simple. There are plenty of guys on the west coast that fish a 208 without any issues and fish them hard. You will have no problem with that boat and it's a great first time boat owner boat. But I bet in a few years you'll have the 2ft'itis but you'll have no problem reselling it out here. Good luck and have fun boat shopping.

 

[Compuserbs]

Well we got the 208 in May, and love it! Hit 75 hours this weekend and have been in the San Juan’s for 2 weeks, Rosario Straight was a rodeo lesson on our return, Cattle Pass around the Island to Roche Harbor another swirly adventure, filling the experience bag a bit faster than I’m emptying the luck bag! Pulled salmon, shad and bass so far. Appreciate your all advice and couldn’t be happier with Jacobsen’s Marine in Edmonds, best of the best in the Northwest!

 

[nuclear]

So you ordered a brand new boat but never even got to pilot a demo and are now worried how it would handle? Maybe it's just me, but if I was dropping that much coin for a new boat, I would want to know everything about it first, including how it rides.

With that being said, it will be fine. Get to know the boat first before you go too far out.

 

[seasick]

I also wonder. Are you days away from delivery or days away from placing an order?

 

[trapper]

Compu. I have had a 208 for 12 years now, While 90% of the time it is just my wife and I aboard, we have boat camped, certainly got our share of prawns and get our quota of of chinook salmon every year. On prawning we pack 8 collapsable traps, 4 pails of 500 ft line each and four floats etc. It is about how organized you are. No we cannot do all these activities at once but individually it can be done in comfort. Enjoy what you can afford, and you will find any Grady a friend once you spend some time with her.

 

[Ky Grady]

Guys,,,,take a breath!!!! Look at the original post,, was back in February,,, OP updated us on post #8 this morning!! All is well, he's happy!!! Ya'll really need to read the full story before you post sometimes.

 

[seasick]

Sorry, you are correct.

 

[nuclear]

Guys,,,,take a breath!!!! Look at the original post,, was back in February,,, OP updated us on post #8 this morning!! All is well, he's happy!!! Ya'll really need to read the full story before you post sometimes.

I did read the full story, just not all of the replies apparently. There is a difference.

 

[Mr Mac]

We are planning to retire in WA and fishing in the PS within the next couple of years. We own a 204C Overnighter which is very comparable to the 208 so it's good to hear your experiences out there!

Just remember, without pictures, it never happened!

Mac

 

[glacierbaze]

KY, any way to have an icon pop up when an OP, or a last reply, is a year old?

 

[Ky Grady]

Not that I'm aware of. I know we had a 15 year old thread or two come back to life a week or so ago. Just goes back to paying attention to the last posting date before you post. I read old threads too, but won't post in them, no reason to. Chances are the OP may be long gone or the issue is not relevant anymore.

 

[trapper]

Ah the beauty of not reading the thread date is that owners information flows on and just possible could be used for future reference........ok ok

 

[seasick]

If I post that I am not falling for that logic, did I just fall for it