Please help....looking at 88 24' Offshore

[stuntstud2]

I am new to this sight and new to Grady White's. I am looking to go bigger. I want to go offshore fishing, but still be able to take the kids and the wife to the beach and entertain some friends. I started to think about a walkaround. My mechanic turned me on to a boat he setup for one of his other customers. It is an 88 24' Offshore repowered with a 03 merc 250 opti xs. It has been completely rebuilt by mercury racing. The engine is new with about 8 hours on it.

Is a single motor going to be alright on this boat? I would think a twin setup would be normal, or optimal. Does anyone know anything about this hull? Is it good or bad? What should I look out for? How does it ride? Is it wet or dry? How will it handle 4' seas? Basically anything you can tell me about the boat.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[3rd Day]

Not sure about the 1988 24 Offshore. If it is anything like the 1980 24 Offshore I used to fish, that is one tough boat!!. In fact it was that boat that got me to look at Grady & switch from another manufaturer. Not sure if the power is adequate. The 80 model has a pair of 140 Johnsons and seems to have enough power and I'm not sure when they switched to the SeaV2 hull which is an improvement in the ride quality. Good luck in your search.

 

[SlimJim]

I had the 1990 model with a Yamaha 225hp, nice boat and the 225 was good power for that boat. It did not have the SV2 Hull and it did pound in a head sea. It will be a wet ride and a pounding ride in a 4ft sea.

 

[CaptKennyW]

Thats a pretty big boat. A 250 might not be enough.

 

[mjtyszki]

I have a 1990 offshore powered with a 225 Johnson. The 225 gets the boat up and moving but you need to adjust both the outboards trim and trim tabs to get out of the water efficiently. I assume that a 250 would handle the job considerably better than the 225 so I would have no concerns in that area.

Twins are nice to have for maneuvering in tight quarters as well as having the redundancy when out at sea, however, I would not rely on having twins as the ultimate source of redundancy. I think there have been many polls and surveys that have shown that the largest cause of outboard failures are fuel related. I have a 25 horse kicker with a separate tank when I go out.

The Offshore is a pretty heavy boat and cuts a rough sea fairly well. I have not experienced the wet ride in 4ft sees as some others have but it can certainly get a little wet when you get above those 4 footers. This is another area that some will take into consideration when purchasing a pre-SV2 hull. I have rarely seen water make it into my cockpit while driving into a head sea but I am not going to say that it never happens. Truly, if I wanted to stay dry I would play golf and not bother with fishing.

Cruising though 4 footers you will occasionally get a little bit of hull slap but don't forget that you are in a Grady White which is known for having a pretty rugged hull.

Another thing that is mentioned on this site is regarding towing. It may seem daunting to tow something that size if you are relatively inexperienced. I have towed this boat numerous times and for pretty great distances and the boat tows wonderfully using my 1/2 ton pickup.

A question for you is whether the boat is solid or open transom?

Hope this helps...

 

[Fishermanbb]

I had a 1987 Offshore with a 225 Johnson and a kicker......PLenty of motor unless you are going really far offshore.....Then it might be better to have twins......However, the pre-SV2 hulls pounded considerably.....nothing to stop you from getting one but be aware it rides nothing like the newer hulls....

 

[Tuna Man]

I had an 1988 with Evinrude 225 and a kicker. Either a Johnson or Evinrude 225 was almost 'standard issue' in my area. Maybe three of the twenty or so of the the Offshore models I have seen did not have the OMC 225. One of them had twins on a notched transom and the other two had a Mercury 200 hung on the transom. From the reports that I got form Grady, the Mercury 200 was actually a little faster then the OMC 225. Overall we were pleased with the boat, main reason I sold it was I got a great deal on a newer Grady 24' SeaV2 Explorer.

 

[stuntstud2]

the boat has a closed transon with the motor on a bracket. when did Grady come out with the seav2 hull?

 

[Tuna Man]

On this size boat it was 1992. Went from the 24' Offshore model to the 24' Explorer model. On most other Grady hulls it was around the same time (within a few years).

 

[Tuna Man]

By the way, welcome to the sight.

 

[Offshore24]

I have a 1987 OS242 with the aluminum bracket and it came with a Yamaha excel 225 2-stroke. That engine blew up a couple seasons back and i repowered with a Yam F225. I had a 9.9 kicker on the 4-stroke as it was getting long in the tooth and i go 12-miles offshore sharking. 225 hp is more than enough to push the boat as fast as it is meant to go. IMO you don't want any more weight in the back than you need. You want to have enough gas to get out there and back and economy is much better with a single than a twin. If you're looking at a 20+ year old boat, I figure economy is part of the equation for you as it is for me.

I replaced the fuel tank a couple seasons back so look at that carefully. Check the transom for cracks, the bilges for wiring issues related to bilge pumps. Deck crazing, Walkaround cabin for leaking. General older boat stuff. I've had nothing but fun with mine.

 

[stuntstud2]

Yes gas is definetly a concern of mine. But I have been looking at it more carefully and it could take years to recoup the cost of gas compared to the purchase price of a boat with a newer motor. Thanks to everyone for there help. I am going to get a grady wa. I just need to find the right one, and there are so many out there right now.

 

[HaulinBass]

24 Offshore

I have a 1988 Offshore with 2 150hp Johnsons on a bracket and my buddy has an 1985 24 Offshore with a single 200HO E-Tec. The boats are almost identical as far hole shot and top speeds, so I think that the set up you are considering should move out just fine. The hull like all Gradys sre very solid, it will handle a 4 ft chop just bury the tabs and hold on. The newer hulls do have a smoother ride. Best of luck.

 

[lazy197]

I had a 89 24 offshore ( transome mount outboard, no hard top) with a 225 evinrude and it was powered fine. I went to the caynons with it a few times. My slip neighbor had a 87 24 with a hard top and bracket with the same motor and it was noticably more sluggish but still powered OK. I was surprised what some extra weight in the wrong places does to perfomance. Check the transome for water on anything prior to the early ninties. Figure on new fuel tanks too if they have not been replaced.