Hello,
We've had our '98 272 for three summers now, and are very happy with it. It is a big boat for it's size, and very comfortable for our family, or when we take a few couples to a waterfront restaurant. The cabin is not huge, but is considerably bigger than the 268, which we also looked at. When running, if I have the motors trimmed up for best economy (for me it's abut 3800 rpm, cruising about 29-30 mph and burning 1.5 gph) and we run into a chop it will pound, but only because the bow is out of the water and the hull is impacting the waves too far aft. A little bit of trim tab to put the bow back into the water eliminates any pounding and produces a surprisingly comfortable ride. Up to a point of course.
I am very happy with the OX66 225's. Ours has about 500 hours total and so far the only things I have done to them is replace the impellers, thermostats, lower unit gear oil, and installed the new style poppet valves. I did get an alarm when coming off plane at the end of last summer and the poppet valve replacement took care of that. I also had an alarm when taking the boat out for the winter, but replacing the t-stats fixed that. I don't think I needed to replace the impellers, but I did it anyway to know where I was in the maintenance schedule. They start quickly, run very strong, and everyone who has been on the boat has commented about how quickly the boat comes onto plane. They do smoke a bit when the first start up, but usually after running on plane for a short time that stops when it comes back to idle. I did notice a fair amount of shaking when they are just above idle, and at first I was a bit disconcerted, but after talking to others and seeing some other similar motors run, it appears to be the norm. Mine have had covers their entire life so the paint and decals look like new. The lower units having not been covered show some sun discoloration, but when they are in the water they look new. They are not as quiet as four strokes, nor do they get as good gas mileage. That being said, for the money it would take me to re-power it's not even close to being worth it. That and the very easy maintenance schedule keep me from even thinking about it. These motors are great. Much better than I thought they would be. But that's just my 2 cents.
The helm station is also much bigger than the 268 and feels much more secure. The 268 just felt cramped to me, both the helm station and the cabin. Don't get me wrong, the 272 cabin is not huge by any stretch, but it is bigger. I really like the the extra beam, and makes it much more comfortable to have family/guests on board. Neither boat has an abundance of seating, and for hanging out at the marina we needed a few folding chairs to be more comfortable. With those added we can hang out for a while with others joining us. The head/shower area is not cavernous, but it serves it's purpose. All those things go away though if your priorities are an 8.5 foot beam.
Our boat was delivered new with every option Grady offered, and some dealer installed ones. The air conditioning makes hanging out at the boat at the marina nice, and keeps everything in the cabin dry even in the high humidity of the Chesapeake Bay summers. The Radar still works great and I use it often, especially on moonless nights. I replaced the danforth anchor that didn't ride the roller very well with a delta and it looks, rides and holds much better.
Now for the other side, but there isn't much...
One thing I was disappointed with was the ride at a drift. Not sure why, but the boat can have an almost harsh, snappy roll while sitting in the bay bottom fishing. Maybe I'm just too sensitive about it, but I can't stay on a drift for very long without getting half pissed and moving to find some calm water. I really expected a better drift with the larger beam, but that may be subjective on my part.
The macerator was froze when we bought the boat, but that is a common problem. I never fixed it and we just use pump outs, which are free at our marina. I doubt that I will replace it as I just don't need to. Since we have a fresh water head and use chemicals that seem to work in the holding tank, I don't get any smell at all, so I don't think I will change anything.
The thru hull/seacocks are WAY down in the aft bilge and it takes a stretch to get to them . Other than exercising them, I usually only leave the A/C valve open. The live well and the wash down pump usually stay closed as I don't use those things much, if at all. I am thinking about putting a rod through the handles to make them easier to get to, but that's a winter project if I do it at all.
The aft bilge pretty much stays dry all the time. The forward bilge does accumulate some water that is too shallow to actuate the auto bilge switch. If I turn on the manual bilge switch I can get most of it out, but there will still be some that is there. I usually take a hand pump and move it to the shower sump and pump it overboard with that. The reason that water accumulates there is two-fold. First, the A/C unit condenses into the bilge, and second, everything drains overboard except for the anchor locker. A heavy rain will put some water in the forward bilge from the hatch to the anchor locker, and I can probably alleviate this with some type of gasket around it. I may look into that next winter, but I will still get water from the A/C unit. I believe the overall problem is that the mounting platform for the auto bilge switch is slightly raised from the bilge itself. Overall not a big problem, but a small gripe.
The wiring for the boat is somewhat of a rat's nest. It's not terrible, but not what you see on newer boats. It seems to be of very high quality, but not organized as I might like it to be. Some of that may be dealer related as they probably installed a lot of things, and it's not too bad, just another minor gripe.
I'm sure there are a few other things that I could mention, but overall we really like the boat. A Marlin or another boat might do some things better, but for the money we have invested and the operational costs we incur, we are very happy with it. We came to this boat from a sailboat, and I would like to get another larger sailboat for spending a few weeks on the bay, or even for going down the inter-coastal waterway, but if we do, and my wife agrees, we intend to keep this boat as well. It does most everything we ask it to, and except for the few things I mentioned, it does it very well.
Just my .02 cents. Hope that helps.
