dmccorki, your posting hit home with me. I purchased a new 208 GW in 1995 and owned it for 5 years until it was lost in a major fire in a boatel in Va. Beach. I paid approx. 28k for the boat in 1995 and in 2000, after the fire, the insurance company (Allstate) paid me 23,500 for my loss. I felt pretty good only loosing 4,500 for owning the boat for 5 yrs and putting more than 500 hrs on it.
It took me 5 years to make the plung again to purchase another boat. So, in July 2005 we purchased a new Robalo 235 (with a single 225 HP Yamaha) for about 56k. It was loaded with a hardtop (but no trailer), had alot of standard features - about the same as the GW 232. The main problem with the boat was that it was underpowered... and to be honest, it was NOT a Grady-white.
Soon after the purchase, both my wife and I realized that we should have spent the extra $ and got the boat that we wanted ( GW 232). We were lucky enough that after notifying the dealer that we were not happy with the Robalo, he found a buyer for the boat and we were able to sell for about 6k less than we paid. We did put about 100 hrs on the Robalo in the 11 months that we owned it. Had the boat had twin 150's , we would have kept it longer. But to be honest, we never fell in love with the Robalo.
After owning the 208 GW, we always were comparing our Robalo to the GW and realizing that we compromized. Not that compromizing is bad... but I am glad to say that we took another plunge over the weekend and purchased the boat of our dreams, that being a 2008 GW 232 Gulfstream with twin 150's. My stratgy this time was to finance for 15 yrs vs. 10 yrs for the Robalo. Monthly payments are not that much more and we have a GW!
If you want to see our Robalo, I believe the owner that purchased it from us is now trying to sell it at:
http://www.airtimewatersports.com/usedboats.html
Airtime is a great dealership and a great place to purchase a Robalo if you are interested.
I know it sounds odd, but I am so looking foward to calling the boatel to ask them to put or GW in the water (vs. our Robalo) and can not wait for spring!
I will be posting the photo's of our new GW 232 soon! For those that may go to the Va. Beach Boat show this weekend, our new boat is the one with the SOLD sign on it.
glad to be back to the GW family!
R. Nielsen
Suffolk, Virginia