Tempted by 1990 Sailfish 25

[Albionite]

Would be my first power boat. $18K on Craigslist. Haven't looked at it yet.
Twin Yamaha 200 2-strokes, 1994 vintage, 470 hours according to seller. Mounted on a Grady bracket if I interpret the photos correctly. I think this is a 252G.
Says thru-hulls and transducer need replacing.
What specifically should I look for in a boat like this?

I want something I can take out 10-20 miles in the Pacific off Mendocino when the seas are good. Needs to be able to handle swells and wind chop, as conditions can change fast out there.
For those of you with similar boats on the West Coast - what kind of swells are you comfortable taking on?

 

[seasick]

If you are serious, the first thing you need to look for is a good marine surveyor. You can't tell a lot from a listing. That said, you should go and take a look but make no commitments unless there is a written agreement that gives you the option of backing out based on a survey.
I am not sure how much experience you have in boating but based on your initial post, you may not have sufficient experience to make a thorough initial inspection.
Delaying an offer may cost you the boat but at the same time a rash decision could cost you both money and aggravation.

At a minimum and for your safety, if you go take a look, bring a friend or two hopefully who have boating experience. Do not bring a lot of cash!

 

[Albionite]

I am trying to find a surveyor to help me with this, but so far no luck. I'm on the Mendocino coast where there are apparently no licensed surveyors. There are some a couple of hours away, but they don't do this kind of work. (Prepurchase inspections for small craft probably incur more risk than profit.)

I was dreaming of a boat that could take me out for pelagic birding on the occasional calm days. Most folks here just want to go fishing, and I do plenty of that by kayak already.

 

[luckydude]

Don't be me, my first boat sucked. Find a surveyor.

1990 is pretty old. Grady had wood in the stringers and transom back then, I think, people who know more will chime in.

On the other hand, Grady has built some great boats over the years. If you are young and have a lot of energy to fix things, might be cool. If you are old and burned out like me, run away.

 

[Jamato14]

I was looking for a similar boat before I found the 272 sailfish I now own. The 25’s were nice but a few things I noticed from my search. The Grady drives need to be checked around the bolts for corrosion and water intrusion. I surveyed one and was a day late on another. The one I surveyed had slight water in the transom nothing major but the stringers were delaminated from the Hull. That was a problem that stopped me, all quotes I got for that fix were 7-10k (I’m in New England). If things haven’t been upgraded they’ll need it, waterline thru hulls are all plastic and should be swapped out things like that. Most I found were listed in the 20-35k range and one was 40k. The ones that had been repowered were towards the higher end of the range although the 40k was with 2 stroke Mercury’s. I ended up getting into a 2000 272 at a better deal than the older 252’s. I’d be a little nervous of one listed for $18k in this market, it probably needs some work but that’s just my opinion. If you can find a surveyor to look it over that’s the best money spent, $500 can save you 10x or more than that on fixes.

 

[dude23455]

I'm currently wrapping up a year long process of replacing all stringers and the transom on a 93 252gt. all of it was rotten and water logged.
don't buy it without a survey, unless you want to get into a nice project.

it's a great boat, it's a great hull design and handles chop extremely well.

 

[Late Again Grady]

Getting ready to replace the transom in my '94 27 Sailfish. Yes, it could have something to do with just hanging two new Merc 225's on the back but I believe they just brought the problem to light. 1990 is a long time for a transom to last on a Grady. By all means get it surveyed prior to purchase. Like others have said...if you are young and willing to put in the time, money and effort...it's a good boat. If you are old and tired like a lot of us...look some more. Good luck.

 

[Sailfish]

I would worry that the through hulls need to be replaced because they have alowed water intrusion, resulting in some delamination. As others said, get a survey. Before investing in a survey, you might want to invest in a moisture meter, and scan the hull looking for damp/wet areas.

 

[PointedRose]

If surveyors are not available, find a boat mechanic to check engines’ compression at a minimum. It’ll be worth the diligence to prevent major issues from becoming your problem in the future.

 

[Paul_A]

To me when looking at an old boat the hull is secondary to the motors.

Two motors to push that hull are 30-40 grand. The propulsion is where the money is at because without decent motors you do not want to be going even 10 miles offshore.

Get the motors checked out before you even bother with the boat. Yamahas from that era used in salt are broken bolt headaches waiting to happen. Be careful.

 

[seasick]

To me when looking at an old boat the hull is secondary to the motors.

Two motors to push that hull are 30-40 grand. The propulsion is where the money is at because without decent motors you do not want to be going even 10 miles offshore.

Get the motors checked out before you even bother with the boat. Yamahas from that era used in salt are broken bolt headaches waiting to happen. Be careful.

I respectfully disagree. I would much rather get a solid hull with crappy motors than decent motors on a crappy hull.