The only better boat than a Grady is a bigger Grady and I'm going bigger

[luckydude]

I put down a deposit on a new Marlin 300 today. All of you Marlin owners here have said "do it, you'll love it". I saw the recent thread about someone who bought a 330 express, I priced those new, $550K or more depending on options. That is too much money taken away from my kids so I went with the Marlin. Those of you who can afford a new express or have found a good used one, I salute you, that seems like a better boat. For me, the Marlin was enough of an upgrade that opens up the ocean for more fishing days.

Yes, I'm a wackadoodle for buying new but I have health problems, no idea if I even have 5 years of fishing left. I did not want to buy someone else's problems and I looked and I can't find a used Marlin that is less than 10 years old. And I want all the modern stuff, I have some of that on my 228 like the digital throttle, so nice, no dead spot like you have with cables.

It's gonna come with a new set of things to learn, I have to keep it in a slip. Which means I can't (I think) do the service on it, I don't know how to do that. Getting in and out of a slip, moving it around, getting comfortable with it will take some time.

It's been a struggle because this goes against every lesson I learned growing up, take care of your family first, make sure they are all OK, and if there is anything left you can spend some money.

All that said, I pulled the trigger, it is coming. I'm excited.

 

[Ted R]

Congratulations, very jealous although I really enjoy my 232. I am sorry to hear about your health issues and wish you the very best in the future.

 

[luckydude]

Congratulations, very jealous although I really enjoy my 232. I am sorry to hear about your health issues and wish you the very best in the future.

232 is a nice boat, it is sort of the first of the big boats. I'll deal and if any of you come out to the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm in the Santa Cruz mountains, have a guest house, happy to host and take you fishing on our crappy ocean.

 

[Ted R]

If you make it to Michigan I will take you out to Lake Michigan for Salmon or Lake Erie for Walleye.

 

[PointedRose]

Congrats, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, and the convenience of a slip. If Santa Cruz is backlogged, Elkhorn marina at Moss Landing might be an option for you. I bought a used kicker motor from the guy Dan who runs the marina there and I’m sure he’d be a decent person to talk to regarding ongoing maintenance. If two boats becomes too burdensome you could always unload one, although you might enjoy taking your 228 on day trips or weekends elsewhere.

 

[Absolutely Nothing]

Congratulations on the new Marlin. You won’t be disappointed. i moved up from a 22 foot mako to a 2004 Marlin and am very happy that I did.

 

[Fishermanbb]

Congrats! It’s a fantastic boat and will do nearly anything you ask it to. I had one on my way “Up the GW food chain” and I have the same hull now (Canyon though) on my way back down. I love it. Real tank. Don’t give the handling a second thought. The twins make it a piece of cake. Best of luck!

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

If I am ever in a position to move up it will be a Marlin or Express 305 or maybe a 330. Congrats on your new boat order. I will say this I have fished on all the above boats before . Yes they are nicer and you can go faster in bigger seas than a 228. They are more sea worthy and therefore safer . In 2-4 foot stuff you will be able to punch through it on plane with ease.

however, the older I get the less I care to fish in anything bigger than 3 foot seas on most any boat. once it's over 5 feet even in those boats my interest in going offshore is nearly zero . I think. My interest in a bigger boat is I can explore the Bahamas more , over night with it , chase some yellowfin on the other side of the Gulf Stream and have all my friends on it for a sand bar cruise .lol.

Again congrats !

 

[nuclear]

Congrats, how long until you get it?

 

[HTHM]

I'm happy for you. Enjoy the boat, and the memories it will generate.

 

[TonyD]

Congrats!! And wishing you the best of health!

 

[Halfhitch]

Holy Smokes!!! You are one luckydude.

 

[Paul_A]

Good to hear you've opted to slip the boat. The first time you spend the night and are already there and rested when you wake up in the morning to head out you will not be disappointed.

 

[Father's Day]

I put down a deposit on a new Marlin 300 today. All of you Marlin owners here have said "do it, you'll love it". I saw the recent thread about someone who bought a 330 express, I priced those new, $550K or more depending on options. That is too much money taken away from my kids so I went with the Marlin. Those of you who can afford a new express or have found a good used one, I salute you, that seems like a better boat. For me, the Marlin was enough of an upgrade that opens up the ocean for more fishing days.

Yes, I'm a wackadoodle for buying new but I have health problems, no idea if I even have 5 years of fishing left. I did not want to buy someone else's problems and I looked and I can't find a used Marlin that is less than 10 years old. And I want all the modern stuff, I have some of that on my 228 like the digital throttle, so nice, no dead spot like you have with cables.

It's gonna come with a new set of things to learn, I have to keep it in a slip. Which means I can't (I think) do the service on it, I don't know how to do that. Getting in and out of a slip, moving it around, getting comfortable with it will take some time.

It's been a struggle because this goes against every lesson I learned growing up, take care of your family first, make sure they are all OK, and if there is anything left you can spend some money.

All that said, I pulled the trigger, it is coming. I'm excited.

That's great, I guess the mountains been good to you.
Enjoy and stay safe

 

[luckydude]

Congrats, how long until you get it?

May is what the say but I'm not sure if that includes the shipping time.

 

[luckydude]

That's great, I guess the mountains been good to you.
Enjoy and stay safe

30 years in tech and lets just say there is a reason I picked "luckydude" as my login. I used to be a lot cockier and thought I made my own luck. Not so, it's true I did a lot of hard work, that was necessary. It took that plus luck to actually make some money. These days I'm fully aware there are guys who worked as hard as I did and they are still doing that, never got lucky. My wife and I feel really lucky on a daily basis.

 

[Don Davis]

Too funny, I was ocean fishing this past summer on a hot day, water like glass and I noticed a large Grady trolling past me in the opposite direction maybe 80 feet away, I asked one of the guys if that was an Express but he said Marlin, beautiful boat, I asked if he wanted to trade, he laughed. I now have Marlin envy, good luck with your purchase you will most likely make money on your Seafarer when you sell it.

 

[glacierbaze]

"30 years in tech and lets just say there is a reason I picked "luckydude" as my login."

So, always wondered where the excavator came in. Second career, hobby?

 

[Fishtales]

You'll love it. Spring will be here before you know it.

 

[luckydude]

"30 years in tech and lets just say there is a reason I picked "luckydude" as my login."

So, always wondered where the excavator came in. Second career, hobby?

Wow, I'm talking boats and tractors? Are you kidding me? This is not better than sex but it is close!

I have 2 Kubota tractors, B21 and M59, and a Kubota excavator. Love all of them, they are all great machines.

http://mcvoy.com/lm/tractor-tree.jpg

http://mcvoy.com/lm/excavator.m4v

I've always said where I want to live is city, country, long long pause, suburbs. I lived 19 years in San Francisco, had enough, moved to the Santa Cruz mountains. 15 acres, my neighbor is 320 acres. Property came with a 16hp Kubota, I learned on that and quickly wanted bigger. The B21 is a 21hp tractor but it is beefy, it is a rental yard tractor (that was the market, I bought new, stupid), it is geared so that it will keep up with a 30hp no problem. Great machine. I wanted bigger, got the 59hp M59, amazing machine. Same turn radius as the much smaller B21, M59 is the one with the tree trunk. 4000 pounds of lift, 3 point and a PTO.

The excavator is a KX-161 super series. It's small but a beast, it will lift 6000 pounds up close, 2000 with the booms extended. Small but beefy.

All of that stuff was because when we bought our place in the Santa Cruz mountains we did not spend every last dime on the property, we were not house poor. As time went on, it just made sense to have that stuff.

All of it has paid for itself and if you want I can share stories where that stuff helped other people. I can talk tractors and boats for days nights and weekends.

So not second career though I have done quite a bit of commercial work with the tractors, I'd put it more like I'm an engineer, these tools are fun to use and you can do good stuff with them.

My better than sex comment is based on my family just being sick of me talking how much I love my 228 (and soon my 300), then I talk tractors and it is the same. When you have a good thing, you love it. I love Grady and I love Kubota.