Three months with my Marlin

[fischer]

I have been admiring Grady White boats for years, from afar and up close when I could. I upgraded from a nice little 22' Chriscraft walkaround to a 2005 Grady White Marlin with twin Yamaha 250s in January. We nearly made an offer on an Express, but when we thought about it, somebody always ended up front on the little walkaround. We use that area quite a lot, so we went with the Marlin. Ours has the companion bench, which makes nice seating in the helm area and the standard amenities in the cabin. This is something that I'd been aspiring to for decades and finally found myself in a position to make it happen. We sea trialed the Marlin, then had it surveyed and a comprehensive inspection on the 600 hr engines, including a corrosion check. Leak down was better than new, no corrosion and everything works, except the windlass. It's got great Furuno radar and electronics and I added a backup chartplotter/sounder with side imaging. It also came on a nice trailer with new brakes and tires. I outfitted it with Lee telescoping outriggers and I'm ready to go.

It tows great behind my Dodge diesel and is easy to launch. Impressions - It's more than twice the boat my 22 footer was; more like four times as much. We've overnighted on it, ran the generator and heat and soon the A/C. I'm still learning the finer points of the systems and electronics but feel pretty capable at this point. Negative - Pulling it up to the dock in a cross wind and/or current still kicks my butt. I'm hoping with time, I'll get better. Fuel consumption - pleasantly surprised. We ran about 30 miles in a 2-3' chop a couple days ago and some playing with the tabs and trim got me right at 1.33 mpg, cruising at 30 mph. four adults, one child, one full tank of fuel, ice, etc. It was a very comfortable ride too. That's pretty consistent with past performance. I'd say it's exceeded all of my expectations. Now if I can get good at docking it...

We live near Tampa, Fl. My wife and I will be towing down to Marco Island, putting in and running down to Big Pine Key for the Grouper season opener, stopping to fish once or twice along the way. Planning to live on the boat for about a week, fish the reefs and offshore and then head home when we've had enough. It's about 110 miles to our prospective anchorage near Big Pine. I've pinpointed a few foul weather anchorages along the way that I can get to, if it hits the fan while we're making the run. Got an emergency locator beacon, towing insurance, charts of all the water we'll be navigating, besides the two chartplotters. feel prepared but still have a few weeks to think about it. We hope to make this trip several times a year and maybe a Bimini run. When I figure out how to post a photo, I'll add one.

Have a great weekend!

 

[captn]

Congratulations. I have a GW 285 in Anna Maria and considering taking the ride down to boca grande for a weekend. Would love to know how your trip goes if you make it down.

 

[magicalbill]

Glad to hear your experience is satisfying so far. The Marlin would be my next one if I ever decide to upgrade.

I'm curious why you don't run down to the Keys by water? You could be at Marco in a day from Tampa, given calm conditions allowing you to run outside.
I have a 232 Gulfstream and made the run from Charlotte Harbor to Marathon.(I overnited at Rose Marina in Marco and completed the trip the following day. I did it in a day on the return run. Both days were calm, otherwise, I wouldn't have attempted it.)

Well, there is the fuel...I guess 10-11 MPG with the Dodge Cummins is more cost-effective than 1.3 with the Yamaha's.

It's a great trip down..Just swing waay offshore out of Capri Pass to avoid the shoals off Cape Romano. Hope you continue to enjoy your boat, and you will get better at docking. It gets intuitive after you learn the nuances of your rig. Utilize the twin engine maneuvering option whenever you can.

 

[fischer]

Thanks for the comments.

Magicalbill - we're putting in at Marco for the reason you stated. Fuel costs for that part of the trip will be about one tenth and the run from Marco should be long enough to make it feel like a pretty good adventure. I'll save enough in fuel to pay to replace the windlass. We're putting in at Calusa Island Marina, so coming out the other side of the shoals and heading for tower D. I'll be careful in any case. Going to try to catch lunch at the tower or one of the wrecks 6 miles south of there and then head straight for Spanish Channel.

When it's not so windy and the current's not running too strong, I can put the boat just about where I want to. Somehow we always manage but there's been a couple of times it wasn't pretty getting up to the dock. Lots of practice will improve things, I'm sure. Right now, it still feels like a LOT of boat!

captn - I'll post the results and hopefully some photos. We liked the 28' sailfish a lot too and felt like it was enough boat for us, but the lack of a generator was what really pushed us toward the Marlin. But no regrets!

 

[fischer]

My Marlin at the dock, morning after our first overnighter.

 

[Seafarer228G]

Very cool....thanks for sharing.

 

[Fishtales]

Hi,
Congrats. One thing that helps in the wind when docking is rolling up the side curtains to let the wind through. I have the thruster and when I got it thought it wasn't needed and just and extra expense. I've found out it is great to have, especially when wind and current is in play.

 

[fischer]

A bow thruster is definitely on my list of "wants". People seem to love them. Thanks for the tip on the side curtains!

 

[REBThunderroad]

Congratulations. I also have a 2005 Marlin with F-250's and I keep her at Tampa Harbor Marina. We took her down to Marathon a couple years ago from Tampa. Did it in two days with the kids and dog. Performed great including a nasty 4 plus foot chop from Cape Romano to Marathon. Ran better fast through the nasty chops and 20 plus know winds. Let me know if you run into any issue I have tweaked, fixed, upgraded and customized (lol) many things on my Marlin from other and newer GW models.

Great Boat - enjoy.

Rob

 

[megabytes]

Congrats!
I am a 2004 Marlin owner and one of the model's biggest fans. I see from pix you have the same radar I have. Is yours standalone or the 1933 Navnet? (mine).

As for cross winds, yes they can be a pain. I usually try to compensate by reversing the engines so the rotation is toward the wind. Practice is by far the best way to get better. I used to go over to marina early when the docks were mostly empty.

I was on mine this weekend to flush and clean the freshwater system and mount my new EPIRB. Getting ready for spring fishing in NC.

Good luck!

 

[fischer]

RebThunderroad - we probably boat the same areas. Hope to meet you out on the water someday. Have you made the middle grounds trip?

megabytes - 64 mile radar, it's connected to a Navnet 2 display, along with AIS sounder and 1kw transducer. Also has Simrad autopilot. The original owner put some pretty nice gear on the boat. This was my first exposure to that kind of electronics and I was in information overload for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, the manuals are logical and easy to use. I have it in my backyard for now, so I get to spend a lot of time studying. Thinking about putting it in high and dry storage over in Clearwater around the end of the year.

 

[REBThunderroad]

pm sent

 

[sfc2113]

Marlin is my favorites, one day I may get the cash to get one but for now its ....work, work ,work. GL with her she is a beauty !

 

[wjs3]

Hi:

Enjoyed your story. I've had a 2007 Marlin for 2 years now. You've overnighted more on yours in a few months than I have in a few years.

The docking...it takes time. I've come to realize, as people have said here, that it's a tough boat to dock in a crosswind/current. After 2 years, I'm just starting to get comfortable. For what it's worth, I've had most success using the "twin engine" option mentioned earlier in this thread. It took me some time to learn just how much throttle I could (or had to) give in order to get the boat to turn with the enthusiasm I needed it to, yet still move safely and slowly in docking situations. I practiced on open water, just trying to spin circles or pull up to imaginary docks. I still blow a docking every once in a while, but I figure everyone does and have just learned to take my time.

You'll figure it out, I'm sure!

You're doing great with your fuel efficiency. I've started messing with engine trim and started to improve speed and fuel. What are you doing with the trim tabs to improve fuel efficiency? I haven't really touched them.

 

[fischer]

wjs - thanks for the advice. I'll definitely do some open water practice. My experience with the Marlin is obviously very limited but I'll be happy to share what I've learned. If conditions permit (like the other day) I keep the tabs all the way up, unless I need to level the boat. Then it's one all the way up and the other down whatever it takes, usually not much. I hit my rpm, like 4200, and start trimming up. Give it a minute to react, trim a little more, while watching speed, rpms and fuel flow. Typically speed and rpms go up in small increments and fuel flow goes down. I'll throttle back to 4200 and keep playing with the trim until it stops reacting. I think that's the point where I've gotten as much hull out of the water as is possible with my setup at that speed. We're not talking about massive changes, more like 3-4 mph and a couple tenths fuel flow. If I'm going on a long trip, like the keys trip or middle grounds, I'm going to figure on 1 mpg, in case things get snotty.

Thanks again.

 

[wjs3]

Fischer--

Thanks for the advice back at you. So, now I have the dumb questions--when you get the boat up on plane and trim up (I run at 42 like you), then trim up, RPMs increase and speed increases--got that.

At that point, are you saying you back the throttles down to 42 again? Then trim up more?

I've been just trimming up and when the RPMs increase letting them stay high. If that's a mistake I'm making, no wonder my fuel burn numbers aren't so hot.

And you're repeating this until trimming up doesn't give you improved rpms/speed?

Thanks

 

[fischer]

That's correct. And I throttle back to 4200, but there's really not that much difference in mpg a few hundred up from there. I think the main thing is getting as much hull out of the water as possible. I just want to run at 4200, so that's where I keep it and it works out that I'm running 30 mph right there, within a tenth or so either way. I suspect that when I have both tanks full, that's all going to change.

 

[megabytes]

I have the F225s so it may be a bit different but I run higher RPMs. On nice days running offshore (or in the ditch), I run at 4700 with 4 bars of trim (no tabs). When seas get bumpy, the first thing I do is back the engine trim off, and slow to a comfortable speed. If seas are on the bow, I will add trim tabs as needed for a nice ride. I am one who would rather go a bit slower and be confortable.

At the specs above I average 27-28kts with a burn of around 22-24 gph. Backing down to 4200 doesn't seem to gain that much in burn given the reduced speed. I should also note that Megabytes weights around 12.5K (according to our forklifts) since I have genny, all the gear, and a full tank.

As for docking, I found my 300 much easier to handle than my 272 due to weight and engine spread.