Took Factory Tour last Friday - WOW! - Incredible!

[GW VOYAGER]

I bought a 1996 Grady last year. The boat is solid as a rock and I guess the prev. owner either didn,t use it or he took great care of it.
Once I looked at the boat I didn't think twice about buying it even at that age and I am trying to say grady's longevity speaks for itself. Sure on this site where there are huge numbers we hear a little about wood rot an exception rather than fact unless everyone is hiding the rot.
The ones that do have it are usally repairing and most of the time on older gradys. Any neglected boat will have problems and some problems may happen on new or old boats any Mfg.
I'd bet money that a contender at the age of my boat will not be any better and in the words of Forrest Gump "thats all I got to say about that".

 

[North River Grady]

Thank you for posting about the tour and the pics are great. I can't wait to go down for a tour in the future. It was a positive post with great insight. Everyone has their views and all things have their pros and cons, but I love the GWs and have owned 3. I also went to the Providence Boat Show last weekend, w/ 4 kids 11 and under we climbed through every boat we could get on, and I couldn't be happier with my boat after seeing all the others. I love the looks of the pursuits and some of the amenities, but the layout of my 232 fits my multiple uses a lot better than their 235 or 255. There were plenty of other brands which I like and enjoyed viewing, but I still prefer mine and I am partial to the "GW koolaid" as well.

 

[ron t]

factory tour

I own a 2009 275 Tournament Hardtop with single 350 Yamaha.I am very happy with this boat. The quality is generally good, the ride, design. layout,handeling are excellent,and most of all the excellent service offered by the Grady White Company.However, I must agree with SoutheastFL. regarding the following. 1) The windshield is of poor quality and does not belong on this boat. It looks cheap and is cheap. When snapping the eisenglass to the windshield it flexes and bends. A better stronger more appealing windshield would certainly enhance this boat. 2) The Hull to Deck joint leaks. Rainwater gets into the bilges and lays on top of the foam filled transverses and stringers. This is causing mold to grow on top of the foam filled stringers and inside the hull side and bilge area. This is visable to me from the aft opening lazarette. I dont know about the rest of the bilge area because there is no assess. Grady certainly should do a better job with this important structural connection. 3) The boat was delivered with construction debris in the bilge. Saw dust, Fiber strands, Wood pieces, wire snips etc. They float around visable in the aft compartment , being sucked into the bilge pump. I try cleaning the bilge with a wet vac, but it is impossible to clean the bilge properly due to limited access hatches. I understand it is difficult to have additional access hatches due to the placement of the gas tanks, fresh water tank, and holding tank. So it is imperative that the bilges be cleaned at the factory prior to installing all the tanks. 4) Grady needs to have a better design so that the engine fin comes fully out of the water. This would avoid electrolis, corrosion, and barnacles growing in the engines lower water intakes. This is important for improved engine maintenance. And lastly, 5) My boat was delived to me with the Bow cushions mildewed. The foam used is open cell and absorbs water like a sponge. To make matters worse the company that makes Graday,s cushions wraps thin plactic around the foam fill in order to make it easy to insert the foam in the vinyl covers. I spoke to the cushion manufactures who were very accomodating and replaced my foam incerts with a closed cell foam that water will just run through. And without the plastic that just holds the water in and does not permit the foam from drying. These are just oversights that are not being observed by Grady's engineers and quality control personel. I had discussed all of the above with Grady management and they were very receptive to my comments. I hope they make these necessary corrections. ron t

 

[White Horses (Mike)]

CJ Brown - You hit the nail on the head there. I just want to be on record as saying that I do love my GW, but I actually LIKE to hear from others who prefer a different boat or different methods. I looked hard, especially at Pursuit and Edgewater, when I was looking for this boat. As someone else suggested, it is the sum of the parts that matters, compromises included. The Tournament 225 was best for us hands down, but it is not perfect.


When the conversation turns insulting or mean spirited...well that's just unecessary.

Thanks to ksgoldman for starting the thread and the pics are great!

 

[White Horses (Mike)]

Ron T - thanks for your post. I have to agree about getting the motors out of the water. Also, and this has been explored in depth by many previous posts, the scuppers are partially in the water on our 225 which causes barnacles, scum and general unhappiness to accumulate - this is actually a condition that I consider dangerous as well as frustrsting. Those are really the only issues that we have. Our bilge areas stay dry and arrived clean. I'm glad you notified Grady about that - definitely not acceptable. Actually one of the great joys of our boat is that everything stays remarkably dry, even though it lives on a mooring in sea water. I give alot of credit for that to the full canvas mooring cover we use.

 

[Bama96]

Re: factory tour

I own a 2009 275 Tournament Hardtop with single 350 Yamaha.I am very happy with this boat. The quality is generally good, the ride, design. layout,handeling are excellent,and most of all the excellent service offered by the Grady White Company.However, I must agree with SoutheastFL. regarding the following. 1) The windshield is of poor quality and does not belong on this boat. It looks cheap and is cheap. When snapping the eisenglass to the windshield it flexes and bends. A better stronger more appealing windshield would certainly enhance this boat. 2) The Hull to Deck joint leaks. Rainwater gets into the bilges and lays on top of the foam filled transverses and stringers. This is causing mold to grow on top of the foam filled stringers and inside the hull side and bilge area. This is visable to me from the aft opening lazarette. I dont know about the rest of the bilge area because there is no assess. Grady certainly should do a better job with this important structural connection. 3) The boat was delivered with construction debris in the bilge. Saw dust, Fiber strands, Wood pieces, wire snips etc. They float around visable in the aft compartment , being sucked into the bilge pump. I try cleaning the bilge with a wet vac, but it is impossible to clean the bilge properly due to limited access hatches. I understand it is difficult to have additional access hatches due to the placement of the gas tanks, fresh water tank, and holding tank. So it is imperative that the bilges be cleaned at the factory prior to installing all the tanks. 4) Grady needs to have a better design so that the engine fin comes fully out of the water. This would avoid electrolis, corrosion, and barnacles growing in the engines lower water intakes. This is important for improved engine maintenance. And lastly, 5) My boat was delived to me with the Bow cushions mildewed. The foam used is open cell and absorbs water like a sponge. To make matters worse the company that makes Graday,s cushions wraps thin plactic around the foam fill in order to make it easy to insert the foam in the vinyl covers. I spoke to the cushion manufactures who were very accomodating and replaced my foam incerts with a closed cell foam that water will just run through. And without the plastic that just holds the water in and does not permit the foam from drying. These are just oversights that are not being observed by Grady's engineers and quality control personel. I had discussed all of the above with Grady management and they were very receptive to my comments. I hope they make these necessary corrections. ron t

Ron thanks for your observations. These are the type of comments I am sure Grady wants to hear. Well thought out with reasoning behind your dislikes.

 

[megabytes]

Ditto. This is what I call constructive criticism and is valuable to GW. I had a few defects on my boat as well. GW and the dealer addressed every one and in some cases went beyond warranty coverage.

FTR: I have read even Cabos have defects. I wish boats could be as defect free as my 3 Lexus autos but I have yet to year of any.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

Southeast mentioned something which has got me thinking...oh the puff of smoke came out of my ears ...anyway, bow pulpits...bolted on versus being molded into the boat?

When a builder integrates a bow puplit into the deck liner or hull or how ever it is done, from my experience they either by choice or have to include that 2 feet or so into the LOA of the boat because it is truly part of the boat as it is integrated. So some boats with integrated puplits claim for example they are a 24 feet when in reality they are 22 feet. You buy a 24 foot boat that is no bigger than a 22. Not saying Pursuit does this, but some manufacturers do.

You can order my boat for instance with or without a puplit, the hull length is the same as far the Coast Guard goes and maybe even a marina slip fee :wink: .

I have wondered how much force the bolted on pulpit can take versus a molded in pulpit?

So maybe an integrated pulpit would look better, but is it actually better?

Ron, the mildew cushion should have been caught by the dealer for sure.

Are you sure rain water is entering the seal between the deck and the hull versus the anchor locker? On our 192 we had water enter the bilge through the anchor locker even with the little channel and drain .

I have friends with other brands of boats and after being on the water for a day and i remove the garboard drain plug, my boat is dry. They remove their drain plug and Niagra Falls.....

I looked at the 275, but could not make the finances work for us at the momment. Very Nice ride.

 

[journeyman]

You can order my boat for instance with or without a puplit, the hull length is the same as far the Coast Guard goes and maybe even a marina slip fee :wink: .

At my Marina, they measure LOA from the pulpit to skeg when the engine is up. :roll:

 

[Gman25]

I think the cabin fever has set it for alot of us sitting IFO their computers..even the poor southerners in Florida with all the frost on their pumpkins....and oranges. I LOVE MY BOAT..and I dont like cool aid..Just beer. But after owning 3 gradys I will be the first to admit each one had an issue or two,even the brand new Marlin. Wood never bothered me and I dont think it makes a boat better or worse. I dont see the bolt on/intergrated pulpit being an issue..in fact I love the pulpit upgrade grady did in 05(on the marlin).Someone mentioned the pulpit and wondered how it would hold up in a collision??ur kidding right.If thats the best you can come up with as to why one is better then the other,nuff said. Anyway, FWIW I feel safe and confident when I untie her from the dock and have my family on board to head over to the beach or when I have friends on board to catch dinner, she performes exactly as I would expect and then some..and I couldnt be more proud of her. She turns heads and raises comments where ever we go. And believe it or not they actually say "Beautiful Boat".

Bob pegged it right on..some will send out the bait and someone is gonna pounce on it. Anybody can say what ever they want about my or any other GW. I know what I have and im very happy with her.

People get soured for many different reasons..I know people that would get annoyed if you gave them a million dollars because they had to count it..

I think we need a 'Hug" icon on this site so everyone can make up and get back to what this site has been from the beginning.....mutual respect and where Grady Enthusiasts come together.

2005 300 Marlin w/F250's

 

[Gman25]

You can order my boat for instance with or without a puplit, the hull length is the same as far the Coast Guard goes and maybe even a marina slip fee :wink: .

At my Marina, they measure LOA from the pulpit to skeg when the engine is up. :roll:

Jim I have heard that some marinas measure from the tip of the pulpit to the engines but NEVER with the engines raised. Most of the marinas look at the registration to get the length..that seems to be the most fair to me.

 

[midnight-rider]

I feel like I'm on the Floor of Capital

With all this back and forward left wing Vs right........which ever side of the isle you are on you choose your boat because you liked it best. I've had three GW 1986 19', 1989 20' and my current 1999 23'. I liked Pursuit but due to my limited uses of my legs. I found G.W to be more users friendly with less areas which would make me trip and it was easiar for me to go below. Also I wrote to GW about putting a hard top on thier tournament models because of people with my issues. And they finally took my advise and others who sent them the same. So lets all play nice and write congress and have them marine fuel enthnol free like avation. My next cursade.

 

[viperdrum]

Well, I got into Grady in middle age when I bought a river house. I have had 2--208 and 225, and have had no other boats. I have had a LOT of cars, however--currently 8 and several high end.

It is apples to oranges(cars) but I would say what I like about GW is customer attention and generally good dealer network.The boats are nice but I agree some components seem cheap. What I really find troubling is the poor owners manuals--nearly worthless.

I have had some minor irksome issues--thankfully nothing serious. I have to say having gone to a lot of boat shows I don't see anything that really impresses more than GW and I have looked at things like their wiring compared to the competition and I must say GWS seems to have more attention to detail