Whats the best Grady of all time?

For, me it's the boats I owned:

Best coastal cuddy- 228 seafarer- handles seas well for it's size, nice cockpit, trailerable, storage, great livewell, easy to handle around a sandbar, great lines

Best offshore boat( for my needs) Grady Marlin. Has good fuel range, easy access to the bow with the walkaround , big enough to go fish wherever I want but easy enough to dock in Marinas by myself. Overnighting was fine for me. 330 express is nice but just too big for me.
 
I spent 4 fantastic seasons on a 226 Seafarer, which I loved - I'd buy a 228 instead if I could go back but that isn't how it works. That said, now that I have the 272 Sailfish dialed in, I have to say that I like it better. 9.5' beam is unbelievably cool.

The one that really has my attention now though its the 232. I'll bet that's a really nice setup too. LOVE those motor brackets!
 
K2Freak said:
I spent 4 fantastic seasons on a 226 Seafarer, which I loved - I'd buy a 228 instead if I could go back but that isn't how it works. That said, now that I have the 272 Sailfish dialed in, I have to say that I like it better. 9.5' beam is unbelievably cool.

The one that really has my attention now though its the 232. I'll bet that's a really nice setup too. LOVE those motor brackets!
Click to expand...

It's weird, some people love the 228 swim bracket and some people hate it. So far, I love it. Yeah, it can push you around a bit in a following sea but I grep up ice covered roads in Wisconsin, I don't pucker up if I start to drift. The following sea pushing you feels a lot like a drift.

But truth in advertising, I'm not going out in 8 feet @ 10 seconds, maybe with a following sea like that it would stuff the bow if you were pointed right into the next swell.
 
I have had a 17' Pamlico for 16 yrs, a 190 Tournament for 12 yrs & now a 248 Voyager for 2 yrs all my favorite boats , the Marlin is about three years away.
I'm sure that will be a favorite also
 
I like the bracket because you get 2-3 feet of free cockpit. Bailing well - gone and solid transom. Add that to the outbacker length for increased effective boat length seems like a total win. That's why I think the 232 is probably huge compared to my 226 - probably feels more like 25'. I'm not sure I need all 28 feet of the 272, and the bracket would give me two extra of cockpit as compared to the 272. 28 shrinks to more like 26 when you hang the motors on it and move the transom forward.

But I am at least 2 years out on another restore. Still tired! 8^)
 
I have not done my research but I think either the 208 or 228 are the longest running hulls or models in their line up. If greatness is measured by longevity then those models are clearly up there. Then you got their big boats and I would vote the Marlin and Express 330 into the Grady Hall of Fame. Sometimes builders just hit winners and these two are definitely that . Then you have the Canyon 456 . I figured I could afford a 2020 model in about 20 years lol. There was a time I really loved the Islander 270 . it seemed to be biggest easily trailerable boat Grady made. I still wish it was in production. I like that size a lot.

So my top 4 are the 208, 228, 300 and 330. I give an honorable mention to the venerable 190/191/192. Probably the best 19 foot boat made today .
 
I’m going to go ahead and throw this out there...like others have said before me...which ever Grady you have is the best one!

I was out in Boston harbor yesterday (sporty conditions by the way) and I counted about 15 people with Grady’s. Not a lot of Fisherman’s but about 7seafarers and tournaments.
 
I have the 282 now and enjoy it...but owned an 03 Marlin in 2004...not enough time to write all the things I loved about that boat
 
Two are the best for me.

1.) 232 Gulfstream. It's the "biggest" 23 out there. Handles rough conditions to a reasonable point, is trailerable although your supposed to have permits and has plenty of room due to the 9' 3" beam. We slept aboard it for years and were comfortable in every respect.

2.) Marlin 300. They've been making it forever and have it down. It is totally in tune with itself, does not need lots of babysitting with tabs and flies level on plane. Equipped with 350 Yam's and a generator there is no hint of mine being stern heavy. No bowsteer at idle or in following seas and it's a dependable coastal cruiser.

I have a pic to prove that my Marlin will run 36-37 MPH at 4000 RPM and net 1.3 MPG. I haven't cracked the throttles yet, but I've had it to near 50 and there's no chine walk or instability. I'm guessing it'll hit 52-53 easily, but I'm not sure. It just plain rocks and handles chop nicely up to two footers. It's stable and safe, albeit uncomfortable in much bigger stuff. I would never do it, but many take them waay offshore in search of whatever fish are out there.
 
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