WTB Seafarer 228, 2000-20016

[Salmon_Slayer]

You should take a look at Suzuki outboards as they make a Suzuki 250 that you can typically find for less than $20k depending on where you live. I've even seen them advertised on Boat Trader or elsewhere around the $15k range, sometimes even slightly less than that. If I were ever to re-power I would go with a Suzuki because of their warranty, service, great reputation and most of all the price. The Yamaha is roughly $10k more and I'm not going to pay an extra $10k just for the name. Even at a buying price of $31k when you add the price of a new Yamaha outboard at $27k, that's already $58k. It sounds like you might be able to make a wash of transportation costs along with potentially selling your old motor but you'll still need a kicker motor, newer electronics at some point and possibly downriggers? Not exactly sure all of what you have compared to what you need but those are all going to cost more than a total of $2k as a Yamaha 9.9hp High Thrust is over $3,500. But again, it's your money and if that's really what you want to do and how much you want to spend then by all means go for it. I do like that your boat doesn't have bottom paint on it and that it comes with a brand new trailer. I looked at the pictures in the ad multiple times but it wasn't the boat for me at that price. The Arima was a decent boat for me but fishing in the Puget Sound can get a little choppy at times and you'll have 1'-2' chop which you'll just get pounded in with the Arima. It wasn't a bad boat for fishing solo or even with a couple of buddies and for only being a 21' boat it had a surprising amount of fishing space in it. It also did pretty well on fuel, even at WOT when you were cruising it still did pretty well.

That being said, those are about the only things I liked about the Arima as I thought the cabin was too small, the helm area wasn't really big enough for two larger people sitting in the captain's and passenger chairs. I hated the ride quality in the Arima and it would slap you around even with the tiniest bit of chop or wind. It was so light of a boat that the wind would push you around as would the current and after owning it for a couple of months I told myself I wanted something much different and much better as well as nicer. The Arima's have an almost cult-like following in the PNW, I think mostly because they're made in the Seattle area, but I don't understand why. I think they're so completely overrated and I'd never want to own another one again, and I owned two 21' Sea Rangers. They work great when the conditions are flat and calm but what boat doesn't perform perfectly in those conditions? I did the sea trial run for my 228 Seafarer and there was 1'-2' chop and started bending my knees to brace for the impact of the waves when we hit them but with the Grady, you just slice right through the waves and the water. It's a fantastic boat and the ride quality is night and day compared to the Arima. I think you'll likely take the Grady out a couple of times and realize how much better the ride quality is along with it being an easy boat to steer, manage and fish by yourself, and then you'll not use the Arima hardly ever again. The quality of the Grady is also hands down just so much better than the Arima with the fit and finish, the fiberglass, the stainless steel hardware and cleats, the no slip texturing and the thing I really appreciate about the Grady is the toe rails. I can't for the life of me figure out why boat manufacturers don't all use some sort of toe rail or something similar so that people aren't falling overboard. I remember the first time I looked at my boat and thought "Wow" this thing looks great, especially compared to the Arima. I'd say the Grady is probably an 8.5 or 9 out of 10 in regards to how nice it is with the fit, finish and quality of materials used. The Arima comparatively? Probably a 2 or 3? At best? My last Arima was a 2003 and it always looked faded, even when I washed, waxed and buffed it all out. It still looked faded, dirty and just felt like a cheaply made boat that was only meant for fishing. With the Grady you can go fishing, crabbing, shrimping, cruising, sail-gating or whatever you want to do with it.

I've called around for all motors brands, the Suzuki's are minimum 8 months out unfortunately and was quoted $23K for a 250 installed. As of today I can either take over someone place on a yamaha 250 that just landed in the local warehouse or order a new honda with immediate delivery. I even called about Mercury 250 or 300 and they are min 12months out. I've owned the Arima for a long time, and sold my 2018 21' North River Seahawk after riding in a seafarer 228 in the ocean in hopes to find one. I'm aligning everything to be fishing by June so engine availability determines that. Prices for everything have skyrocketed. The boat you purchased was on my list last year and I was just not fast enough to buy it, this one I have a hold on seems like its in great shape, the scheduled survey will tell me everything I need to know. And yes Arima's suck in chop, but she is easy to fish from, cheap to maintain and nimble as heck! I will be using this boat to chase Tuna, I'll most likely moore the Arima where I target spring salmon off the columbia and take the Grady on ocean trips. I sold my North River for $63K so I'm stoked to find a hardtop Grady that will be refreshed as a replacement. Like I said above the only way I'll let go the Arima is to replace it with a sled, but I dont think I'll find a repowered sled for under $20K. At the end of the day yes I'll oddly have multiple boats (plus a drift boat) but I'm still way under $$ than any new boat that compares and with both being repowered I'm set for a long time and able to fish anything I want in the PNW! BTW I fish a lot with friends and family so its all well spent money to me.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

In that case, I'd do what Parthery mentioned and run the motor you've got until it quits and then re-power when you've got more time to do so and when the prices aren't so high. I guess I'm just more of a frugal fisherman and while I love fishing, I can't get myself to pay more for something than what it's worth. Especially something that's considerably more than what it's worth as I look at boats as investments that I could potentially sell later on and at the absolute minimum, I need to break even, if not making a few bucks. Otherwise, it's not worth it to me to buy that boat and I'll look at others instead. Anyway, good luck with the purchase and keep us all up to date with what happens.

 

[Tug]

You will love the 228, the Grady is the nicest riding ocean boat that I have been in. I’m leaning towards a 228 but also like you have fished the Arima and it is a great little fishing boat but by design it is not a smooth ocean vessel.
I wanted to share if your buying a boat back east without a trailer make sure you dial in a trailer first, I was looking at a boat with no trailer (Florida) and it has been frustrating trying to land a trailer. I’m being told 8 weeks to 16 weeks wait time and everyone is so busy they don’t even seem interested in spending much time with you.
Im passing on the boat, it was an Arima 19 Chaser, now I am back focused on a Grady 226 or 228.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

You will love the 228, the Grady is the nicest riding ocean boat that I have been in. I’m leaning towards a 228 but also like you have fished the Arima and it is a great little fishing boat but by design it is not a smooth ocean vessel.
I wanted to share if your buying a boat back east without a trailer make sure you dial in a trailer first, I was looking at a boat with no trailer (Florida) and it has been frustrating trying to land a trailer. I’m being told 8 weeks to 16 weeks wait time and everyone is so busy they don’t even seem interested in spending much time with you.
Im passing on the boat, it was an Arima 19 Chaser, now I am back focused on a Grady 226 or 228.

If you're talking about the 19' Arima SC located in Florida on the Boat Trader website then I have a few thoughts on that boat... First of all, it's been listed for sometime now which makes me think it's priced much too high. I know boat prices have gone up quite a bit over the last several years but there's no market for Arima's in Florida or much of anywhere besides the west coast. I think the price is much too high for what you get as there is no trailer, no kicker motor, no hardtop, no radar and it just comes with the cheap bimini top and cheap electronics. I'm in a love/hate relationship with Arima boats, I think they're great if you're like me where you have a beach cabin and just want to play around out in front where it's relatively protected waters. Rowing out, climbing in and running to check the crab pots or trolling for salmon for a couple of hours when it's flat, or pulling the kids behind on an inner tube/waterski is great. That being said, any boat will do that in great or optimal conditions and even where I'm at on Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound, it's not the open ocean, it's relatively protected waters that don't get too crazy during the summertime. Yet even still, I sold my 21' Sea Ranger Skip Top because it handled like an absolute dog turd in the wind and chop, and when you'd have to go 10-15 miles back to the cabin in 1'-2' chop your knees and back would be aching when you got back to the cabin. Even their 21' boats, which is the second biggest Arima that they make, still pound in the chop and slap you around. My parents had a 17' SC before when we were back in high school and again, it was a great boat for fishing/crabbing out in front of the cabin and when the conditions were optimal or perfect. But as soon as the chop started to pick up then we'd go back in because it would just be unbearable. I figured the 21' SR ST that I bought would be a night and day difference from the 17' SC we had before but they're such light boats, with a modified vee hull and all of the weight in the rear that it simply made no difference at all. It wasn't more than a few times out before I thought to myself "this sucks". I hate to be so negative toward Arima's and it's definitely a "First world problem" but goodness they're not a fun boat to ride in when it's choppy.

Lastly, the pricing I again think is much too high on the Florida boat. For comparison, I bought my 21' SR ST back in July of 2017 in Maryland for $16.5k and it came with a trailer. It had the original Honda 130hp 4 stroke on it, which this one comes with a relatively newer re-power from 2014 so that's a plus, but it's still an almost 10 year old motor. I think for the price of the boat, not having a trailer or a kicker motor, radar or anything great included, I don't think it's worth it. I told myself I'd never buy another Arima, unless I were to flip the boat to try and make a profit on one. And I think you'd definitely be losing money on this boat as you're already at $23k without a trailer and then the boat is still in Florida. I'm assuming that if you're looking at Arima's that you're in the PNW or the west coast? If so, you're going to likely spend $4k minimum if you want to have the boat shipped back to the west coast. If you do it yourself by flying out there, renting a truck and driving it back you could probably do it for $2,500 or so. Even less if you drove out there, bought the boat and then drove it back out this way. But then that will take at least a week to do, and did that for the 21' SR ST that I bought out in Maryland. I bought a second one to flip that was also being sold in Maryland, it was a 2000 21' SR HT with a Honda 130hp 4 stroke on it, of which I bought it for $20k and sold it for $28,500. For that one, we flew out, rented a Ford F-250 diesel pickup truck from Enterprise and then drove it back to Seattle. That being said, Enterprise doesn't do that anymore, or at least didn't do it back in October when I bought my Grady White 228 Seafarer, or at least they didn't want to do a one way truck rental from those locations... maybe they do it elsewhere throughout the country? The point being is that I sold both Arima's for $27,500 and $28,500, so while I made a profit off of both boats, $10k+ on the skip top, the reason is because I got them for such a good deal. Again at $23k with no trailer and the boat still being in Florida, you're going to be at $30k by the time you have the boat back home. And I don't know where you're located at but in the Seattle area you have to pay 10.4% sales tax for a boat, so there's another $2,400 added into the equation. I know boats have gone up in value over the last several years but I honestly don't think this boat would be worth more than $30k out here in the PNW or on the west coast. It's dirty, faded, the black paint on the windshield is all chipped and peeling off, there's rust on the front of the outboard. There's a reason why the boat hasn't sold yet and it's because it's listed much too high for the demographic. If that boat was listed out here for $23k, and especially if it had a trailer included, it likely would've sold already but not in Florida. Like I said, Arima's have their place and they have certain instances where they work great and so forth, but my 12' Lund will do great when it's flat and the conditions are perfect or optimal. I would, and did, get a Grady White and don't look back. There are several available, the one for $33k on BT in Florida looks to still be available, although I'm not sure why as it looks like a decent boat. But it's been listed for I think a month or so now. There's the other one in SC for $34k that looks even nicer, but it doesn't come with a trailer. If you're serious then have your finances in order and be ready to jump on a good deal because they don't happen everyday. Be patient, look for the right boat, one that will suit your needs well and don't get frustrated with boat buying. I sold my Arima in September of 2020 and didn't find a replacement GW until October of 2021 and looked at several boats that either had damage, had the dry exhaust corrosion problem or something else to where I ended up passing on those boats.