Looking at purching a glass boat mid to early 2000s series boat. Cant afford a new one. Could any of you experienced Glass guys give me any feedback on these three boats. Looking to spend between 25 to 35 ish on a boat. I have looked at these three boats each has a quality. Just curious if anyone knows any red flags for these boats. I'm leaning towards the sea pro. But wanted to put it out there thanks
guys. RT

I've dreamed about owning one of those boats for the last 10 years but still can't afford it. Good luck and enjoy whatever you get! The Parker and the Grady are especially sweet rides. Not sure about Sea Pro.

Dave, I thought you went fishing.?

As far as the boats go......I can't afford to power any of them.

The grady is the best hull in my opinion. Very well made boats. They did some funky stuff with a low transom around that time frame if I remember correctly. I really like the newer Parkers. No experience with the other one.

I have friends with Grady's and they all love their boats. The Parker's are nice looking, too. Don't know about Sea Pro. If I had a choice, it would be Grady, Parker, Sea Pro.

From what I hear the Parker's are a very nice stripped down version of the Grady White that you can purchase for a bit less. Is that correct? Is aluminum out of the question?

Grady is good, but you pay a great deal for the name.

I like the looks of the Parker, but haven't been out on one, I have been to the plant, it was many years ago though.

I have worked in this indusrty doing tech service and supplying products in North America for long time and big well known names don't always mean its a good, well made product.

I spend two weeks every year on a Grady up on Vancouver Island and like their boat very much. All of the guides either have Grady's or want them.Their are a number available and if you look you can find some deals, just get it surveyed. Oh yeah, and get the full transom!

I have been on a Sea Pro and I thought it was a lighter,less well appointed Grady. If I was going offshore with it I would go with tried and true.

Never been on a Parker,but they do look good.

Good luck in your quest.

Fishy

Parker

all 3 are in completely different leagues.

The Sea Pro is a no frills entry level boat, think old Trophy, WAC style where you dont have much fishing space once you put 3-4 guys in the boat. They get the job done, can accomodate usually 2 for overnighters in the cuddys. They dont make a hard top, so the only option for shelter is usually eisenglass/plastic. Which just suck in the cold wet rainy mornings. Seating is for 2 under the shelter, and anyone else is gonna be wet.

A grady will be the best riding of the 3 but suffers the same as the Seapro in fishing space, until you get up to the 25+ footers. Same deal as above; dry seating is lacking. Fit and finish is way better, its a solid and well built boat. The problem here is your price range. You most likely will only find a few for what you want to spend, and they will most likely have 2 strokes w/ lots of hours and be from the east coast..

Then theres the Parker. No frills meat and potato boats. Most are hardtops, which is hard to beat for the NW climate. They make 2 different hulls. One is a DV and one is a shallow V. You only want to consider the Deep V. The helm is forward on the Parker, making the ride feel more harsh than a WAC boat. But with it comes the trade off. The Fishing Cockpit is really big. Especially on the models like the 2320 which has a OS Bracket. you can easily put 5-6 guys on the deck fishing..
Its very utilitarian, smallish cuddy that would be really tight for 2 guys. There is Dry seating for 3 (very tight for 4) inside the standard Pilothouse.

So at the end of they day you are going to have to decide on what is important to you.. Do you want lots of fishing space, or a boat that lacks space but rides nice ?? It really comes down to how and where you are going to use the boat..

For me, I'll sacrifice some ride quality to gain fishing space. But after owning several boats over the past 10 years. I dont think I'll ever be able to go back to a boat with canvas for use on the sound or out in the ocean. Sitting in a bone dry cabin when its pissin sideways outside is awesome...

If Grady ever made a pilothouse thats what I'd have!!

Sounds like it's going to be a major investment in a boat, and in fuel. Good luck

Level deck walkaround with a center house. I know you want glass but the boats built in Marysville sure fit the bill. If you look at the state of the art Charter boats in Sitka they all are level deck walkaround. Coldwater or pacific skiff. Aluminum

If you go aluminum, one word: sharkhide

You might want to try looking outside WA. Have a friend who picked up a Grady in CA and another friend found one in OR in your price range. You should get it surveyed before the purchase.

Olybirds speaks with much wisdom. He and I have been on rough water in one or two of these models of which you speak. The other thing on the Parker is the gunnels are quite low compared to the others and can be a bit unnerving in the rough stuff. The gunnels on his boat hit me at the waist, on the Parker we fish tuna out of once in awhile, they hit me mid-thigh or lower and I'm only 5.8". We do have a buddy boat that is a 28' Grady, Oly has fished out of it a few times, I haven't been so lucky to connect schedules. Rough water, Grady hands down. The last trip out in the Parker we crossed the bar easily 45 minutes ahead of them as they got hung up waiting for ice and bait. We pushed hard to beat them to the grounds, after maybe 50 miles they reached the tuna grounds as the same time we did and we were flat out flying. The wet rough ride in made me very glad to be in a cabin, however, the bar was huge with 10 footers and very angry when we crossed an hour and a half behind them, it was bigger for them.

Grady hands down for ride quality, especially in rough water. Parker for fishing deck, it's a 25' and has a freakishly huge dance floor out back, if you could fit them in the cabin it would comfortably fish 5 or 6 guys, plus it is a true walk around with the narrow cabin which makes it really nice if you got a hot fish on taking you for a walk. But, as Olybirds said, the cabin is very tight on seating and the ride is not as smooth. Grady is a two seater, anyone other than the captain and first mate get to ride the transom seats in the rain, bring your rain gear.

You're going to be limited to what you can find in your price range, which will most likely be an older boat. Gradys age well and hold their value as well as any. Definitely get a survey done by a qualified surveyor on anything you consider. Glass boats can really hide their issues very well under the surface and if you haven't owned one before, you might never see it until it is way too late.

I picked up a 2000 Grady 192 with a good as new trailer, full canvass, diesel heater, for $5k on craigslist. Added a 175 hp e-tec for another $11k plus rigging fee. Electronics, new seats, downriggers, etc. and I'm still not in it $20k. Problem with my boat was the transom had been cut when somebody stole the motor from the previous owner. That was repaired professionally with a complete transom replacement, and you can't tell it was done except underneath the motor well.

The boat is great to fish out of. Tons of deck space. The "Sea V2" hull takes rough water and is stable while trolling. No complaints.

http://www.gradywhite.com/grady-built/seav2.php3

I'm biased but check out the Seastrike lineup. They are made down in FL and I've only ever seen one other SS in the NW in the 8 years I've had mine.
They handle the big ugly stuff really well. Made for fishing.

http://www.seastrikeboats.com/New/home.asp

New management since mine was made. My guess is you could get current user input from a fishing or boating site in FL.

Love mine.

Coldwater? A totally cutom aluminum boat versus a production fiberglass boat for 25 to 35k? Really? For saltwater stay with glass for many reasons. I have an aluminum boat now but I had a 23 trophy 2001 with a small block 5.7 for 4 years and my friend had a newer 24 Grady with a Yamaha. We fished both. Trophy was better bang for the buck (right now thats not the case and gradys are cheap) but the Grady with an outboard rode out better in the worst the sound has to offer. We used to travel side by side coming back from neah bay and with the exact same waves and two guys in each boat, mine would pitch a lot more than his with the yamaha on a gil bracker. We both thought the trophy was a dryer ride, but the grady had a center of gravity that was slightly further forward on the running surface and it made a difference in pitching. The chine and keel were rounded over and the deadrise was slightly higher on the grady (less beam). I would look at used Gradys with outboards right now The parker is finished like a california boat (Farralon etc) and has base coated storage lockers etc. Not as refined. for the money, Id stay with Grady. Oh yeah, the beam on the smaller gradys (and 20 ft trophys) is limited and they rock like a son of a gun when your trolling. Just put your foot on the gunnel of a 24 and and 21 when your at the dock. big dif in the lighter, skinnier boat. just 2 cents.

At first glance, I thought you were deciding to either buy a Grady, sea-pro or just boat ho like Parker.