On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 20:38:26 GMT, bo jangles wrote:

Thanks Tom and John H for taking the time to reply. A local dealer
handles Trophy which appears to be OK and I've located a 2 year old
Grady White for what appears to be a reasonable price. I shouldn't
have so many choices - reminds me of buying my first stereo system!

I've only owned two stereo systems - one that I built from components
thirty years ago (although I have updated them from time to time) and
a, get this, Sansui receiver unit that I still have in working
condition.

Anyway...

Trophy is a good boat and the ones I've seen recently are fairly well
built if on the light side for their size. Gradys are a different
story - they have a great reputation which I feel is a tad overblown
and a left over from the days when they built unbelievably solid
wooden boats. Now before all the Grady owners get in my face about
their boats, I do not mean that they are junk - they are good boats.
Just a tad overrated. Personal opinion.

By the way, on the engine side of things, I would opt for a direct
injection engine rather than EFI or carbureted engine as they are much
more efficient and will give you better performance over all.

Finding a boat is a treasure hunt, but if this is the first boat,
guaranteed that it will not be your last. Part of the reason for this
is that you will notice all the things you don't like and look for a
boat that doesn't have those issues.

I really like my boats, but there are things about the Ranger that I
absolutely hate.

Later,

Tom