What Makes Grand Banks Trawlers So Great?

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refugio said:
2 users online, 168 max. But fair enough - I'd forgotten about IAGBO.

FWIW CBrats has 283562 articles since 2005 (IAGBO was 2006).
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I have no skin in this game but comparing the number of online members of one brand to another seems like comparing a McDonalds burger to perhaps a burger from the Black Pearl in Newport RI...

The Ranger tugs we saw at the Maine Boatbuilders show 2 years ago seemed well made and were full of innovative ideas. Enough so that for a brief hours we actually considered buying one...

In the end I'd much rather own a Grand Banks anything (well, almost anything)

I'm not saying anything negative about the Ranger, it is a nice boat but in the end it was too small and somehow just too gimmicky.

Of course we have purchased neither but rather we are about to send a deposit in on a new American Tug so maybe I don't count...

Bruce
 
I think a GB can take more abuse than most boats out there. You can bounce them off pilings without a scratch. A lot of other boat don't have the strength or the rub rail design to hit the dock hard without some cracking. This is based on chartering several 36' GBs.
 
Bruce B said:
I have no skin in this game but comparing the number of online members of one brand to another seems like comparing a McDonalds burger to perhaps a burger from the Black Pearl in Newport RI...
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Ah, that's not quite the purpose of my response. Hubby B was talking about the GB online community and I simply wanted to point out the vibrancy of the CBrats. I had a CBrat I'd never met invite me out to go prawning a couple of years back. It's really a great on-ramp for someone new to cruising, particularly when they're not located in prime cruising ground like the PNW. Here's a shot of the annual Lake Mead get together:
5055873721_8c61715ec4_b.jpg
 
The biggest advantage of a boat building company that is old , is they can learn from past mistakes , so slowly the boat becomes better.

AS the owners scream of problems (some not found for a decade) the yard will probably modify its product .

A "better" rep will allow items to be included ( like fuel tank clean out access) that cost time and money and may not be in lesser economy builds.

Also the equipment that is installed can be of a higher grade , to visibly match the higher asking price.

A windlass can be $800 to $5000,
 
Island Gypsy are probably the other older, more traditional builder, with similar quality and value holding reputation.
 
If GB needs a shot in the arm, saleswise, maybe they should come out with a trailerable Trawler, like Nordic and American. A newer boat than my Albin-25 is hard to find.
 
Moby Nick said:
If GB needs a shot in the arm, saleswise, maybe they should come out with a trailerable Trawler, like Nordic and American. A newer boat than my Albin-25 is hard to find.
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Grand Banks has found their new plan. It's Palm Beach #1. Then toss in some Eastbay and perhaps some cruising models built more like Palm Beach.

At this point they've got one model in the Eastbay line, a newly designed 44'. Looks just like a Palm Beach.

In the new Grand Banks line, they have a 60' that they've never even put on their website, has just had a little information leak here and there.

Basically Palm Beach is the brand with existing boats and Grand Banks and Eastbay are basically starting from scratch.
 
"If GB needs a shot in the arm, saleswise, maybe they should come out with a trailerable Trawler, like Nordic and American. A newer boat than my Albin-25 is hard to find."

Once the boat becomes trailer sized and weight there is no reason to create a slow "trawler"

The gas mileage is fine at 15-20k as well as 5K.

The trawlery look becomes silly in a 25 ft boat.
 
Tgotch - lots of good info here. In the end, a well kept well built vessel can serve you fine. We landed on a gem of a find with our choice. For our first foray into this lifestyle we wanted first and foremost a reliable, well built home. Our GB 42 is outperforming the pundits in many ways. I'd stay away from anything that looks like a hackmaster has been tinkering with critical systems. A good broker will be able to tell you if a quality marina has been doing the maintenance or not. This is a big issue - as some less qualified do-it-yourselfers have ruined many a good boat.
This forum is packed with folks who really do know what they are doing - so you are definitely on the right track starting here with your questions.
 
We bought our 1981 42' GB in 2010. She had been idle for over two years and caught up in an estate fight. We have gone through a lot of repairs and upgrades through these years and she just keeps rewarding us with reliability as we continue to update and maintain. Teak is an issue an we are throwing in the towel and removing the teak going with alwgrip glass on the deck. Good bones was used as a description and I second that.
 
Our marina neighbor just bought a 1971 GB Alaskan 49' for dirt dirt cheap. He plans to restore it and sell his sailboat and move onto the GB.
 
Grand Banks boats are "grand." Well built, but like all other boats, maintenance and repair needs can't be ignored. Rotting fuel tanks, malfunctioning water pumps, failed generators, teak maintenance, broken windshield wipers, leaking windows, yada, yada. With boats, there is always something broken or breaking down. One needs to keep up. Ignore that, and any boat will become worthless or worse.

I spend several thousand dollars professionally maintaining (money spent goes directly to local workers and business owners) my relatively-young boat each year. That was considered in calculating the decision to acquire the boat.

I'm not a GB owner. They're out of my league.
 
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Star0210 said:
Our marina neighbor just bought a 1971 GB Alaskan 49' for dirt dirt cheap. He plans to restore it and sell his sailboat and move onto the GB.
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This is a familiar story, and one not likely to end well - it's why he was able to buy it "dirt cheap" and why he will eventually sell it for even less.

Here's a great summary of these boats - "Old Woodies Rule" by the hugely knowledgeable Bob Lane.

Experienced owners taking 2 years (and almost $200K) to restore a 32' woodie, 4 years (and $150K) for an engineer to restore a 36'. I'm going to say there has probably never been a successful restoration of an Alaskan - but if so, it would be in the range of 10 years and $500K to $1mm.

As quoted in that article:
"I tell them don’t buy a project, pay a premium for the best,” he says. “In general, if a buyer is not a hands-on person and doesn’t have the time or skills, I tell them not to buy a project, but that if they do, be sure they have deep pockets.”​
 
Maintenance is definitely the key. Actually it's just staying ahead of the little things so they dont turn into big things very quickly. Our PO did just that along with some significant upgrades and our job is to keep up with the little things.

One specific key element is to keep her in the water as much as possible. If hauling plan properly and 10 days out tops to do any below water work.

Our Alaskan hull #28 rewards us every time with great performance, solid construction an memories that will last a lifetime.:)
 
Ray, I know. After the April boat show in Richmond, builder Bill Kimley had KKMI at Pt. Richmond make improvements to the newly-built boat to match those I had done on my Coot. The newer Coot has a revised saloon set-up to be more conducive for liveaboards. It has more gadgets than mine such as genset, washer/dryer, and such.
 
Good question that the OP asks, and the GB42 was always my dream boat as a kid growing up and attending boat shows.

A couple of weeks ago I viewed a 30 year old 46' GB in Alabama which could be picked up I'm sure at a good price. My heart felt all sentimental viewing her from the dock. Then I went aboard - viewed the acres of brightwork, teak decks with bulging caulking, twin humongous Cats, 30 year old genset, tight engine space which I could barely reach the filters, and that dark dated interior.

I agree that they are solid and have a wonderful reputation. No offense to all the GB owners out there, but the memories and emotion have completely faded away for me.

Walked away quickly.
 
I laugh at all the critics. I purchased a GB 42 classic 1999.The prior owner took it to Florida every winter and would make it to Maine in the summer. I refurbished the engines $30k and I spend $1k a year to keep the teak looking wonderful. I will redo the floors this winter. I have the most beautiful two bedroom apartment on the sea. Typically every weekend I have 10 to 12 guest out to party. Trips to Newport Jazz Festival and a week in Block Island are as far as we go.This roomy boat has been the best.
 
Mako said:
Good question that the OP asks, and the GB42 was always my dream boat as a kid growing up and attending boat shows.

A couple of weeks ago I viewed a 30 year old 46' GB in Alabama which could be picked up I'm sure at a good price. My heart felt all sentimental viewing her from the dock. Then I went aboard - viewed the acres of brightwork, teak decks with bulging caulking, twin humongous Cats, 30 year old genset, tight engine space which I could barely reach the filters, and that dark dated interior.

I agree that they are solid and have a wonderful reputation. No offense to all the GB owners out there, but the memories and emotion have completely faded away for me.

Walked away quickly.
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As a 29-year GB42 owner with Ford-Lehman 120s and also having some experience with Cats, I would not have bought my GB with big bulky cats either. Good call....
 
Many years ago, I had a diver-cleaner comment to me on how well my wooden GB42 had been restored what with the crisp looking strake ends and joints. Had to laugh out loud. Good bones will out. Never put a new strake in her, and in 29 years I never found evidence it had been done in the fourteen years previous to my ownership (you can tell). To this day at 51 years of age, she's looking and running fine. From what I have seen of various glass GBs, the quality of construction carried on. And the look like a boat, not some rubber sneaker that floats.
 
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