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Versatile Grady-White Dual Console Provides a Bounty of Boating Opportunities for This Family

Looking to replace a boat his father-in-law had passed down to the family years ago, Brandon Bailey and his wife, Kristina, found the perfect fit when they stumbled upon a Grady-White at a local marina more than a year ago. “We wanted a boat that was well-suited for a variety of activities,” noted Brandon. “Our previous boat was good for skiing, wakeboarding and tubing, but it wasn’t very comfortable to ride in when the water was rough, and it wasn’t a fishing boat.” The Bailey’s two boys, Cameron (16) and Calvin (14), had both expressed a desire to start fishing. A few Grady-White models stood out as the optimal choice for the many activities the family enjoyed – plus fishing. “I just needed to find one!” said Brandon.

There were a few things Brandon wasn’t 100% sure about when he got the boat. “I worried about the wake and if my wife would enjoy slaloming behind this boat as much as the boats she’d grown up skiing behind.” They put that to the test after one of their first fishing trips. “My wife decided to ski home and she said the Grady-White was a better ski boat than the skiing-specific boats she was used to,” he said with excitement. To understand how much Kristina likes to ski, we might add that on that particular day skiing home, the outside and the water temperature was about 55° F. (Yes, Brandon says she has skied in that kind of weather a number of times in the past!) Brandon’s other concern was what his father-in-law would think since Brandon had traded his old boat for this new Grady-White. “He loves it!” Brandon said. “He said ‘this is such a great boat – you made a good choice.”

The boat has also provided better opportunities to fish – and helped create a special memory for the Bailey boys. “When we first got the boat, we took it trolling,” said Brandon. “We caught one salmon that day. The next day I had to go to Idaho for work, but Cameron convinced Calvin to go fishing with him. I agreed to let the boys take the new boat out themselves. Imagine their excitement when they caught two – without Dad.” He went on to say, “It was one of the highlights of their summer.” Now the Bailey’s have a freezer full of fish and are looking forward to fishing more at the beginning of the new year. “We keep the boat at our house and when the season opens up in January, we’ll fish for black mouth king salmon that like to stay in the Puget Sound.” The whole family loves to troll. “We can go slow, relax and talk to one another,” Brandon says. “Our dog, Tico, loves to go with us too,” he adds.

Initially Brandon was looking for a used Grady-White boat, but every time he found one and contacted the owner the boat was already sold. “After a while I expanded my search beyond Washington State and the west coast and began looking throughout the United States,” he noted. “It was the same story every time – by the time I called, the boat had already been sold.”

This summer, the Bailey’s, who live on Camano Island, Washington, with access to a boat ramp just a half a mile from their house, found they were spending a lot more time on the boat. “One day I realized that a Grady-White sure would be nice to have right now,” Brandon exclaimed. “It was then I decided to go to Jacobsen’s Marine and see what they had for sale.” As luck would have it, they had two boats he was interested in. After spending a little time on both, their family concluded the Freedom 192 was just what they needed. He explained a few of the options that really made a difference in their purchase decision. “My wife loves to ski so the ski pylon was a necessity to her. Since we wanted to start fishing on the boat, the addition of aftermarket downriggers was another option we were excited about. 

Brandon went on to list a few other reasons this boat was perfect for their family. “A lot of the ramps we use are more conducive to a smaller boat. Also, my wife’s family has a vacation home we all share off Puget Sound on Anderson Island in Washington. The vacation home, only accessible by boat, is about 80 miles from our house. In the past we had to take the ferry, but the Grady-White’s sturdiness and low fuel consumption allows us to load up all our camping gear, food and supplies onto the boat. When we get there we still have 2/3 of a tank of gas. With sometimes 25 to 30 family members gathering at the house, camping equipment is often a must!”

The Grady has provided this family with a number of great experiences. Brandon tells of one such experience after he went to pick someone up from the ferry landing after dark. “We had never taken the boat out on the water at night. While we were heading back to the vacation house our passenger said, ‘Wow, your boat has lights in its wake’. I started looking everywhere for a switch that could do that. The next night we saw it again and finally realized it wasn’t lights but the luminescent algae in the water. It was the coolest thing!” Brandon said.

Not only did everyone love the fun they had on the boat this past summer, Brandon also said, “I can’t believe how easy it is to clean this boat! The raw water washdown allows us to clean up when we’re on the water fishing and when we get home, we just hose it down and the water runs right out of the scuppers. The four-stroke motor is so easy to flush – all I have to do is plug in the hose. No more pulling out the muffs and starting the engine.”

The Freedom 192* has proven to be a good fit for this boating family who are already looking forward to the 2021 summer. “We can’t wait to take the boat to Lake Chelan,” said Brandon. The 55-mile-wide lake has lots of camping spots and is a popular place to enjoy water sports, but sometimes it can get rough and it is often hard to get fuel. “Taking our previous boat was doable, but difficult–we had to conserve fuel and often were landlocked when the water got too rough,” he explains. “But the Grady-White is a strong and sturdy boat that can handle the waves with all of our gear aboard and the fuel economy will allow us to travel longer without fueling up. Honestly, I never thought I could get a boat that would do both water sports and fishing well – but we found that in our Grady-White dual console and we couldn’t be happier,” says Brandon.   

*Today you can experience the same versatility in the Grady-White Freedom 215 dual console.