Eastbay 47
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The year was 1995, and the out-of-thebox
38-foot Eastbay by Grand Banks
was blasting through winter fog on
Seattle’s Lake Washington. There
were two people aboard—a failing
boat broker (me) and a possible buyer.
We burned doughnuts in the water, the massive
Evergreen Point floating bridge protecting us from
traffic coming from the south, and the radar
watching the empty north end of the lake. She
turned tight and hard, not skipping or sliding as the
Caterpillar diesels roared.
Then we ran an estimated mile, the Cats at WOT,
and our speed probably wound up to somewhere in
the high teens. Chilly fog penetrated the helm area,
which opened into the cockpit, but it was great fun
in a responsive little yacht I thought would appeal
to sunshine boaters, weekenders and party people.
The would-be customer, who apparently shared my
views, moved on in his search for a trawler/cruiser
type of boat.
For nearly a decade, that was my take on the
Eastbay: a quality Grand Banks product, with a
distinctive classical design by Raymond Hunt, but
not one that would appeal to anyone more intent on
cruising than partying.
Over the next 10 years, however, the Eastbay
became Grand Banks’ hottest product. It grew and
grew in size, with models to 58 feet. Some were
given flybridges, and all were given monster engines
for express speeds. Today, GB builds more Eastbays
than Classics, and brokers and individual buyers are
lined up, impatiently waiting for delivery.
A NEW VIEW
Flash ahead to the last day of summer 2004. This
time, we were burning doughnuts in Burrard Inlet,
just outside Vancouver, British Columbia, in the
newest Eastbay from Grand Banks, a 47-foot model
powered by a pair of 700hp C12 Caterpillars. The
45,000-pound-displacement yacht, the first 47 built
with a flybridge, heeled nicely into the turns without
skipping or bounding as I spun the power-assisted
wheel almost as far as it would go, or as far as I
dared go.
A few minutes earlier, we had proved the boat has
hustle. With the approval of Jon Howe, a GB broker,
I pushed the electronic Twin Disc engine controller
to maximum power at 2300 rpm. We all had to catch
our balance as the boat leaped ahead, moving from a cruise speed of 22 knots to a maximum of 30.2 knots
in what seemed like seconds.
The acrobatics came at the end of a long cruise
(more than 100 miles) completed in a little more
than 5 hours in light winds, mostly flat water and a
generous sun. A day aboard the 47 was exciting and
enjoyable. And it gave me a new view of the yacht’s
potential for cruising.
When Grand Banks adopts a style, the company
sticks with it. Classic GBs built today look much like
those built in the 1960s and exhibit the same
constant devotion to quality. And the new 47
Eastbay shares the distinctive Downeast styling of
the 38 I drove years ago.
But there have been many changes. The 47 has a
back door and a comfortable, enclosed saloon. She
has two staterooms and two heads and a workable
U-shaped galley.
And that makes her more than a weekend party
boat.
OFF TO SEA
Jon Howe, who works for the Seattle GB dealer,
Passage Maker Yachts (it shares only its name with
this magazine), left Seattle about 0630 to take the
Eastbay 47 to Grand Yachts, the GB outlet in
Vancouver, British Columbia, for display at a boat
show. My wife, Polly, and I boarded the Eastbay at
Edmonds, Washington, about 10 miles north of
Seattle’s Shilshole Bay.
We have been cruising in Grand Banks’ boats for
nearly 25 years, first in a 36-foot wood Classic and
now in our fiberglass 42-foot Europa. Our
assignment was to determine if the Eastbay 47 has
what it takes to be a cruising yacht capable of
circumnavigating Vancouver Island, following the
Inside Passage to Southeast Alaska or exploring
distant ports along other shores. As professional
journalists, objectivity is deeply imbedded. But bear
in mind we are GB fans.
Our route would take us north in Puget Sound,
through Admiralty Inlet, across the Strait of Juan de
Fuca, along San Juan Channel and into President
Channel at the top of the San Juan archipelago.
Then we’d cross Boundary Pass, hang a left at East
Point on Canada’s Saturna Island and scoot
northeast across Georgia Strait to Vancouver’s Coal
Harbour. In our vintage GB, the trip from Seattle
would take two days. With the Eastbay, we arrived
in time for a fashionably late lunch.
Jon has spent many hours driving the 47. A Coast
Guard-licensed skipper, sailing instructor and
lifelong boater, he believes the Eastbay’s sweet spot
is 1900 rpm, which kicked the boat along at 22
knots, although Grand Banks’ literature lists cruising
speed as 27 knots.
The three of us shared wheel time, steering
manually most of the way because of an abundance
of drift logs in the water and in order to stay well
clear of small sportfishing boats that clustered near
points of land in search of fall salmon. I had
imagined that the boat’s high speed would make it
difficult for me to react quickly enough to dodge
debris, but visibility over the bow is excellent, and
the 47 is nimble in response to a tug at the wheel.
Floating junk was not a problem, but we took care
not to charge over any of it.
I also had imagined that keeping a vigilant watch
on a fast boat would be more tiring than on a slow
boat. Not so.
Before boarding the Eastbay, I also had assumed it
would skitter across the water, bouncing and skidding
at speed, a little like a fishing lure being trolled quickly
on the surface. I’ve experienced that action in smaller
fast boats, but not with the 47. She was on tracks.
Once we were in Georgia Strait and in water free
of debris, Jon switched on the Simrad autopilot, and
we settled on a course for the entrance to the
Vancouver harbor—out of sight nearly 20 miles to
the northeast. More often than not, Georgia Strait is
mean cruising. Every wind is on the beam, and seas
pile up quickly. This day, however, we found only low swells and minor chop, and the 47 soared across
the strait on a laser-straight course.
THE TOUR
Once under way, we began looking for cruising
attributes, as well as any potential changes.
We boarded the 47 easily via the swim platform and
a transom gate. The immense cockpit obviously is the
social center of this boat. A bench seat folds down
from the transom, and the teak-capped bulwarks offer
places to sit because there are no handrails around the
cockpit. There are stout stainless handrails along the
side and foredecks, and GB has fixed teak grab rails
inside the boat for safety in rough water.
The cockpit has a teak sole. Steps to the side
decks also are teak, but those decks and the foredeck
are nonskid fiberglass.
Three hatches in the cockpit deck open to a
spacious lazarette. One end of a 500-gallon painted
fiberglass fuel tank protrudes into the area, but I
found storage space for extra lines and fenders, crab
pots, cleaning supplies and other gear. It’s a plus for
serious cruising.
A wet bar and ice maker are to port in the
cockpit, against the forward bulkhead, with a
propane barbecue on the starboard side. A curving
stairway leads from the cockpit to the bridge. It is a
striking work of art and an outstanding example of
engineering talent. The teak treads are wide, evenly
spaced and broad—a feat on a curving stairway.
GB installed a stainless-steel handrail to make the
stairway easier to negotiate while carrying a basket
of sandwiches or a pot of coffee to
the upper helm.
That spacious cockpit is going to
be hot in the sun and wet in the
rain. I wonder, has anyone ever
installed some kind of a sun/rain
cover over an Eastbay’s cockpit?
Would one dare? She does have a
Bimini over the bridge helm, an
important accessory that protects
the crew from too much sun.
A single sliding door leads from
the cockpit into the saloon. The
settee on the port side meets the
most important requirement—it’s
long enough for the skipper to nap
comfortably. An adjustable teak
table fronts the settee; it also can
be moved to the cockpit for openair
dining.
The settee opens to a double bed,
which gives the boat a theoretical
overnight capacity of six. Space beneath
the navigator’s seat is fitted for bar
storage.
To starboard are a pair of armchairs
and a small cabinet. A flat-plate 27-inch
TV is recessed in the ceiling and folds
down for viewing from the settee.
Teak parquet flooring is standard on
thousands of GB yachts, but the Eastbay
has teak and holly under foot. This is a
Grand Banks yacht, so the interior finish
is also teak.
Ahead of the settee on the port side is
a forward-looking navigator’s seat, with
space for two. The folks at GB already
know the backrest on the seat is too low
for comfortable sitting. A table ahead of
the seat is large enough to display chart
books or quarter-folded NOAA charts.
The helm is to starboard, with a door
to the outer deck. The skipper gets a
Stidd chair for luxurious comfort; there
are two Stidds at the flybridge helm.
Visibility from the lower helm is
excellent. The one barrier to a 360-
degree view is the stairway to the
flybridge at the port corner.
The helm area is remarkably
uncluttered. Gone is the preponderance
of gauges that usually report
temperatures and pressures, replaced by
Caterpillar-supplied monitors that
provide all that data—and much more—in
a few square inches. The engine monitors
offer information in text and graphic
modes. Just push a button.
A multipurpose monitor displays radar and charts.
Jon and I joked about what to install in an open area
ahead of the wheel—probably another monitor,
perhaps for an engine-room TV camera.
Following GB tradition, the center forward
window in the saloon may be opened for better
ventilation. Because of the steps to the down galley,
it’s hard to reach it for hand adjustment. So, it’s
electric. There’s a switch at the helm.
The Eastbay’s 15-foot beam makes the saloon
sitting area especially spacious, despite side decks
about 16 inches wide. People in the armchairs won’t
have to move to create room for someone walking
to the door.
The galley is down five steps from the helm area
and to port. (An up-galley layout is offered, too.)
The steps are as easy as those at home, with uniform
rise and tread width. For safety, Grand Banks adds a
nearly invisible nonskid compound to the varnish
that’s used on the steps.
There’s a portlight over the range, and by taking a
step or two, the cook can look aft and watch the world
flash by through the lower window on the saloon
door, or chat with crew and guests in the saloon.
In the galley we found a propane stove, which
many cruisers would applaud. The boat has a
13.5kW generator, mostly for the reverse-cycle
heating and cooling system, but it also would
support an electric range.
Polly and I were concerned about the size of the
galley sink. It’s not big enough to wash a tall glass,
let alone a soup pot or a frying pan. Grand Banks
recognizes this, and we should expect something
more useful in later models.
The refrigerator is under the counter, with GB’s
trademark meat-locker teak door. A top-loading
freezer is under the counter, in the corner.
Polly, who normally doesn’t like down-galley
arrangements, gave the Eastbay galley a passing grade
because of its openness to the saloon and the
abundance of natural light flooding in from the
windshield above. She was critical, however, because it
lacks storage a cruising boat requires, especially large
spaces for pots and pans, griddles and crockpots. She
also noted that galley drawers could be bigger.
People going cruising for a month or more tend to
carry aboard extra clothing and bedding, vacuum
cleaners and brooms, too much foodstuff, books,
spares, cameras, computers, printers, and a long list
of other odds and ends they believe will be needed. In our part of the world, they lug aboard crab
cookers, fish smokers and vacuum-packing machines
for preserving fish and shrimp. Also rubber boots,
rain coats and shovels for digging clams. Milk crates
full of gear are lashed to bridge railings. The dinghy
often is stuffed with goods that must be unloaded
before launching. Finding places to put it all is a
never-ending challenge, and on many cruising boats,
a guest stateroom becomes a catchall when every
other nook is filled.
Cruising families don’t subsist on cocktail snacks
and finger foods. They cook crab, broil salmon and
beef steak, simmer stews and soups, bake bread and
rolls, scramble eggs with potatoes and bacon, and
use packaged and canned foods and fresh vegetables
for hearty meals. Mostly, they use real plates and
glassware, not paper goods. A functional galley
endowed with adequate storage is a must for them.
One possibility: There’s a multi-use space between
the galley and the day head. In some arrangements,
it can be used for a separate shower in the head. Or
it may house a stacked washer-dryer in a cabinet that
opens into the companionway. Alternatively, the
space could be used for humongous storage. That
use would solve galley shortcomings and storage
problems in the master stateroom. Another thought:
Substitute a combination washer-dryer, mount it
above a large drawer with capacity for kitchen
utensils and then add shelves for whatnots above it.
Polly thought the stateroom in the bow needed
more space for stowing extra bedding and clothing.
The stateroom has one hanging locker and some
storage beneath the bed. Another hanging locker
might fit in a corner now filled with a TV and an air
conditioning outlet. AC isn’t needed in the
Northwest, although heat is, and in the places we
cruise, there is no television to watch.
The guest stateroom is opposite the galley. This
Eastbay has a desk, sleeper sofa and two good
hanging lockers in that space. Berths also can be
installed. I think there’s an opportunity for providing
more storage here. Putting shelves in one of the
hanging lockers might be considered.
(We are particularly sensitive to storage because
our older GB has so much of it. The Europa design
created a huge belowdecks area aft of the engine
room and ahead of the water tanks, which are in the
lazarette. Reached through a hatch in the saloon,
this space runs full width and is 3 feet high and
nearly 6 feet deep. In addition, there is a 6-foot-long
cabinet across the aft bulkhead that is filled with
many good and useful things. Furthermore, there is space down there for a washer-dryer, a watermaker
and extra toolboxes—as well as two spare propellers.
Now you know: We’re spoiled.)
Polly and Jon talked about storage issues while I
was at the helm. The Eastbay is a semi-custom boat,
and Jon believes GB, which listens to owners’
suggestions, would consider providing more storage
space in later models, or at a customer’s request.
These problems can be resolved.
But maybe we, as cruisers, could help lessen the
storage problem by doing a better job of controlling
what we need to carry aboard. It could be called
cruising smart, cruising light.
TITANS, A PAIR
Flick a hidden switch in the cockpit, and the steps
into the saloon slowly rise, revealing a stairway to
the engine room. Incredibly, it has teak treads. Not
the diamond plate one might expect.
This is a standup engine room for those less than
about 5 feet 10 inches tall. The C12s hunker down,
with the generator along the aft bulkhead.
The turbocharged and after-cooled Cats are rated
at 700hp for pleasure-boat use. For continuous,
heavy-duty use, they are rated at 341hp. Running a
few hundred hours a year certainly qualifies as light
use. These big engines should last a lifetime, with
proper care and maintenance.
The 47 has two fuel tanks, the 500-gallon unit that
protrudes into the lazarette and a 200-gallon tank
below decks forward. The engines and generator
draw fuel only from the large tank; there are no fuel
manifolds. A transfer pump moves diesel from the
small tank to the large one as needed.
We operated the engines at 1900 rpm, which
produced slightly more than 22 knots and burned
fuel at the rate of 44 gallons an hour, or 2 gallons of diesel per mile. My burst of speed at WOT took the
engines to 2300 rpm and about 70gph.
This is a million-dollar boat, and I’m sure that rate
of fuel consumption—as staggering as it seems for us
who drive 8-knot, 4gph boats—will be the least
expensive element of ownership.
The engine room has space for additional
equipment, such as a watermaker (and with only
150 gallons in stainless-steel tanks, that would be a
good idea); additional batteries for quiet hours on
the hook; and tools, spares, lube oil and filters.
The 700s are standard. GB will install 720hp
Yanmars upon request.
Engine-room insulation is good. Cruising at
22 knots, I measured 73–74 decibels in the helm area
(precisely the noise level on our much older GB).
Normal conversation is possible. My Radio Shack sound level meter indicated 77 decibels in
the galley, 78 in the guest stateroom and 79
in the master stateroom. Jon offered to pull
open an engine-room hatch while we were
running at 22 knots, but I declined, having
heard that kind of train wreck before.
The sound of the bow slashing through
seas at 22 knots combined with mechanical
noise to create high decibel readings in the
forward areas. That’s why the saloon settee
needs to provide comfortable napping while
under way.
On our old GB, the noise penetrating the
sole clearly is the rattle of igniting diesel.
On the Eastbay, that hallmark of diesel
operation is gone, and the sounds I heard
were more of a general but well-muted roar,
probably partly related to the turbochargers
and the driveline.
UP TOP
Because this boat’s claim to fame is the
flybridge, we made several trips up the
handsome teak stairway.
Standing up in 22-knot winds will muss
your hair and blow away that baseball cap.
For seated crew, however, the stainless-steelframed
windscreen effectively blocks the
breezes and creates a comfortable ride, with
superb visibility. It is a great place to watch
an evening sun slip away.
In addition to the two helm chairs for
crew, there’s a guest settee on the starboard
side with a small triangular table. The bridge
deck is textured fiberglass, although there’s a
pad of teak decking around the settee.
The helm area has full electronics, including a
chart plotter.
There’s no room on the bridge deck for dinghy
storage. The only place for a tender is on the
swim step.
A CRUISER? SURE—WHY NOT?
We maintained speed through Burrard Inlet and
past freighters moored in English Bay, but we began
to slow the big engines as the 47 passed beneath
the First Narrows Bridge at the entrance to
Vancouver Harbor.
Slowing more, we neared Brockton Point and the
turn into Coal Harbour, where the Royal Vancouver
Yacht Club and several marinas and moorages are
spread at the foot of an array of high-rise buildings in the center of the city. It’s a
dramatic urban scene.
At idle, the engines drive the
boat at 7 knots. To heed a 5-knot
speed limit, Jon engaged the Twin
Disc trolling valves, which
brought the boat’s speed down to
5.2 knots. Even at that slow pace,
the engines were smooth and
vibration free.
It was clear from her
performance that the Eastbay 47
could safely, comfortably and
conveniently go anywhere we
have taken a boat. We did not
test her in heavy seas, because
we saw none on this delivery run,
but the Hunt hull shape is known
for seaworthiness, and Grand
Banks builds quality boats that
can a take a beating. There
should be no questions about its
cruising capability.
Jon and I talked about Eastbay
owners we know who have gone
cruising, and we counted several
who successfully have ventured
north to Glacier Bay and other Alaska spots and
have dared the waters off the west coast of
Vancouver Island. It can be done.
And we all thought about how much farther we
might have gone that day, taking advantage of the
way 22 knots can shorten travel time. On up
Georgia Strait and Malaspina Inlet to Prince Rupert?
There’s a decent restaurant there. Or how about
deep into Jervis Inlet to Princess Louisa Inlet and
Chatterbox Falls? Sadly, the 47—without a dish, pot,
coffeemaker, blanket or toothbrush—wasn’t ready for
overnight travel.
As the crew from Grand Yachts helped with the
lines, I also thought about the things many cruising
couples believe are necessary on a boat making
longer coastal runs, among them side decks, a fairsized
cockpit, and no-step, easy access to mooring
floats through transom or bulwark gates. All
contribute to safer, more comfortable and easier
operation.
Cruising yachts also need the electrical capacity
(batteries, inverters, generators) to lie quietly at anchor
for several days, either to wait for weather or simply
because the boat is in a nice place. The Eastbay 47
meets or can meet those requirements easily.
Burning 44 gallons of fuel an hour, or more,
means the Eastbay 47 will need to stop at a fuel
dock every 250 to 300 miles. While she won’t have
the range of slower boats, finding fuel that often in
U.S. waters is not a problem.
While Grand Banks’ Eastbay has sufficient storage
for weekends or short cruises, the company would
gladden people who cruise for months by providing
more space for stuff.
Don’t mess with anything else, though. The boat
works well and is a joy to drive.
Reprinted with permission. Copyright 2005 © Dominion Enterprises (888.487.2953) www.passagemaker.com
You are reading the text-only copy of this article. To access the article as it appeared in PassageMaker Magazine, please log in to purchase and download the PDF version of this article.