Pontoon Boat-Planning for Purchase

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by ronc4424

Exactly what TiltonBB said......an enclosure will extend your boating season by a month or more. We put ours on as soon as the weather cools down and boat well into November. We use a portable Coleman propane heater, and that besides the solar effects from the sun I spend more time out of the room cooling off and grilling...lol. The only downside is you can't tow with it on. After towing boats for many years ( gets old fast ) we finally got a slip on Squam. We have had the slip for 15 yrs.
Also, don't forget you will have to take classes for a boating license.

Two things to comment on:

First the boating Certificate... Make sure you get enrolled into a conveniently located class one your up here, and get it taken and over with. I even recommend this if you have a certificate some where else. Having a NH certificate will keep you from having to prove the equivalency of an out of start certificate.

The other, is on enclosures / windscreens for late / early season use. I have seen a few recommendations in this thread for them. And will not disagree that they will help extend your season. My comment is that this is an option that can always be added on later. Find a boat, by it, make sure for a season or two that it really fits your need. By that time, you will know if you like extending the season or not, and at that time, you can add an weather enclosure. Sometimes they can be added to existing Bimini tops, other times, it requires replacing the binimi top... But the bottom line is this shouldn't be a hard requirement, especially if you are looking at used boats.