Can't decide on property, we want our cake and eat it too

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

The R5 looks to be about $100k+. For that money, a 24-26' tritoon with 350+ horsepower would take on anything Winni would put up. Hell, my 20' tritoon with 150 goes wherever, whenever.

Just pointing out they're no longer "putt putt" machines.

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I have both. The difference is when it is not 75 or above I take the regular V hull boat. The wind on the pontoon boat is nice during the day when it is warm but less welcome if we go out to dinner or go visit friends and return at 9 PM on a cool summer night.

Also, early in the season or late in the fall the pontoon boat is just too open for the cooler temperatures. It really depends on when and what you are using them for.

When the water is 45 degrees there is a lot of cold wind on a pontoon boat. If I was on an island and only had one boat I don't think it would be a pontoon boat unless it had decent wind blockage in front.

Just one man's opinion. I am sure there are others!

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

If I was on an island and only had one boat I don't think it would be a pontoon boat unless it had decent wind blockage in front.

Just one man's opinion. I am sure there are others!

I live on an island all season and I agree Completely! I have a very nice 27’ pontoon and a 22’ fully enclosed Eastern. If I could only have one it would definitely no questions asked be the Eastern!

Dan

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

I live on an island all season and I agree Completely! I have a very nice 27’ pontoon and a 22’ fully enclosed Eastern. If I could only have one it would definitely no questions asked be the Eastern!

Dan

How about a enclosed 27' tritoon from helm to the stern. I designed it to have zipper curtain openings over helm along every sitting compartment having it's own zipper opening. Never have to put on the heavy mooring cover. Just zip up each panel encloses from front of the helm back to stern. Forward I still cover the front seating areas. Takes five minutes.

On a hot day unzip the enclosures and you have free flowing air even at higher speeds. Those who only want to sit out in the sun just move forward to the forward seats. Those who don't want wind or sun sit comfortably in the enclosed area. The helm can have all the wind or just zip up to fully enclosed or partial wind. Nice thing about this custom design enclosure it extends the boating season from ice out to late fall. And i never have to fight the big mooring cover. It is really cool looking because I had it designed so that it is all clear with very few seams. Ship Shape did the work for me and were so thrilled about the design they have pictures of it on their studio walls.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by chasedawg

How about a enclosed 27' tritoon from helm to the stern. I designed it to have zipper curtain openings over helm along every sitting compartment having it's own zipper opening. Never have to put on the heavy mooring cover. Just zip up each panel encloses from front of the helm back to stern. Forward I still cover the front seating areas. Takes five minutes.

On a hot day unzip the enclosures and you have free flowing air even at higher speeds. Those who only want to sit out in the sun just move forward to the forward seats. Those who don't want wind or sun sit comfortably in the enclosed area. The helm can have all the wind or just zip up to fully enclosed or partial wind. Nice thing about this custom design enclosure it extends the boating season from ice out to late fall. And i never have to fight the big mooring cover. It is really cool looking because I had it designed so that it is all clear with very few seams. Ship Shape did the work for me and were so thrilled about the design they have pictures of it on their studio walls.

My first couple of pontoons (Manitou & Premier) had covers exactly like this. See pic of my Manitou taken 2008 / 2009, I had my Eastern then too. Yes you can do this and it certainly helps a lot but if your asking me would I take this setup over my Eastern...not a chance!

There is nothing like a hard top, hard side helm with wipers on your windshield in bad weather. No snaps or zippers to deal with, just jump in and go. The Eastern is our primary island boat as well as my primary fishing boat that is a real weatherproof workhorse that we count on to get us to our island home in any weather every single day.

I absolutely love tritoons also and will probably always have one and yes you can certainly get by on an island with that as your only boat with a setup as you describe....it would not be my first choice though.

Now if we are talking sunset cruises, general entertaining, water sports and having fun zipping around the lake...there is nothing like a tritoon with heavy horsepower!

Dan

[chasedawg]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

My first couple of pontoons (Manitou & Premier) had covers exactly like this. See pic of my Manitou taken 2008 / 2009, I had my Eastern then too. Yes you can do this and it certainly helps a lot but if your asking me would I take this setup over my Eastern...not a chance!

There is nothing like a hard top, hard side helm with wipers on your windshield in bad weather. No snaps or zippers to deal with, just jump in and go. The Eastern is our primary island boat as well as my primary fishing boat that is a real weatherproof workhorse that we count on to get us to our island home in any weather every single day.

I absolutely love tritoons also and will probably always have one and yes you can certainly get by on an island with that as your only boat with a setup as you describe....it would not be my first choice though.

Now if we are talking sunset cruises, general entertaining, water sports and having fun zipping around the lake...there is nothing like a tritoon with heavy horsepower!

Dan

Dan....hahaha Yes Dan I agree. Sunset cruises with windy days or cruise the entire lake on a hot summer day like we did last weekend. I agree with you. We have a enclosed t top for bad weather off the island transport to our mainland dock. But it isn't a totally enclosed Eastern which I would never take many friends out in a hot summer day cruising. I'm not comparing it to an Eastern or any totally enclosed cabin for cruising. We were just comparing toons Where would a windshield wiper go on a toon? And when you say there is nothing like a tritoon with heavy horsepower. I agree that is what we have. We have a Benny that can take the highest HP rating. I sold my 32' Scarab that I use to race Off Shore for a Bennington Tritoon.

As far as your enclosure on your tritoon it is nothing like we had custom built by Ship Shape. Just one example your helm enclosure looks like it is totally enclosed. Your not able to get any ventilation on a very hot day. On ours the total enclosure zips down where there is no enclosure. And i see the same for every seating position inside your enclosure. That is exactually what I didn't want. I saw what the manufactures were offering similar what you have and I did not want to be in that enclosure on a hot day. So with what we came up with in our design we can go cruising on hot or cold days with 12 people having their choice where they want to sit to be comfortable. I wouldn't expect your Eastern could have that many people enjoying a cruise around the lake in any kind of weather. But don't get me wrong. I had a 30' Eastern on Lake Erie that I loved. It is all about how we feel comfortable with where you boat today under the current weather conditions.

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by chasedawg

As far as your enclosure on your tritoon it is nothing like we had custom built by Ship Shape. Just one example your helm enclosure looks like it is totally enclosed. Your not able to get any ventilation on a very hot day. On ours the total enclosure zips down where there is no enclosure. And i see the same for every seating position inside your enclosure. That is exactually what I didn't want. I saw what the manufactures were offering similar what you have and I did not want to be in that enclosure on a hot day.

Just an fyi...The enclosure in that pic has soft screens behind the isinglass so we had full ventilation. The isinglass would roll up and snap into place and the screens allowed for full ventilation. I no longer have that toon and traded it almost 10 years ago...Back then there were not many performance toons on the lake.

Dan

[Newbiesaukee]

Our house buying experience on Winni is a little unusual but perhaps helpful. My wife and I, for both good and bad life situations, had purchased several homes in FL over a short period of time. Although we are both cautious by nature, major life decisions we seem to make quickly. We had always wanted to retire on a lake. As our adult children were up north, when we were able to retire we looked at the map and Winni looked like a good place geographically so we did a little research online. Most of what I could find discussed the Weirs and that seemed too busy for us. As luck would have it, we discussed our search with casual acquaintences who had a home on Winni and they told us we had the wrong idea and Winni was wonderful and had many lifestyles depending on location. They even recommended a realtor. We called her the next day, arranged to fly up and told her we made decisions quickly. We also gave her a price range. We had never been to Winni before and met the realtor on a cold day in November. We spent the entire day with her as she drove us around the Lake and explained the different areas and what was important. Location is all and she emphasized water quality in a lakefront home is paramount and other issues such as taxes, differences in the towns and numerous other factors that we now realize were essential to understand. That evening my wife found a home on the internet which looked great to us. It was on Long Island...we had no real idea where that was. The realtor took us to see the house the next day; she had not seen the house before. We loved it. She pointed out pros and cons. The design was excellent but the builder was not experienced and the amenities, except for kitchen, were pretty low end. The waterfront water quality was excellent but even though Long Island has a bridge it was an 8 mile drive to stores, etc. and we might get tired of it. Even though, it was empty in November when we were there, in summer, as we were near Harillas boat ramp, cars would be lined up on the road and the area would be very busy. She explained that M’Boro had lower taxes than many areas. The point is, that in 2 days with a good honest realtor, you can learn a lot. We bought the house that day. That was 17 years ago and everything she said was true...including the negative observations about the builder. She also told us to buy a used boat no less than 23 feet. We were fortunate but sometimes you just have to do it. Her name is Susan Bradley and I believe she is still working.