Trade the deck boat for a pontoon??

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

This exactly.

In terms of docking, I think there are two variables that may explain what you're seeing: parachute effect and newbies/renters.

Juiced: throw another 250 on that Premiere, and you'll be great!

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Re docking; my observations were these were privately owned boats and the weather was calm as I usually only go boating in good weather.

It was my belief they they were simply struggling with tight spaces at the docks, and in Wolfeboro and Weirs, the docks themselves are much tighter than Meredith. As with any boat docking, I'm sure I observed some folks who had a pretty good idea what that were doing and made it work but with some struggle, and others who were frightening to watch, and a few who actually could not do it and relied on help from people on the docks.

It has been my observation that even under perfect conditions, pontoons are harder to dock on a busy day simply because they are bigger. There may also be some additional control and response issues that I dont know about as compared to a heavy fiberglass boat. Someone who owns one would have to speak to that.

These are just observations, so dont put too much into it at the moment.

The very best advice I can give you is to either rent one, or go to a marina on the water and ask to test drive one. I would not invest a lot of money into one until I drove one and docked it myself to get a feel for what I was getting into.

[LIforrelaxin]

What you need to decided is what is important to you.

If you enjoy watersports etc. likely you will not find a Pontoon, or Tri-toon to really be suitable. While you can tube, ski etc. with them, you need crazy power to do so... You will want to stick with your deck boat....

IF you concern is comfortable cruising, with an occasion tube ride for the kids, Toons make sense. I have quickly fallen in love with a used one I picked up. However even if I upgraded the motor, to the Make horsepower, for my pontoon it will not really be suitable for skiing... Tubing yes, but skiing it just will not go fast enough.....

With that said, I am sure there are performance pontoons out there that will allow for skiing, however how will the respond to an adult sking behind them is another thing. When I have seen people skiing with Pontoons, what I have witnessed is a lot of slide slipping, when the skiier is pulling hard off to one side or the other....

Bottom line is it is all about what you want to prioritize.... With Kids not showing as much interest in the lake now that they are older and have independence and options, the wife and I are strongly considering a toon with more power, and dropping the speed boat, which I have kept for water sports.

[Biggd]

A group of us rented a 25' Sweetwater with a Yamaha 250 in the spring. It had a capacity of 16 but we only had 12. Had a great time and it had plenty of power although we didn't try water skiing.
There aren't too many boats that you are going to water ski off of with 12 people on board.
Probably the best thing to do is rent one for a couple days this fall to see how you like it.

[Juiced06GTO]

Thanks for the posts everyone! The wife and I are just starting the conversation now, so we'll see what happens. The Funship is also all paid for and I'm not sure I want to take on a payment for a toy, so maybe we'll squeak another year out of it.

I don't intend to ski/tube with that many people on the boat, the deck boat won't do that either. We also don't tube and ski much on Winni and do most of that over on Suncook.

Maybe the solution is to keep the deck boat on the dock at Suncook for water sports, cruising and fishing and slip a pontoon at Winni......I'm sure the wife will love the idea of two boats....haha!

[SAMIAM]

One other consideration......tritoons cut through chop like a knife. There is absolutely no slap or pounding even in moderate swells.
Bowriders have modified V's and bounce you around a lot especially if you're sitting up front. My wife never liked our 26' Hurricane for that reason but loves the Bennington

[Descant]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

One other consideration......tritoons cut through chop like a knife. There is absolutely no slap or pounding even in moderate swells.
Bowriders have modified V's and bounce you around a lot especially if you're sitting up front. My wife never liked our 26' Hurricane for that reason but loves the Bennington

I have limited experience with toons, but on really rough days or running into sharp wakes, yes, the cut through instead of going over. That means a flooded deck, especially if you have a heavy load. If your deep vee is pomnding and slappung, you're trying to go too fast, or you aren't properly trimmed. And yes, to me, the bow seats in a bow rider are always bouncing. I stick to closed bow/cuddy styles. If you're getting into a 26'-27' traditional boat, I like the amenities: Vee berths, microwave, grill, stand up head, ice maker, generator, better weather protection, etc. If you don't use the boat in spring and fll when you don't care about heat and A/C, and you only venture out on beautiful days, you don't need all those comforts. In a small pocket cruiser, you can leave a lot of stuff onboard and you don't have to pack and transport so much every time you plan a trip.
In sum, one style boat isn't better than the other, they have different uses where each might excel. If I were a sandbar guy, I'd definitely go for the double deck 'toon with a water slide.

[VitaBene]

Originally Posted by Descant

I have limited experience with toons, but on really rough days or running into sharp wakes, yes, the cut through instead of going over. That means a flooded deck, especially if you have a heavy load. If your deep vee is pomnding and slappung, you're trying to go too fast, or you aren't properly trimmed. And yes, to me, the bow seats in a bow rider are always bouncing. I stick to closed bow/cuddy styles. If you're getting into a 26'-27' traditional boat, I like the amenities: Vee berths, microwave, grill, stand up head, ice maker, generator, better weather protection, etc. If you don't use the boat in spring and fll when you don't care about heat and A/C, and you only venture out on beautiful days, you don't need all those comforts. In a small pocket cruiser, you can leave a lot of stuff onboard and you don't have to pack and transport so much every time you plan a trip.
In sum, one style boat isn't better than the other, they have different uses where each might excel. If I were a sandbar guy, I'd definitely go for the double deck 'toon with a water slide.

Yes, well said… there is no one perfect boat. You need to find the one best suited to your boating style.

Regarding bouncing bows, virtually every V hulled boat would benefit from trim tabs. They allow you to level unbalanced loads (no more having Joe move to the other side of boat). More importantly, they allow the operator to push the bow down, stopping bounce and using the sharpest angle to push through slop. We can run the broads in 3-4’s at 30 plus in relative comfort.

[ApS]

SeeDoo makes a pontoon boat with choice of Rotax engines:

https://youtu.be/tISoR3NfDgs

[BroadHopper]

Can't decide on pontoon configuration? Try this!
https://www.sea-doo.com/us/en/pontoo...ALL%7CBR%7CPHR

I have a deep v on Winnipesaukee. Very suitable for whatever is thrown upon it.
I have a 20 ft pontoon on Winnisquam. Very suitable on this lake. The lake doesn't get wild like 'pesaukee.

[salty dog]

When 70 MPH just isn't fast enough. Never have to wish you'd gone for more power...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyG8-7D4p9I

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by salty dog

When 70 MPH just isn't fast enough. Never have to wish you'd gone for more power...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyG8-7D4p9I

Now that looks like an accident just waiting to happen.

I noticed it was shown on perfectly flat water, sure makes you wonder what happens when it hits a good sized wake at that speed,,, I would be seriously concerned about blowover.

[BroadHopper]

Originally Posted by salty dog

When 70 MPH just isn't fast enough. Never have to wish you'd gone for more power...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyG8-7D4p9I

There are a number of pontoon boats on Winni (both) that are capable of 60+ and at the sandbars and beach bars, they love to brag. Poor me the LEOs picked on the Formula types and ignore the sleepers.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by BroadHopper

There are a number of pontoon boats on Winni (both) that are capable of 60+ and at the sandbars and beach bars, they love to brag. Poor me the LEOs picked on the Formula types and ignore the sleepers.

There are very, very few speeding tickets written on the lake. That makes sense since David Barrett, the former head of the new Hampshire Marine Patrol testified when the law was proposed that it was not needed.

I think you would really have to go out of your way and do something stupid to get a speeding ticket.

[SAMIAM]

I've owned a GF boat or two over the years as have many of my friends and neighbors and this is my take on speeding.
Most are very experienced boaters and know the law but like to make an occasional speed run just for the fun of it. Usually when conditions are right and when there are no other boats in the vicinity.
Most serious accidents and deaths have been caused by capt boneheads and/or alcohol. I can't recall any caused by speed alone although someone may prove me wrong.
My boat will barely do 50 and I'm burning 30 GPH wide open so most of my boating is at planing speed or less

[XCR-700]

Originally Posted by SAMIAM

I've owned a GF boat or two over the years as have many of my friends and neighbors and this is my take on speeding.
Most are very experienced boaters and know the law but like to make an occasional speed run just for the fun of it. Usually when conditions are right and when there are no other boats in the vicinity.
Most serious accidents and deaths have been caused by capt boneheads and/or alcohol. I can't recall any caused by speed alone although someone may prove me wrong.
My boat will barely do 50 and I'm burning 30 GPH wide open so most of my boating is at planing speed or less

RE; "like to make an occasional speed run just for the fun of it. Usually when conditions are right and when there are no other boats in the vicinity."

When GF boaters do as you state above, I see no problem nor need to restrict them.

And in truth your statement about accidents; "Most serious accidents and deaths have been caused by capt boneheads and/or alcohol.I can't recall any caused by speed alone" is in truth irrelevant of speed, they will have accidents at any speed,,, So again I dont see the need for a speed restriction myself and like you, my current "family" boat will only break 50 when there is only 1 or 2 people on board and a light load of fuel and gear, and most of the time we are cruising 30 - 35 MPH, so at the moment I have no personal impact from the speed limit, I just see it as unnecessary and restrictive of those who might enjoy the occasional blast down the Broads. I say ENJOY! Be careful, but no reason to prevent it.

[LikeLakes]

Originally Posted by Juiced06GTO

Maybe the solution is to keep the deck boat on the dock at Suncook for water sports, cruising and fishing and slip a pontoon at Winni......I'm sure the wife will love the idea of two boats....haha!

I think that really is the best solution. A 25 ft. pontoon with 300 on Upper Suncook isn't a good fit. Kind of like a juiced '06 GTO on a road that is a half mile long.

On the watersports question, the pontoon is fine for little kids but as they get older you want them skiing/wakeboarding and a pontoon just doesn't do it well, so a smaller watersports oriented boat is a must. Or, the kids will just tube and do nothing else which seems like a shame.

[Juiced06GTO]

Originally Posted by LikeLakes

I think that really is the best solution. A 25 ft. pontoon with 300 on Upper Suncook isn't a good fit. Kind of like a juiced '06 GTO on a road that is a half mile long.

On the watersports question, the pontoon is fine for little kids but as they get older you want them skiing/wakeboarding and a pontoon just doesn't do it well, so a smaller watersports oriented boat is a must. Or, the kids will just tube and do nothing else which seems like a shame.

I like the way ya think! The GTO was actually most at home on a 1/4 mile road, but that was quite a while ago now!

Maybe we'll take a trip around the marinas while we're up this weekend and see what people are turning in for the end of the season.

Thanks again everyone!

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Juiced06GTO

I like the way ya think! The GTO was actually most at home on a 1/4 mile road, but that was quite a while ago now!

Maybe we'll take a trip around the marinas while we're up this weekend and see what people are turning in for the end of the season.

Thanks again everyone!

I've been watching jetski prices, and it appears they're already starting to plummet. This week, there were a few on Marketplace that were not just good deals (given the end-of-season timing) but good deals in general. Not sure if that's applying to boats, but good luck!

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