Jim wrote:
I am thinking about buying one or the other for lakes and rivers. Maybe
a rare ICW trip. I know little about either so I'm hoping to get some
sort of discussion going.
Florida Jim

I had a 25 ft Party Barge. It had treated decking but it wasn't enough.
I saw one later that had synthetic decking. I don't remember what it was.
They offer great space for whatever activity. They are a little rough to
load onto the trailer in a current. Other boat wakes toss them about a
bit. You really need to have your wife or another second person with you
to load, unload one except maybe the smallest ones.
You'll enjoy it. You might want to check out swivel seats , fishing
seats, et al for the bow. Don't under power it though. Dealers tend to
offer it with the smaller engines to help the total price, of course.
Dual axle trailer is a must if you intend to tow much. You can survive
losing a tire, if it is not the only tire, on that side, at freeway speeds.
These things aren't as light as many think. A 3/4 ton or larger is not
too much. imho