On 06 Dec 2003 17:47:57 GMT, (Greg) wrote:
You can get in a lot more trouble in the great lakes and I
don't see people saying you can't run a pontoon there.

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I've spent a lot of time on Lake Ontario and a fair amount of time on
Lake Michigan, and have never seen a pontoon boat on either one, nor
would I recommend it. I've seen pontoon boats on small lakes take
water over the deck from even small wakes.

I'm now living ten miles from the gulf, and certainly there are many
calm days when you could go out on an inner tube but that doesn't make
it a good idea. Things change too quickly and there's always the
unexpected large wake to contend with.

From what I am reading I assume everyone in the Gulf must be running 25' boats
or larger. I will certainly go anywhere in my pontoon boat someone in a 17' bow
rider will go and I will get back alive.

On 07 Dec 2003 17:04:54 GMT, (Greg) wrote:
From what I am reading I assume everyone in the Gulf must be running 25' boats
or larger. I will certainly go anywhere in my pontoon boat someone in a 17' bow
rider will go and I will get back alive.

================================

I've been on the gulf in the Ft Myers Beach/Estero Island area in a 19
foot bowrider. It was too small in all but the calmest winds. My 24
ft cuddy does better but it's not all that happy either once the wind
gets up to 15 kts or better. In the end, it all comes down to luck
and how much abuse you're willing to tolerate with boat and crew. The
bottom line is that pontoon boats are designed for protected water,
and that's where they are usually found. It's important to remember
that the inlets and passes can get rough even on a calm day if the
tide is running out against an incoming swell.

Wayne.B wrote:

On 07 Dec 2003 17:04:54 GMT, (Greg) wrote:
From what I am reading I assume everyone in the Gulf must be running 25' boats
or larger. I will certainly go anywhere in my pontoon boat someone in a 17' bow
rider will go and I will get back alive.

================================

I've been on the gulf in the Ft Myers Beach/Estero Island area in a 19
foot bowrider. It was too small in all but the calmest winds. My 24
ft cuddy does better but it's not all that happy either once the wind
gets up to 15 kts or better. In the end, it all comes down to luck
and how much abuse you're willing to tolerate with boat and crew. The
bottom line is that pontoon boats are designed for protected water,
and that's where they are usually found. It's important to remember
that the inlets and passes can get rough even on a calm day if the
tide is running out against an incoming swell.


I took a 20' pontoon boat up the St. Johns River in Jax out to the
jetties where the river meets the ocean. The water was choppy but not
too bad on the way out, but the ride back was miserable, with some small
breakers, cross winds, and then rain. The next time I was on a pontoon
boat, it was on a nice fishing lake in Central Florida. The pontoon
seemed the perfect boat for those lake waters.





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