I rented a pontoon boat this week on a lake. The family really enjoyed the
wide open floor and seating compared to the confined cuddy on the Bayliner
we used to own. How would a pontoon boat ride and handling compare to my
old bayliner on long island sound with 1 to 3 foot waves and strong current?
We've been on Lake George, NY with wave crashing over our bow and
windshield - can pantoon safely handle that kind of condition or are they
prone to capsize? I haven't seen many articles on them in the boating
magazines. How much HP would I need to pull a wake boarder?
Rocky

thanks for your comments. Maybe I will rent one next time we are at Lake
George and see how it handles on the rougher lake waters. The 23' pontoon
boat we had on Candlewood Lake had 2 pontoons but I know some have 3. It
had a 75HP motor and the marina said it could only tube, not wakeboat. We
didn't try any fast turns with the kids in tow. It had no problem getting
up to 20MPH quickly according to our GPS. We didn't take the tube over
15MPH.

I can only tow a total weight of 4500lbs (boat and trailer) with my Honda
Pilot, so that is a consideration too. I was a littlle spoiled with my
F150 - tow limit was 7700lbs.
Rocky

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 07:19:31 -0400, "Rocky"
wrote:

I rented a pontoon boat this week on a lake. The family really enjoyed
the
wide open floor and seating compared to the confined cuddy on the Bayliner
we used to own. How would a pontoon boat ride and handling compare to my
old bayliner on long island sound with 1 to 3 foot waves and strong
current?
We've been on Lake George, NY with wave crashing over our bow and
windshield - can pantoon safely handle that kind of condition or are they
prone to capsize? I haven't seen many articles on them in the boating
magazines. How much HP would I need to pull a wake boarder?

I can't answer this directly as I have about zero experience with
pontoon boats, but I have noticed a lot more pontoon boats in the over
24' class out and about around Fisher's Island than I ever have
before. They seem to handle the bigger wakes and waves ok, but I'm
not convinced that 1 to 3 would be a good idea in a high windage boat
for a sustained period of time. That space between the pontoons is a
wind tunnel and on LIS, well.... :)

As to hp, there is a Sylvan up on Webster Lake with a 150 Honda on it
and it screams in terms of speed - I've seen it pull three skiers very
well getting them up and out of the water quickly. I don't think it
maneuvers very well because at the end of the run, he had to slow down
considerably to make a turn and the skier's lost plane.

Sorry I can't give you more on that.

thanks for your comments. Maybe I will rent one next time we are at Lake
George and see how it handles on the rougher lake waters. The 23' pontoon
boat we had on Candlewood Lake had 2 pontoons but I know some have 3. It
had a 75HP motor and the marina said it could only tube, not wakeboard. We
didn't try any fast turns with the kids in tow. It had no problem getting
up to 20MPH quickly according to our GPS. We didn't take the tube over
15MPH.

I can only tow a total weight of 4500lbs (boat and trailer) with my Honda
Pilot, so that is a consideration too. I was a littlle spoiled with my
F150 - tow limit was 7700lbs.
Rocky
"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 07:19:31 -0400, "Rocky"
wrote:

I rented a pontoon boat this week on a lake. The family really enjoyed
the
wide open floor and seating compared to the confined cuddy on the Bayliner
we used to own. How would a pontoon boat ride and handling compare to my
old bayliner on long island sound with 1 to 3 foot waves and strong
current?
We've been on Lake George, NY with wave crashing over our bow and
windshield - can pantoon safely handle that kind of condition or are they
prone to capsize? I haven't seen many articles on them in the boating
magazines. How much HP would I need to pull a wake boarder?

I can't answer this directly as I have about zero experience with
pontoon boats, but I have noticed a lot more pontoon boats in the over
24' class out and about around Fisher's Island than I ever have
before. They seem to handle the bigger wakes and waves ok, but I'm
not convinced that 1 to 3 would be a good idea in a high windage boat
for a sustained period of time. That space between the pontoons is a
wind tunnel and on LIS, well.... :)

As to hp, there is a Sylvan up on Webster Lake with a 150 Honda on it
and it screams in terms of speed - I've seen it pull three skiers very
well getting them up and out of the water quickly. I don't think it
maneuvers very well because at the end of the run, he had to slow down
considerably to make a turn and the skier's lost plane.

Sorry I can't give you more on that.

Rocky wrote:
I rented a pontoon boat this week on a lake. The family really enjoyed the
wide open floor and seating compared to the confined cuddy on the Bayliner
we used to own. How would a pontoon boat ride and handling compare to my
old bayliner on long island sound with 1 to 3 foot waves and strong current?
We've been on Lake George, NY with wave crashing over our bow and
windshield - can pantoon safely handle that kind of condition or are they
prone to capsize? I haven't seen many articles on them in the boating
magazines. How much HP would I need to pull a wake boarder?
Rocky



I asked the same question to the instructor of my USCG boating safety
class. He has a captain's licence. He said "NO WAY" was a pontoon boat
safe on open waters. In fact, here in Maryland we had a pontoon water
taxi flip over in (protected) Baltimore harbor due to strong wind.

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:57:11 -0400, "Rocky"
wrote:

I can only tow a total weight of 4500lbs (boat and trailer) with my Honda
Pilot, so that is a consideration too. I was a littlle spoiled with my
F150 - tow limit was 7700lbs.

You may want to consider a deck boat.

http://www.godfreymarine.com/index_hurricane.cfm

Excellent suggestion!

"Scott McPhillips [MVP]" org-dot-mvps-at-scottmcp wrote in message
news
Rocky wrote:
I rented a pontoon boat this week on a lake. The family really enjoyed
the
wide open floor and seating compared to the confined cuddy on the
Bayliner we used to own. How would a pontoon boat ride and handling
compare to my old bayliner on long island sound with 1 to 3 foot waves
and strong current? We've been on Lake George, NY with wave crashing over
our bow and windshield - can pantoon safely handle that kind of condition
or are they prone to capsize? I haven't seen many articles on them in
the boating magazines. How much HP would I need to pull a wake boarder?
Rocky

I asked the same question to the instructor of my USCG boating safety
class. He has a captain's licence. He said "NO WAY" was a pontoon boat
safe on open waters. In fact, here in Maryland we had a pontoon water
taxi flip over in (protected) Baltimore harbor due to strong wind.


Wow, I guess that's why I don't see very many here as I live near long
island sound.
It just seemed like so much more usuable space and less maintenance on the
hull. My next question was going to be we want to be able to make the trip
across the sound to port jeff, NY too...

wrote:
Somebody did point out that a capsized pontoon boat is still a pontoon
boat ;-)
If the tubes hold, it won't sink.

Yes, in fact the same instructor went on to say "If you do get one, make
sure it has a hatch so you can climb through the floor if it flips
over." I don't think they offer that option

Some news links on the Baltimore harbor tragedy:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/loc...927974.special

wrote in message
...


I am not sure the Baltimore incident is relevant.

are you are now staying in the Washington area. It's great! I think it's
much better . I wish I achieved such a success in my life.

That was a top heavy
boat with a double decker cabin.
These things can get very "wet" in rough water. I have one and I have
been caught offshore in nasty water.

how long do you end up staying there, generally?

mk5000

"It stands the winter long
I long for you, for your soft touch
I miss the way you smile
The longer that we stay apart"--it is you i dream of, jr king

"Shortwave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:57:11 -0400, "Rocky"
wrote:

I can only tow a total weight of 4500lbs (boat and trailer) with my Honda
Pilot, so that is a consideration too. I was a littlle spoiled with my
F150 - tow limit was 7700lbs.

You may want to consider a deck boat.

http://www.godfreymarine.com/index_hurricane.cfm

are they unsinkable? what year did this start?

I always wondered as the waves came over the bow, what if the bilge pump
could not keep up - I would go with an outboard, so at least the motor would
not be impaired.

when I was test driving boats a couple years ago, one person said he was
trying to outrun a storm and his engine compartment flooded and I could see
all the salt pitting on his inboard. it was a nice boat with a porta potty
in a little room in front of the passenger seat.

Rocky wrote:
I rented a pontoon boat this week on a lake. The family really enjoyed the
wide open floor and seating compared to the confined cuddy on the Bayliner
we used to own. How would a pontoon boat ride and handling compare to my
old bayliner on long island sound with 1 to 3 foot waves and strong current?


Seems to me that a pontoon slicing though the water makes a great
smooth ride on a pond, small lake, or river, but 3 foot waves? it
would probably handle that ok too, that is, if you like being soaked
when the waves go flooding over your deck.

I wouldn't want that.