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


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

"Jim" wrote in
:

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



Jim, picking them is easy. Get down on your knees and crawl up UNDER the
deck on them.....

Is the plywood raw and unprotected by even the simplest of paints and
EXPOSED to the water splashing up from the lake underneath?

Yes - You don't want that one....rotten floors MUST result!

Now, we've already eliminated about 90% of them with this ONE test at any
boatshow. soaked up carpet on top....exposed wood on the bottom....a
disaster in the making!

I always thought wood should be PAINTED to make it last...didn't you?

"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.

I'm kind of partial to the Lowe Tahiti series deck boats. Never owned one,
but there's one down the river a bit that I've coveted on occasion. They
have a deck arrangement similar to a pontoon boat, but with the ability to
go 40mph. And you don't have to worry about hull blisters.

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

On Sep 8, 10:59 am, "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

--
Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

I've had my 1999 Crest 25 footer for 4 years. It's hard to beat the
economical comfort of a nice 'toon. My boat has an aluminum skin on
the bottom and has a 130hp I/O propulsion. On the plus side, pontoons
are easy to operate, have a lot of room and very shallow draft. I
refer to my boat as a 'floating living room'. It is very good on gas,
and if you feel the need to haul along loads of junk/water toys/
whathaveyou they have a great deal of stowage. A good choice for
rivers and small lakes. On the bad side...although they slice through
a cruisers wake straight on with hardly a bump, if you are hit
broadside you'll be tossed like a salad, and rough choppy water will
greatly reduce your effective cruise speed. Even my full length twin
bimini tops don't offer much rain protection - in short - anything
less than a nice calm day can be rather unpleasant especially if the
Mrs. is adverse to getting a little wet (like mine seems to be)
because there is no place to hide on a pontoon. It was a great
starter boat and I don't regret a day....but I'm cruiser shopping
right now.

wrote in
:

On Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:50:38 +0000, Larry wrote:

"Jim" wrote in
:

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



Jim, picking them is easy. Get down on your knees and crawl up UNDER
the deck on them.....

Is the plywood raw and unprotected by even the simplest of paints and
EXPOSED to the water splashing up from the lake underneath?

Yes - You don't want that one....rotten floors MUST result!

Now, we've already eliminated about 90% of them with this ONE test at
any boatshow. soaked up carpet on top....exposed wood on the
bottom....a disaster in the making!

I always thought wood should be PAINTED to make it last...didn't you?


I have a 32 year old Harris pontoon on it's 2d deck. I run in salt
water and I do about 350-400 hrs a year.
You are right about sealing the plywood. The first deck failed in 12
years.
I used MDO for the replacement deck and sealed the edges and all
drilled holes real well with urethane paint. I put 2 coats of
elastomeric roof sealer under the carpet.
The current one is only showing signs of failing near the 2 places I
drilled holes and did not seal them.
The 3d carpet is at end of life so I will be stripping it down and
looking at everything. If I do replace the deck someday I will go with
MDO plywood again. That stuff is bulletproof.


I'd like to see what happens if someone replaces the cheap plywood with
plastic lumber like:
http://plasticlumberyard.com/foreverdock.htm
Lasts forever! Never rots. They're making great docks out of it.
There's one about 4 lots downriver from me. Very strong, much better
than cheap plywood crap boatbuilders use....

It even comes with non-skid surface....no smelly mildewed carpet
necessary.

Larry

On Sep 8, 11:01 pm, wrote:
On Sep 8, 10:59 am, "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

--
Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

I've had my 1999 Crest 25 footer for 4 years. It's hard to beat the
economical comfort of a nice 'toon. My boat has an aluminum skin on
the bottom and has a 130hp I/O propulsion. On the plus side, pontoons
are easy to operate, have a lot of room and very shallow draft. I
refer to my boat as a 'floating living room'. It is very good on gas,
and if you feel the need to haul along loads of junk/water toys/
whathaveyou they have a great deal of stowage. A good choice for
rivers and small lakes. On the bad side...although they slice through
a cruisers wake straight on with hardly a bump, if you are hit
broadside you'll be tossed like a salad, and rough choppy water will
greatly reduce your effective cruise speed. Even my full length twin
bimini tops don't offer much rain protection - in short - anything
less than a nice calm day can be rather unpleasant especially if the
Mrs. is adverse to getting a little wet (like mine seems to be)
because there is no place to hide on a pontoon. It was a great
starter boat and I don't regret a day....but I'm cruiser shopping
right now.

Thanks!

You've fairly well told why I like them, and also why I hate them.


I still want one! I'd like a 28 + ft'r todo a nice river cruise...

er, someday...