Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I'm sure this has been discussed here before but I can't seem to find much on it. How far offshore is it safe to take a pontoon or deckboat? In my area, you have to go out 10-12 miles to get to any decent fishing so I
ve always wondered if I should venture that far. I have been out 6 miles on a fairly calm day to a small wreck here and that was OK, Thoughts and opinions?

Regardless of the type/size of boat, it all depends on conditions AND the forecast. When I had a 23' deep v center console, I would only feel comfortable going 10 miles out. Being from Louisiana and knowing weather conditions in the summer, I would always keep an eye on the weather while out as even a small thunderstorm can turn nasty real quick. One time, I was in a 28' Grady White 35 miles out and it turned ugly and was glad to make it back. After that incident, I had a new respect for the sea.

When you say "off shore", do you mean un-protected and truly off shore or do you mean a large bay? Personally, I would never stray but a few miles away from land in a pontoon boat and be prepared to haul ass if the conditions started to look marginal.

Some lunatics from Avalon/Tahoe took a 27' tri-toon to the Bahamas.

ya just gotts to know the limits of your pontoon.

Capt Sully wrote:ya just gotts to know the limits of your pontoon.

That brings up anpother interesting point. I know some toons are built better than others so I guess the better question is which pontoon would be better at handling 2-4 foot seas say 7-8 miles out? (Gulf of Mexico) I ask this because I'm selling my Tracker and looking for something a little better built. When I see that my toon is rated for a max 75hp engine and lots of other toons are rated for 150's or 200's, there has to be a structural difference there.

BobL wrote:When you say "off shore", do you mean un-protected and truly off shore or do you mean a large bay? Personally, I would never stray but a few miles away from land in a pontoon boat and be prepared to haul ass if the conditions started to look marginal.

I'm talking Gulf of Mexico and my toon only does 16 MPH on a good day so haulin ass is not an option!

Don't do it, you could hit a wind and waves that will slow you to nothing , Not a good ideal, I have been out there 8 miles out in a 21 foot deep well and sometimes the weather sneaks in on you quick, and I had some ruff rides getting in, so no way I'll take a pontoon out there

I wouldent go very far at all in your boat because honestly its not very powerful and I'm sure not very fast either. I boat in the gulf very often and the farthes I ever went out on my old 24'er was maybe a mile. With my new boat I'll go a lot farther to the first set of oil rigs5-10miles out but were talking 27' tritoon lifting strakes 51 gallons of fuel and a 300hp mercury verado..... That being said I'd try and get any tritoon with LIFTING STRAKES and no smaller than a 150 but as always bigger is better in these conditions!

I deffinitly wouldnt go no farther than a 1/2 tank of gas! JT

I think it's all about your boat being seaworthy, knowing it's limitations, and your skill and experience. You should not play outside your comfort zone, particularly with guests on board.

I don't have much reason now to press my distance off Panama City Beach further than the hotels disappearing on the horizon. That's about 8-9 miles out. About where the state waters of the Gulf turn into federal waters and the fishing regs get stricter. Cell phone range starts getting a bit sketchy too.

Running back in from a storm is my main issue. Weather built all the way home to port and St. Andrews Pass was rocking and rolling by the time we got in. I used to think nothing of running my Century 26 twenty miles out or so. But then, the boat carried twins and my toon sports a single.

wijames wrote:

Capt Sully wrote:ya just gotts to know the limits of your pontoon.

That brings up anpother interesting point. I know some toons are built better than others so I guess the better question is which pontoon would be better at handling 2-4 foot seas say 7-8 miles out? (Gulf of Mexico) I ask this because I'm selling my Tracker and looking for something a little better built. When I see that my toon is rated for a max 75hp engine and lots of other toons are rated for 150's or 200's, there has to be a structural difference there.

James, I boat out of Fort Myers into the Gulf about 10 miles maximum often, on a good (under 2' waves & 10 mile winds) days only. But, I keep a REAL CLOSE eye on real time radar rain formations on my ipad. My Premier is very well built with 16" OC rails and a reliable 115hp Honda engine and a day (half) enclosure for rain protection ..... But its only a double toon. Due to only having the double toons and only a top speed (26) I am at the edge of the my safety margin. If any surprise mishap would occur, I could be in deep do-do.

Last year I got caught five miles out in my last boat. It was a Sea Cat catamaran. A much better boat for rough water such as the GOM. I did not have the ipad and any rain protection on the cat, just a small T top. A fast moving very strong storm came up out of no where. We headed back toward shore and got more soaked then I have ever been in 50 years of boating. Luckily we made it back to the inside of Red Fish Pass off Pine Island.

Then the first mishap occurred when I tried to switch to my port sponson fuel tank. The tank (s) switch did not work and we ran out of gas. The second problem was when I tried to call Sea Tow and the VHF radio also did not work. By then the storm had passed and it was just a light rain. It was getting dark and there was not another boat around. One of my passengers is 85 and was starting to snake pretty bad. I had a dry coat in storage and gave it to him.

We were able to call Sea Tow via his cell phone and after and another hour they arrived to tow us back to the launch ramp. It took another hour to get back to the ramp and it was dark. Long story short (your welcome) we got the boat back home and never went out in it again. The towing charge was $1,200 and the Sea tow membership paid it.

I bought my present Premier pontoon boat (stole it) via the net about three months later. I installed a new fuel transfer switch in the Sea Cat and sold it. First thing after getting the Premier delivered from WI. I installed the day enclosure and the ipad with its Navionics and satellite weather aps before going out the first time in the Gulf..

Your not a small inland lake (pond) boater like many of the members here. Your boat is not built good enough and has too small power to be playing out much over a mile in the Ocean. Buy a newer pontoon and a larger reliable engine or stay inside the inter coastal. Or your going to poke your eye out... And, get triple toons... I wish that I did.

As Always.... IMHO,

Rascal

i don't have a dog in this hunt, however, this seems like a market for a toon with twins. not necessarily, the high HP go fast twins, but maybe 2 115's or 150's for reliability/redundancy.