Good and bad

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shoundog
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:34 am
Location: Huntersville, NC

Good and bad

#1 Post by shoundog » Wed Mar 06, 2019 3:54 pm

Well its been sometime since I posted anything. I am not much on posting but I do keep up the best I can. I did a 900 mile river trip on my 18' Triton Summitt which involved doing the entire Tennessee River and the Cumberland River. Took me two week by myself. I had removed all my seats for room and used a Tent Cot to sleep on board, Port Potty with a pop up cover and had camp stove to cook food. Used two foldable 25 watt solar panels to keep batt charged and also had a shower which consisted of a 7 gal container I kept on front deck to soak up warm sun and a 12v pump hooked to a hand held shower head. I am 67 years old and I have to say I had the time of my life. I did enjoy the solitude. Although its been over a year I have not put my seating back on due to my carpet being worn after all the pontoon is 13 years old so I have decided to due some up dating. I am looking a new binimi top first since fishing will start soon then later do a floor and seats. Of course I am looking at Pontoon Stuff for items and pricing. I will be going from a 6' long x 8'6" wide top to a 10'x8'6". My present structure is 1 1/4 sq tube which is what I am finding pretty standard except for one company on ebay which is 1" sq. I realy like the sunbrella tops but PS does not sell them. My question is, if any one has experience. How well does the tops PS sells hold up to the elements sun, rain and wind running up and down the lake? I can get a sunbrella top with frame for about $120 more but is it worth it? Thanks, Doug

riplipper
Posts: 280
Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2018 8:00 am
Location: St Augustine, Florida

Re: Good and bad

#2 Post by riplipper » Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:11 pm

Sounds like you had an AWESOME trip. I plan on doing something similar down here in FL on the St Johns river and intercoastal water way.

I cannot vouch for PS quality, but just remember Sunbrella is a trade name, lots of other people make canopies out of very similar or exact same material.
Also, there are many treatments to put on these tops that protect and waterproof them. Do a little web research and you will find products
that are just as good as sunbrella.
I am not sure what my top is, it is not sunbrella, and it is working awesome. You might call PS and see what they say about their quality.
Good luck and safe voyages!
I am the guy at the boat ramp that gives you dirty looks when you are a complete idiot and too stupid to know it.

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wwind3
Posts: 1515
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:03 am
Location: Lake Livingston Tx

Re: Good and bad

#3 Post by wwind3 » Wed Mar 06, 2019 4:58 pm

I hope you took some pics that you can post....I am envious!
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bansil
Posts: 1103
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 4:10 pm
Location: Watâ'gi lake...Beautiful Waters

Re: Good and bad

#4 Post by bansil » Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:59 pm

OP please start a new thread and tell your 2 week journey, in words and pictures...you ever have issues with no place to stop or get gas? How about grocery runs? Let us live vicariously through you

Please :mrgreen:
Check out "Dudes" site www.whereisdude.com

wc9550
Posts: 52
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 5:38 pm
Location: Montgomery, IL

Re: Good and bad

#5 Post by wc9550 » Wed Mar 06, 2019 7:11 pm

Op: I have a Bimini from PS. I got their heavy duty version (1.25” aluminum frame and not 1” plus the heavy duty canvas). It was about $400ish shipped to my house. I had a Bimini already, but had to redo the front mounts to a new location as I got the 10 foot Bimini and my boat had an 8 foot originally. I used the boat all summer long and towed it 200 miles 1 way every other weekend and did 1100 mile round trip to Arkansas and back. The top was perfect after all summer. I only had 1 issue and it was while towing. I found the Bimini cover would come unzipped while towing. So I used 2 very small bungee cords to hold the zippers closed while towing. Other than that it has lasted awesome all year last year. I will be getting it out of storage in 1.5 months and can update you to let you know how it held up over winter.

Out of curiosity where are you located? You mentioned you could get a frame for $120. Do you need a frame? If so, I am located in northern, IL and have the frame I pulled off my boat. You can have it if interested?

Thanks, Ryan
2019 South Bay 224SB2 3.0 tritoon with 2019 Merc. L200

shoundog
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:34 am
Location: Huntersville, NC

Re: Good and bad

#6 Post by shoundog » Wed Mar 06, 2019 9:01 pm

Thanks all, I am going to order the heavy duty from PS tomorrow 8.5X10 that will give me 4 more feet of coverage. I think it will be ok. It will be less than $500 to the house. Ryan thanks for the offer I live in the Charlotte NC are up near Lake Norman. For all those interest in my trip I wish I could say I have lots of photos but I don't. I had two gopros and a digital 35mm that also took video so I would venture to say I have about 99% in video. I had ask my oldest son to edit it for me (he is very good at it) and I was going to post it to youtube but he has not been able to get any of it done. Very busy with job and new baby. Ill go through and see if I have anything of interest to post. I did keep some what of a log in the river chart books I had with me. They were very useful on the whole trip. After getting back up on the toon today to do a little cleaning and look around it sure got me to thinking about another trip. Doug

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wwind3
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Re: Good and bad

#7 Post by wwind3 » Thu Mar 07, 2019 4:10 am

cool---what part of the 2 rivers did you navigate? Were you around the Land Between the lakes area where the rivers enter the Ohio? Wondering if you had to plan the trip around the dams on the rivers? Thanks...
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shoundog
Posts: 19
Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:34 am
Location: Huntersville, NC

Re: Good and bad

#8 Post by shoundog » Thu Mar 07, 2019 12:15 pm

I started the trip in Knoxville. There is a public ramp in downtown Knox just below where the Tennessee river starts at the Forks of the Holston and French Broad rivers. I traveled the full distance from marker 649 to marker 23 which is the KY lock and dam. Getting to this point I chose to go through the canal that connects the Tenn River to the Cumberland River which forms the land between the lakes. I had to go through ever lock and dam on the Tennessee river and Cumberland to get to my final destination of Celina TN. I had no problems getting through any of the locks except for a back up due to repairs on the lock at Florence, AL. When I contacted the lock master he told me It would be 6 hrs before he could let me through so I picked a cove a short distance from the dam and just anchored up for the night. If anyone is interested in a trip like this I would suggest you buy the Tennessee River and Cumberland River Guide books by Author Jerry M. Hay. Web Site is Riverlorian.com it will show you anchorage points and marinas along the way. Its like a road map. I was lucky to have a brother in law in the Knoxville area that was willing to drop me in Knoxville and the pick me up two weeks later in Celina. This would be the hardest part for most people. So let me say this. If your interested in a trip like this and need help with anything you are welcome to PM me and I will do what I can to help. I live in the Charlotte area but grew up in East Tenn and have a small house in Greeneville TN so some arangments can be made. I think the best part of the trip is from Knox to Hales Bar near Nickajack Lock and dam. Fantastic scenery through the hills and mountains. One could do this part in three to four days down then stay a day or two at the floating cabins at Hales Bar and then return back up in three days. I think I just talked myself into another trip :wink: . Doug

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bansil
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Location: Watâ'gi lake...Beautiful Waters

Re: Good and bad

#9 Post by bansil » Thu Mar 07, 2019 4:40 pm

Thanks :drunks
Check out "Dudes" site www.whereisdude.com

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luckydogs
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Location: central Florida

Re: Good and bad

#10 Post by luckydogs » Fri Mar 08, 2019 4:38 am

WOW sounds like you had an amazing journey

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wwind3
Posts: 1515
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:03 am
Location: Lake Livingston Tx

Re: Good and bad

#11 Post by wwind3 » Fri Mar 08, 2019 6:41 am

WOW! So did you go from Knoxville all the way to where the Tennessee empties into the Ohio and then Back to Celina? Heckuva trip....thanx for the info....

Oh --may have answered my own question--didn't realize you took the Tn River all the way thru 'Nooga and Alabama--awesome...
2009 LOWE SS204 25in logs
90 Merc Optimax
Motorguide W55 Wireless
Underskinning
28 GPS

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