Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Can someone tell me my boat say's 12 people max, but I only have 5 adults most of the time. Do I need to carry 12 life vest or can I carry what is going to be on the boat?? Thanks.

You only need to carry as many vests as there are people on the boat.
Just so long as there is one vest for each person and it has to fit properly.
You can't have 5 adult vests where one person is a child.

And (at least in Michigan), you need to have at least 1 thorwable floatation device.

Ya here in Cali we need to have a throw device too, acts as a good seat when I forget the chairs on the beach. Thanks for the info I just could not see me keeping 12 vest all the time taking up all the storage room. Now I will have more room for brew.

Does the throwable device have to have a line attached to it? Does it need to be a cushion style?

Mine is just the cushion type and it passed inspection so I guess it does not need a rope with it?

Legal requirements are just to have a throwable device ring or cushion.
The line attached is for convience so you can pull whoever you threw it to back to you, or if when you threw it to them it wasn't near enough and they are unable to swim to it.

Same here in Texas throwable cushon, no line attached.

We like to use the cushion for floating around on with the line tied to the boat.
Keep us from drifting too far off with the current.

I figure one of the 3 fenders clipped on the side of the pontoon can be tossed to the person, then attach a ski rope to another and toss that one also for pulling him / her in . Then the person would have to get a life jacket on and go back in to get the 1st fender if they didn't bring it back onboard

lol monk thats my style too. those fenders arnt cheap!