Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

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CominInHot
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:24 pm

Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#1 Post by CominInHot » Tue Apr 07, 2015 3:15 pm

We are making the change from a Gulf Coast bay boat to a lake tri toon and I was lucky enough to find this forum to get feedback, thoughts, comments as we are just learning all the questions to ask.

Our planned use is cruising and pulling adults/kids on tubes, skis, etc. We aren't really into lake fishing so haven't been looking at those configurations. We went to Houston boat show back in Jan but really hadn't committed to boat ( have jet skis) and weren't ready to pull the trigger. Now we have been looking and not sure we are getting a good deal.

The boat we think we've narrowed down to is 2014 Cypress Cay Cozumel tri with 150 Merc- no trailer ( have boat lift). It has the T3 performance package, upgraded stereo, carpet, ski locker, tow bar. We looked at Berkshire (can't remember the model number but the center toon was only 1/2 toon) and 2014 Bennington SSRX. I like the Bennington but the Cypress is already about $5K more than we thought we would be spending and the Bennington is about $1400 more than that.

My questions are:

Anyone have info- good or bad on the Cypress Cay? I've researched and can't find any negatives but all the reviews on boats.com or boating magazine I take with grain of salt as advertising.

They have the aluminum skin under the deck but it stops short about 3-4 feet from the front and only runs down the center so you can see exposed deck on the outside of the outside toons the full length. Other boats I've seen completely covered. Is this going to create huge drag impacting towing ability and speed?

The boat price before prep fees, & TTL fees is $37650. Is that a good price? I dont know if everything is just so much more here in Texas but I saw another thread where someone in MI, was getting that same Bennington we were looking at for $33K to have and we were $39K here.

Last question about props: I've seen several forum threads talk about different size/ratio props and they seem to impact the speed & RPM?? Admittedly, we don't know a lot about that but the prop on the Merc is a stainless Enertia and it's stamped 14P. Does that tell you anything about it being sized correctly??

Should I keep shopping?

I greatly appreciate any comments and welcome any and all feedback.

Looking forward to summer nights and hope yours are all good

Gonefishing
Posts: 637
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2012 5:56 pm

Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#2 Post by Gonefishing » Tue Apr 07, 2015 6:48 pm

Don't know anything on the brand. But for what u are getting price seems. In line. If it has what u want and price is in your range. I say go with it. Everyone on this site will have an opinion. I always say you are the one buying get what will fit your needs and budget. I would say look at the excursions but then you see what I have. Love mine.
Bob Jacksonville, Nc

2013 Excursion X23 RFC
2013 115 Yamaha
Pulled with a Ford King Ranch

RcgTexas
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Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:37 am
Location: Texas

Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#3 Post by RcgTexas » Tue Apr 07, 2015 7:09 pm

First of all, Welcome!

I personally would not worry about the underskin not being on the sides. In between the tubes on both sides of the center toon is the critical place IMHO. There is where you will want and need full coverage.

Boat sounds good and power is reasonable. Diameter and pitch will need to be evaluated by operating with usual load and see if wot is close to max rpm's.

Not familiar with boat brand but pics would be nice! :pics
1995 beachcomber conversion to tritoon with Honda 135 ,

Link to rebuild [url=http://www.pontoonforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=19016][Knot Normal][/url]

God Bless America

Bamaman
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Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 1:44 pm
Location: NW Alabama--Tennessee River

Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#4 Post by Bamaman » Tue Apr 07, 2015 9:11 pm

Our local dealer sells Cypress Cay, and they're very nice, plush boats. Unfortunately, he's just carrying 2 tooned boats with relatively small engines. Our lake is full of old pontoon boats, as they just don't seem to ever wear out.

It's not uncommon to see underskinning not making it all the way to the front end. Water tends to hit where they have it. You can always complete the skinning to the front of the deck if you wish--easy job. The main thing is to keep the water from hitting the cross braces--slowing you down. And a boat with underskinning rides better and is more efficient.

The price on that boat is in the ball park. Pricing boats is difficult as some have more options than others. You're not always comparing Apples and Apples. I don't care about the price is before prep and delivery. I want to know the total price before taxes. The chances are that I'll be on Boattrader.com calling every Cypress Cay dealer within proximity or even other like quality boat dealers shopping for a better deal.

The Enertia prop is the standard of the industry for pontoons/tritoons. A 14 or 15 pitch stainless prop is about right for that boat and engine. Just make sure the dealer will be willing to swap the prop if it runs too little rpm's or too high rpm's when the boat's trimmed out and run full throttle.

Should you keep shopping? Absolutely. You have a few weeks before the boating season starts. And don't limit yourself to just one brand.
'12 Bennington 24' SSLX Yamaha 150

LadyGT
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Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#5 Post by LadyGT » Wed Apr 08, 2015 1:37 am

If you found a boat/floor plan that you want, call competing dealers for the exact same boat with the options wanted. That is the only way to know if you are getting the best price. Prices on options are flexible I have come to learn. Dealers mark up the options a lot so pay attention to the comparisons.
Denise and Jim
2015 Encore 22' Cruise SE Grey
2001 Ford F250 Turbo Diesel

crookedlaker
Posts: 184
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Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#6 Post by crookedlaker » Wed Apr 08, 2015 5:45 am

Cypress Cay is built by Harris at the same factory as the Harris pontoons.
It started out as a economy or mid range line compared with the Harris boats however they have evolved into a
very nice boat line, I would have no problem with buying a Cypress Cay boat.
good luck on your search

Mike
2017 Harris Sunliner 200
Tri-toon P+ Package
2017 Mercury 150 4 stroke

2014 Harris Cruiser 200 Sold!!
2014 Mercury 90 four stroke (120 HP via Simon Motorsports) Sold!!

CominInHot
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:24 pm

Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#7 Post by CominInHot » Mon Apr 13, 2015 2:37 pm

Thanks to all for comments...much appreciated

With respect to couple specific comments, I recalculated difference between Cypress Cay & Bennington for everything but taxes and you're right the difference actually ended up greater at $2400. Also, the particular Bennington we were looking at has molded plastic below the seats and it doesn't look quite as finished as the Cay that takes the fabric all the way to floor.

We definitely looked at more than those 2 and considered others incl Avalon, Berkshire, Premier, Xcursion & Sylvan but ruled them out either due to budget, floor plan or options we wanted not available. We really focused on left over 2014's thinking that would be where we could get our best deal but it did limit our options.

I took other advice and went on the Cypress Cay website and literally located every dealer by state that carried their brand and went to their respective websites to see what they had in stock. While I found a lot of Seabreeze model,( 1 level down from the Cozumel), I couldn't find any Cozumels that were the 220 model and we don't have room for the larger 240. Also, in the Cozumel we get the T3 perf package that includes full center toon with strakes on both sides to get w/ inner strakes on 2 outer toons + full skin. We felt that was important to us for pulling as we are sticking w a Merc 150 due to budget. One concern came out of my research. While we don't plan to sell, it appears that this is not a boat that is mass produced or highly bought so little concerned about resale? I guess that's why I'm agonizing over the decision.

Another question for the community to weigh in is in regards to weight.

Specs for the Cozumel 3 toon show weight( just says word "weight", not "dry weight" or anything else) as 3459 & weight capacity at 2862. A Sylvan boat we really also liked shows 2100 as the dry weight w Max capacity lbs as 1650. I can't find anywhere in their specs if that is for their 3 toon or just assumes a 2 toon. Surely there is no way the Cozumel can outweigh the Sylvan 3459 lbs to 2100 lbs? Roughly same size boat w same furnitue config. Are they not stating same thing? I also don't think that even if Sylvan weight of 2100 is for a 2 toon, adding a 3rd center toon would add that 1300 lb difference. What am I not understanding? Could Cypress Cay be adding the motor but Sylvan isn't? How do I find out? Concerned for pulling.

Last question:
Cypress Cay only offers 5 year warranty above deck, with Sylvan at 6 and Bennington at 7. In past experience, have you found that those extra couple years really help on replacing items on boat by warranty?

Again, thanks for all the insight. Hope to post pics soon.

Bamaman
Posts: 3679
Joined: Fri May 06, 2011 1:44 pm
Location: NW Alabama--Tennessee River

Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#8 Post by Bamaman » Mon Apr 13, 2015 4:11 pm

You have shopped wisely and covered all your bases.

As far as weight goes, the 2100 lbs. would be for a 2 toon boat. The high performance tritoon you're getting may have a 500 pound weight disadvantage, however you've got to consider it's going to have a huge fuel tank in the center toon. Different brands will also have different weight seats, etc.

I would think you're more like 3100 lbs. not including a 500 pound engine, 75 pound battery and 1000 lb. trailer. The fuel tank full, depending on size, could go 350 lbs. Real total weight of comparable boats is between 4500 and 5000 lbs.

And since they're so long and unaerodynamic, a substantial pontoon boat can tow like it's 6000 or 7000 lbs. That would certainly make someone want to have a proper tow vehicle--preferably a 1/2 ton V-8 powered truck at a minimum.

Long warranties on pontoon/tritoons is not that big of a deal. Most problems happen the first year, and they're things like gauges that don't work and minor issues. When you get to 5 years, most pontoons don't have any problems. Then it's mechanical problems that warranties wouldn't cover anyway. The maintenance is change the oil and filter every 50 hours or 1x per year and change the lower unit grease yearly. That's about it.
'12 Bennington 24' SSLX Yamaha 150

CominInHot
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 12:24 pm

Re: Deposit planned for Cypress Cay Cozumel 220 Tri- thoughts?

#9 Post by CominInHot » Tue Apr 14, 2015 5:38 am

Thanks for the assist Banaman.

When talking about weight, my concern was actually about pulling skiers. not pulling the boat behind truck. We aren't going to trailer as we have no room on our lot for trailer and have a lift so going to get the boat dropped off when we purchase.

I was concerned that the Cypress, for some reason, was a much heavier boat than the Sylvan and how that weight might effect the boats ability in the water. The various mfg don't seem to use the same terminology when referring to weight, so I'm confused. The Cypress does have a 50 gal fuel tank in center vs 32 for the Sylvan so there could be as much as 120 lb difference there but I'm not worried about that.

Glad to hear difference in warranty isn't a huge deal.

This is a great site and I really appreciate everyone's feedback and assistance. I've learned a lot just perusing the articles

Happy boating

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