First Weekend on the Starcraft Stardeck 216 Starlounger

[04Ram2500Hemi]

Last weekend was our first weekend with the new Starcraft Stardeck 216 Starlounger. After many good years of use the family Larson my dad bought when I was in grade school is starting to show some signs of age, and while still being a great boat, my wife and I decided we needed to add a Pontoon Boat to the family fleet for those days we want to cruise. After spending most of my boating career in either a 17ft Bayliner Cuddy Cabin or the 19ft Larson Cuddy Cabin, the Pontoon Boat is a whole different experience. Here are some things I learned as a brand new Pontoon Boat owner:
- There is no escape from the wind like the Larson (note to self, always have a sweatshirt when on the boat)
- When there are six full size adults on the pontoon boat, you'll be cruising at around 20mph (I'm not sure how accurate the speedometer is on the new boat)
- The pontoon boat cuts through the waves in a totally different matter. To be honest, the ride of the pontoon is way better in rough water than the V-Hull of the Larson
- It's really nice to have a ton of room to walk around, and everybody really can have their own seat
- The Yamaha Outboard Motor makes a totally different sound than the Inboard/Outboard Mercruiser (the Yamaha is amazingly quiet, but I still love the growl of the 4.0L Mercruiser).
- When it comes time to go fast or pull a skier, we'll be using the Larson. When we're going to cruise, it's going to be the Pontoon Boat.

I guess all in all I'm still learning a ton about the new Pontoon lifestyle, and my hope is I get used to the 115hp motor on the back of the boat, and that I don't live to regret the size. To be honest, for $35,000 the boat was as much as I wanted to spend, and the bigger motor packages on different boats were all over $40,000 at the time of the Spokane Boat Show, so we went with what we felt was the best choice for the family. I think the best thing for us is we still have the family Larson when it's time to go fast, and when we want to relax we have the pontoon boat. I look forward to enjoying not only the Stardeck but the Larson this summer!

Here's some pictures of the new boat the family is enjoying!

[GXPWeasel]

Looks like a nice toon you guys have there 04Ram...

I'm much the same way in how I grew up. Mom and Dad started with a little tri-hul ski boat, then when I was in middle school, they bought a nice 19 foot bayliner V-hull. That boat, with the 3.0 Mercruiser was a nice boat, especially for me, while in High School and college. Once I got to where I could afford a boat, the wife didn't want anything to do with a ski boat. She never grew up on any boat, and it wasn't necessary, as our friends had one. The compromise... a pontoon, that her whole family could get on to just relax and cruise when we wanted.

We've been tooners ever since, and probably always will be. I'll just have to upgrade to at least 60 more ponies in a few years to keep my girls happy.

[RcgTexas]

Nice cruiser!

[04Ram2500Hemi]

So technically this is a 2nd weekend post, but I was finally able to take the boat out by myself and test how it handles, play with the trim more on calm water to see how fast the boat will go, and how it handles in tight corners. All I can say is wow- this thing handles a lot differently than the old school V-Hull I'm used to. I'm used to turning hard left and having the boat lean to the left, but a pontoon boat is a whole different animal. I will say this, it was fun to get the boat out on the water early in the morning without a lot of people around to put the boat through it's paces. And for those keeping score at home, top speed was 30mph at 6,200 RPM's.