I'm new, I'm new...

[Pammy]

I have a Hobie with Mirage Drive (pedals). I can move along and fish at the same time. Plus, I am faster with my kayak than Wes is with his, rigged with a trolling motor. It helps me get home when the weather kicks up. I can paddle and pedal at the same time.

[fwood]

Sounds like your use for the pontoon boat is very close to ours. I would definitely recommend a tritoon for the stability and performance, especially in a bay system where you will always have some possible chop to contend with. I would also recommend a larger motor. Have you ever heard a boater say he wish he had purchased a smaller motor? Pontoon boats and kayaks are a great combo. We use Hobies and SOT both. Tow them behind the boat on the water (like a daisy chain) or put them on the deck. Gets a bit crowded though, especially on an outing with friends. We've towed 6 at a time for 20 miles +, no issues.
Welcome to pontooning and the board.

[Pammy]

I can't wait to tow my Yak out to an island for a little crystal clear water to toddle around in.

[PlaynDoc]

Pammy,

Welcome to this site. Don't worry about asking too many questions or being too long winded. Most of the guys on here don't have much else to do except read and respond.... and goof off during their retirement (can you feel my jealousy). If nothing new is going on in the No Holds Barred section, they'll read your posting and offer advice. But that's what makes it great here.... lots of people offering their sincere help in any way they can. A few even know what they are talking about!

I have a 2011 SunChaser DS22. It's 'merely' a two-log pontoon boat, with a 115hp mercury pushing it along. If money were no issue, I would have gone with the same boat, but went with 3 logs, with lifting strakes, and 150hp motor. I would have ordered vinyl flooring and a double bimini top.

Now, we did not get the fishing setup, but there's enough room in front of the fence - I call it the 'front porch' to add fishing chairs later.

We have only used this in fresh water - so far. I bought a galvanized trailer because 'one day' we plan on taking the boat to St George Island and spending a week on the bay side, at a friend's place. As long as the weather is good, I won't hesitate to take the boat from St George Island to Apalachicola, across the open bay.

I do agree with lots of the other guys here when they tell you to go with the tri-toon, lifting strakes, and the biggest motor your budget will allow. Someone else on this thread made a good argument against the bigger motor... If it weighs too much, you'll lose the benefit of having the bigger motor... or something like that... take that into consideration. The vinyl flooring will be easier to maintain. A double bimini top will get you and a lot of your friends out of the blistering Florida sun, when you want to.

I bought our black SunChaser brand new, just over a year ago. I ordered it in early spring, and it took about 2 months for delivery. The stealership I bought it from had a couple other SunChaser pontoons on display, but I didn't want those. I like the layout of the DS22.

I know that one year isn't a long time to test the durability/longevity of a boat, but we've not had any problems. Even this year people still comment on the appearance, "that's a nice looking boat".

Good luck in your choice!

[GregF]

Ultimately the biggest downside of a bigger motor is fuel cost.

I love running at slightly over a gallon an hour. At the end of the day, I am still going to end up at the dock behind the house. I'm not in a hurry.

[fwood]

Ultimately the biggest downside of a bigger motor is fuel cost.

I love running at slightly over a gallon an hour. At the end of the day, I am still going to end up at the dock behind the house. I'm not in a hurry.

No question that a larger motor will burn more fuel, but it is nice to have the power when you need it to get back home when the conditions get bad. Running a large pontoon boat, tritoon or not at WOT will definitely burn a lot of fuel. Just like any other vehicle, keep your foot out of the gas and it isn't so bad. I'm not in a hurry either but the extra power available to get through heavy currents or run from a storm front is nice to have. You don't need to have the fastest boat on the water but you definitely do not want to be underpowered. IMHO
45 mph in my boat will definitely burn some fuel, can't get around the physics.

[GregF]

it is nice to have the power when you need it to get back home when the conditions get bad.

I prefer watching the weather and not being surprised by it.
"Outrunning weather" is not going to get you out of a "manatee zone" speeding ticket anyway, assuming a cop would even be there.
That is a union job, those boys are seldom far from the dock in the afternoon when we get most of our storms.
I can get going 23 or so and the speed limit in the bay is 25, even if I am not in the manatee area (about 98% of the bay in the summer.) Everywhere outside the marked channel is slow/minimum wake, hence the 60% of my hours 1000-2000 RPM on the YDIS report.
The only place that is unregulated is the river. You are only restricted there by the winding course of the river.

[Pammy]

Looked at and rode in a 26' Bennington Sunday. Nice ride, big motor, fast and smooth. Definitely set in our minds what a perfect fit the tritoon will be for us. The boat was larger than we need and I don't think we will be needing more than a 150, as long as it has lifting strakes. The Bennington we checked out was about 6 years old. It had a lot of mold on the seats, shame really it could have been a decent boat. It had a lot of dings in the fence as well. The guy who owned it was awesome and took us for a ride even though we told him that we went interested. He had so much fun with the boat he said that he might just keep it. He said he has 2 of them.
Anyway, does everyone have moldy seats? That was never an issue on our regular boats. Of course we kept them spotless clean. All the used pontoon boats have mold. It worries me. That is another reason for not getting a boat over 24'. I am not interested in all that upholstery.(or the work to keep it all clean)
The boat we are giving serious consideration to has no lifting strakes. If it weren't for that we would have been out in it this weekend.
This site has kept us from making mistakes that we would have surely regretted. For that(and the entertainment) we are grateful.
Oh and the afore mentioned test ride boat was up in a marina in Palm Harbor....I have never seen so many pontoon boats on the water in one place. Seems everyone out on the water up there had a 'toon. It was great!

[rbiederwolf]

Hi Pammy,

Bought my boat in November 2011. It is a 2007 and had 129 hrs. Interior of boat was in perfect condition. No mold anywhere, no tears, rips, sun damage etc. I am not kidding when I say my boat used was in better condition than some new boats I see that get left out in all the elements until they get purchased.

I am a little anal about cleaning my boat, and I do keep it covered as much as I can when not in use, vinyl protectant about every 2 months, and I still have no mold on the vinyl. Occassionally the carpet will get some green tint in areas that do not see much sun, but a quick spray with a small pressure cleaner and it is gone.

Bottomline I think you can easily find a used boat that is in very good condition. Do not be afraid of buying used out of your area. My boat was 800 miles away and I had it delivered for about 700 dollars.

For what it is worth, my boat had a few nicks and dents in the fencing. Seems the previous owner let it bang up against the dock. Anyway I bought the boat because of many reasons mostly the interior was perfect, and everything else was very good ( ie engine, layout price etc). However the dents bummed me out - at first. Now I am kind of glad it has a few dings as I have added a few myself and I find I do not stress about it as I would have if the boat was in perfect condition. And I paid a hell of a lot less than the cost for new. I mean alot less. No boat payment is wonderful

[Pammy]

It is more difficult to find what are looking for right now. That's why this Bennington seemed like a great fit. It was larger than we wanted with a larger motor than we wanted and of course it was used. The guy was asking around 25K for the boat so I was thinking that it must be in pretty decent shape.....Yikes, mold, seams coming apart, dings and scratches and crunches all the way around the fence. Like I said, this guy looked like he enjoyed this boat to the max.
I was worried about motor maintenance since the aesthetic maintenance was so lacking. It was way too scary for me.

[Shopguy]

Wow...long thread.

Welcome from Oklahoma!. I know it's hard to be patient but hold on, it'll happen. We went thru the same thing with ours and we are totally satisfied. See my signature. My sweetie and I bought ours over the phone with lots of pictures and it didn't even have a trailer!!. I had to find one about 70 miles from here and then drive another 3 hrs to get to the boat. The best we did from the start was to ride on a couple, one belonged to a friend and the other we test drove. Ours was originally bought and delivered to the dock, 2 years old and only had 47 hours on it. WE LOVE OUR TRITOON. It seats 13, pulls a big tube, I've been fishing about every evening after work catchin sand bass, hint, hint, fuel consumption = speed,.. etc.
It'll be worth the wait, I looked at several, and at times almost settled just to have one. Glad I didn't jump on the first one. It's was a beater.
I'm with the rest of these folks here, Big motor (hey it's there if you need it) Our 150 runs 44 gps with just me on it. anti-fouling on the toons, vinyl floors...eh (or a power washer), at least 24 foot. My boat has about a 2 foot of walk space outside the fence up front. Yep it's handy.
We spent 21,000 on the boat and 1500 for the trailer. Where else can you take a family of 8 out on 25 bucks of fuel , tubing and fishing, hot dogs and smores in the evening?

Anyway, I can't wait for ya'll to get one too!

[Pammy]

correction on the above post...the guy was asking 35K...It has been so very Monday today.

So you are saying that you are satisfied with 150HP? Like I said, I heard that the Yam 150 actually has about 170...and it's quiet and a real workhorse, etc...

[Shopguy]

Just giving an opinion. my boats 23ft and witha couple on board the 150 is plenty. With all 6 kids it still gets on plane. Throw on a another couple and their kid and it struggles to get on plane and not at all if a couple of the adults move forward.

that's me at 250
another 180, 160,140,100,100,<--twins,80,and a 2 year old Grand baby =1010 lbs.+ gear
Add company at another 450-500lbs or so. that's 1460lbs. +. Then whatever the boat weighs. Yeah I'd say that's not bad for 150hp.

Dump all that off for a date night with just me and the wife and it feels like it's flying

[curtiscapk]

Dump all that off for a date night with just me and the wife and it feels like it's flying

[Shopguy]

Really??!!...... good grief.....why do I bother.