Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hello all, first post here, I've been lurking for a bit.

We recently purchased a Harris 24' pontoon with a Johnson 115hp. We've found that we love pontoon boating and are using the boat more than we thought we would. With that being said, we would like to upgrade to a tri-toon in an effort to get more top end, handle chop better (we boat in the back bays of southern NJ) as well as being able to pull our kids on tubes or wake boards. Our current set up nets us about 18 MPH which limits our cruising range both time and fuel wise. While we spend most of our time putting around the lagoons with family and friends it would be nice to have some speed when we want to head 14+ miles up a river to a specific destination.

So....I've targeted a few boats. I've been looking in a 6hr. radius and have found tri-toons to be scarce on the secondary market. Here are 3 options I am considering.

1. 2012 (new) Manitou Oasis VP 22' with 150hp Honda. Nice boat, saltwater package, vinyl deck (wife's preference/not mine). Will have 5 year warranty on motor. Manitou seems to have a great rep. approx. $33K able to be financed with Honda, which is a nice option to have.

2. 2007 JC 23tt Neptoon with 2008 150hp E-Tec. No lifting strakes, like the idea of E-Tec (although out of warranty), carpet, boat appears to be in great condition although stored outside. Fresh water boat. Approx. $21K.

3. 2007 Aqua Patio 220 RE3 with 6" strakes and Honda 135hp. 35 hours on boat, stored on lift in season and indoors in winter. All service records. Vinyl floor. Boat looks new. Approx. $20k

All three come w/o trailer. All three have ski bar, cover, etc.

I don't mind that I am buying/looking at another boat so soon after buying my first (it's only been a few months) but I do want to keep/not outgrow this next one for some time.

My first consideration between the three is performance. It seems the Manitou has a great reputation, JC claims their boat doesn’t benefit from the strakes as their hull design is so awesome, although they started to add them in 2008. The Godfrey/Aqua Patio doesn't have much feedback on the forums although it does have their performance package, albeit from 2007; 25” outer toons with 27” center log.

Of course it seems that Manitou also has a great rep. quality. Also the Manitou will come bottom painted which is nice; it's also 4 hours closer (8 round trip).

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, especially anyone with insight as to the handling of the JC and the Aqua Patio.

Thanks in advance.

Jamie

You'll get some great replies/thoughts on here from some more informed members. I have a couple of questions based on your post. 1) How does sales tax factor in? Is there tax on all 3 boats? In my state, if buying used from an individual, for instance, there is no tax. That would put the Manitou another $3,000 higher when comparing to the others if they were coming from individuals rather than dealers. So, I'm curious about that when analyzing the price spreads. 2) Does price really even matter? It may not be important to you. If so, there is no doubt the Manitou would be the "most" boat. 3) I would be concerned that the 135 hp on the last boat will not give enough of a jump in performance. I could be wrong, but I would really be concerned about that. Having posed that question, I have to say I'm coming from an I/O and do not know outboards that well so it may not be a valid concern.

If $ is no issue, that Manny sounds pretty nice!

woolznaz wrote:You'll get some great replies/thoughts on here from some more informed members. I have a couple of questions based on your post. 1) How does sales tax factor in? Is there tax on all 3 boats? In my state, if buying used from an individual, for instance, there is no tax. That would put the Manitou another $3,000 higher when comparing to the others if they were coming from individuals rather than dealers. So, I'm curious about that when analyzing the price spreads. 2) Does price really even matter? It may not be important to you. If so, there is no doubt the Manitou would be the "most" boat. 3) I would be concerned that the 135 hp on the last boat will not give enough of a jump in performance. I could be wrong, but I would really be concerned about that. Having posed that question, I have to say I'm coming from an I/O and do not know outboards that well so it may not be a valid concern.

If $ is no issue, that Manny sounds pretty nice!

I live in NJ and they will tax a boat 30 times if given the oppurtunity. I will pay 7% sales tax on any of the 3 transactions.

While I always consider money, it is not the driving factor in this case. That being said, I don't really want to go higher than the Manitou in price but I can swing that deal if it makes sense. In some respects the new boat is better on that score as I can go 10 to 20% down and finance at 4.9%'ish. My Harris 24' needs some pontoon work before I can sell it so that money won't be coming imediatley back. There is no real possibility of a trade in on the boat.

I am intruiged by the JC with the E-Tec as there are two service places on my island both of whom I am friendly with. It is difficult to get feed back as to its' handling however.

Would love to hear from somone with a similar setup to the JC and the Aqua Patio.

If I was buying any boat with 115 hp or more, it'd have strakes. Scratch #2. JC's are great hulls, but a little different styled than anything on the market.

You might want to get online @ boattraders.com and see if you can find any comparable boats to #3. The Honda's solid, and the boat has many years' use left in it. It's the price that's a little high, as the model year is getting on 6 years.

Sometimes a little investigation and finger work on the computer will payoff in a better deal. You don't want to overpay.

Bamaman wrote:If I was buying any boat with 115 hp or more, it'd have strakes. Scratch #2. JC's are great hulls, but a little different styled than anything on the market.

You might want to get online @ boattraders.com and see if you can find any comparable boats to #3. The Honda's solid, and the boat has many years' use left in it. It's the price that's a little high, as the model year is getting on 6 years.

Sometimes a little investigation and finger work on the computer will payoff in a better deal. You don't want to overpay.

I am inclined to agree with you. Considering that JC added strakes in subsequent model years it would seem and admission that the boat performed better with them than without. I've done tons of searches and can't find any feedback on the Aqua Patio. I think the boat is a good buy at maybe $19K but wonder if a 5 year newer (which seems like a lifetime in terms of hull design in the pontoon world...todays SHP was yesterdays VP, for instance) with engine warranty for $14K more isn't a better decision.

Unfortunatley its tough to test drive the boats as this would give the best insight. The Manitou is not available for a test drive and the JC and AP are a 6 hour drive away.

Hoping somone chimes in with real world experience.

Thanks for the feedback.

From the 3 you have mentioned I think that only the Manitou will fit your needs.
1.#2 no strakes, sacrificing some performance and definitely ability to get on plane, thus you will lose mph
2. #3 not enough engine to get the speed you will want

Since it does not seem like you will be test driving, why not increase your radius of buying. I bought my boat 800 miles away. I knew the makes and models of the boats I wanted fairly well, they sent as many pics as I wanted, I asked a thousand questions, and they did a full engine/compression test for me. Now I bought a boat from a marina not an individual, so I was not overly worried about them screwing me. Easy to have a paper trail on the $$$. Bottomline I found a lot more boats to choose from. Cost about 800 dollars to ship. Easy transaction saves muchos $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

If you re not in a hurry why buy new? Many newer used boats will still have warranty on boat and engine. Mine was a 2007 bought last year and still had 1.5 years left on the original engine warranty.

I have a Parti Kraft(also made by Godfrey) like the Aqua Patio. It's a 23 ft tri toon with a 115 Honda 4 stroke and lifting strakes(I think 4") on all toons inside and out and my max speed is 30mph with gps. Now if I'm loaded with 5 big guys or 6 or more regular sized people, I can't get it to plane out and don't get that kind of speed. I have the vinyl floor and love it. Kids and dog at the beach makes for some really messy carpet. I just hose mine out. I second the notion on expanding your search area. Mine was nearly a thousand miles away and I had it shipped as well. Most likely will cost you about a $1 per mile. Go to uship to post what you want delivered and then people make bids. Similar to ebay I guess. The guy that delivered my boat was great. Does this kind of thing all week long for people buying boats, cars etc that never even seen them. Never been on a JC but one of the lakes we go to has about a 1000 of them. Their toon design is definetly different than most. Most have a really wide oval shaped middle toon with the two outer toon angling up and in to the middle from the outside. Hope something here helps.

schmir wrote:I have a Parti Kraft(also made by Godfrey) like the Aqua Patio. It's a 23 ft tri toon with a 115 Honda 4 stroke and lifting strakes(I think 4") on all toons inside and out and my max speed is 30mph with gps. Now if I'm loaded with 5 big guys or 6 or more regular sized people, I can't get it to plane out and don't get that kind of speed. I have the vinyl floor and love it. Kids and dog at the beach makes for some really messy carpet. I just hose mine out. I second the notion on expanding your search area. Mine was nearly a thousand miles away and I had it shipped as well. Most likely will cost you about a $1 per mile. Go to uship to post what you want delivered and then people make bids. Similar to ebay I guess. The guy that delivered my boat was great. Does this kind of thing all week long for people buying boats, cars etc that never even seen them. Never been on a JC but one of the lakes we go to has about a 1000 of them. Their toon design is definetly different than most. Most have a really wide oval shaped middle toon with the two outer toon angling up and in to the middle from the outside. Hope something here helps.

That is helpful thanks. I suppose the extra 20HP of the AP that I am considering would give me a bit more ability to get up on place but I am starting to think the safest play is going with the new Manitou. I think I would be upset if the AP could not plane out with 6 people on board. I want my next boat purchase to be my last for some time, short of some major windfall that allows for an SHP or PTX equiped boat.

Would love to hear from any Manitou VP owner as to how well the boat planes out with a 150 with various loads.

Thanks again.

Jamie

Howdy- we have a 2011 Manitou Oasis VP with a Yamaha 150 4-stroke,we bought it in April,2011 and have put 200 hours on it,We LOVE it! we also added the power assisted steering which helps a lot when make tight turns to pick up a fallen skier,I highly recommend the power assisted steering. We keep our boat in a wet slip year round on Lake,Wylie which has a lot of algae growth and slows our boat down 4-7mph when the toons are dirty,when the toons are clean ,at WOT we get about 34-38 mph at 5700rpm ,3 blade SS prop,with a 3/4 full tank of gas and 2-4 people,5-7 adults will slow the boat down to around 32mph with clean toons. We tube and ski at 32 mph. Boat handles the chop with ease and turns on a dime,we are very happy with our purchase,of course if we had Mo Money then I would get a 23 Manitou X-plode with a 250HP Yamaha but that was going to cost us 8-10K more.
Check this Manitou out might be worth the drive down to buy.http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bod/3315504616.html .
Cheers,
Robert in NC

My $.02: I don't think you will see much difference in performance between 135hp & 150 hp unless one motor is significantly lighter than the other

robster wrote:Howdy- we have a 2011 Manitou Oasis VP with a Yamaha 150 4-stroke,we bought it in April,2011 and have put 200 hours on it,We LOVE it! we also added the power assisted steering which helps a lot when make tight turns to pick up a fallen skier,I highly recommend the power assisted steering. We keep our boat in a wet slip year round on Lake,Wylie which has a lot of algae growth and slows our boat down 4-7mph when the toons are dirty,when the toons are clean ,at WOT we get about 34-38 mph at 5700rpm ,3 blade SS prop,with a 3/4 full tank of gas and 2-4 people,5-7 adults will slow the boat down to around 32mph with clean toons. We tube and ski at 32 mph. Boat handles the chop with ease and turns on a dime,we are very happy with our purchase,of course if we had Mo Money then I would get a 23 Manitou X-plode with a 250HP Yamaha but that was going to cost us 8-10K more.
Check this Manitou out might be worth the drive down to buy.http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bod/3315504616.html .
Cheers,
Robert in NC

Thanks for the link. I've seen you post about your boat in here and, I think, in another forum. Seems you really like it. The boat you linked is a bit much for me, length wise and money wise. I did realise that there are alot more boats in the Georgia area and found this one; http://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/boa/3226640517.html which looks like a very good buy, if not a little far.

One note, the dealer that has the Manitou that I mention puts 4 blade props on all his boats. Good for docking I know but not sure about top end.

I may expand search and try to do a deal over the phone with shipping.


Thanks.

Jamie

That's a nice looking Oasis,isn't the Optimax a 2-stroke motor? you will need to weigh for yourself the pro's and con's of owning 4-stroke vs. 2-stroke, our Yamaha 4-stroke hasn't even burped it runs like a champ and I don't have to fill a oil reservoir if we had a 2-stroke. Also our Oasis has the center tube storage which is a must for storing water toys and other stuff. We could not live without the center tube storage and power assisted steering,I just wish we had a bigger motor,but we are very happy with a 150-HP . We bought our boat at Palmetto Marine in Greenville,SC ask for Marty he's the co-owner, if you want to buy new,he might have a used boat. Not sure about 4-blade props.

Cheers,
Robert

I have heard nice things about Palmetto in Greenville, SC. They also have a second store in NC--over the mountain.

I looked closely at the Manitou w/ETEC HO 150 hp. The dealer says if you're into water sports, he highly recommends the 2 stroke on the VP hull. And, he also has Honda and Yamaha franchises and can sell you any of the three brands. I ended up spending virtually the same for the Bennington with the SSLX--double rear facing lounger. Manitou's are not inexpensive.

About the Craigs List ad: Who the hell would try to sell a pontoon boat and not include the trailer? How does the original owner think the boat's going to be transported by a buyer permanently?

As "non-straked" JC owner, I can tell you I would go for a straked boat if possible. I love my JC, and it is worlds better than a 2 logger, but if I had it to do over, I would look for something with strakes. I will be adding strakes to mine in the near future, as I don't plan on trading boats anytime soon.

Woody wrote:As "non-straked" JC owner, I can tell you I would go for a straked boat if possible. I love my JC, and it is worlds better than a 2 logger, but if I had it to do over, I would look for something with strakes. I will be adding strakes to mine in the near future, as I don't plan on trading boats anytime soon.

Thank you. The JC is definatley out. The two used tritoons have been for sale for some time now and I think that they might occupy a tough spot in the market at the moment. It seems there has been quite a few design tweeks involving strakes and pontoon design theory in the past 5 years.

I think I will be going new but may be adding another choice as I found a dealer in Tenn. that will sell a 25' Manitou Oasis SE with SHP, trailer and a 225 Honda 4 stroke for around 39K. It's a fairley big jump money wise but probaley a boat I won't outgrow anytime soon.