Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

We finally got out for a day of fishing and relaxing. Crossing the main channel(s) of KY Lake to get to the quieter Land Between the Lakes coves, the wind and waves were the biggest we've seen. Even taking the waves on the quarter bow, we were up and down with lots of spray. Coming back, the waves on the stern quarter pushed the boat around a lot, requiring constant correction in steering. (Note to self...hydraulic steering on the next toon!)

So what's the best speed for these kinds of conditions? Too slow and we don't plane, too fast and who knows? Speed just enough to plane? Any recs welcome! It was very new to us, usually go out when it's very calm and save the windy days for sailing. Not today!

I think the safest speed would be the one that you are most comfortable with. I know in rough conditions sometimes I will give it some gas to cut through the waves better. You can also trim up to bring the bow up a little. Also its good to fold in your Bimini if it's windy. The Bimini acts like a Friggin parachute in the wind.

Thanks, Dave! I think I was just being a bit of a wussy! Wanted to check tho cuz tooning is new to me.

evinrude2stroke wrote:I think the safest speed would be the one that you are most comfortable with. I know in rough conditions sometimes I will give it some gas to cut through the waves better. You can also trim up to bring the bow up a little. Also its good to fold in your Bimini if it's windy. The Bimini acts like a Friggin parachute in the wind.

Yep!

landlockedsailor wrote:Thanks, Dave! I think I was just being a bit of a wussy! Wanted to check tho cuz tooning is new to me.

I hear ya.. Nothing wrong with asking. Back in August I got blindsided by a pop up storm that came out of nowhere. I had my family and the SIL's family on board. The wind & waves where tossing us around like a toy in a bathtub. It's nerve-racking. the waves where so bad I broke my corner cap trying to tie it to the dock.

evinrude2stroke wrote:I think the safest speed would be the one that you are most comfortable with. I know in rough conditions sometimes I will give it some gas to cut through the waves better. You can also trim up to bring the bow up a little. Also its good to fold in your Bimini if it's windy. The Bimini acts like a Friggin parachute in the wind.

Sometimes that's WOT for me but that's only 20 mph, and yes the hydraulic steering makes all the deference in the world, as for the fish tailing time will make it easier to handle without puckering so hard.

landlockedsailor wrote:We finally got out for a day of fishing and relaxing. Crossing the main channel(s) of KY Lake to get to the quieter Land Between the Lakes coves, the wind and waves were the biggest we've seen. Even taking the waves on the quarter bow, we were up and down with lots of spray. Coming back, the waves on the stern quarter pushed the boat around a lot, requiring constant correction in steering. (Note to self...hydraulic steering on the next toon!)

So what's the best speed for these kinds of conditions? Too slow and we don't plane, too fast and who knows? Speed just enough to plane? Any recs welcome! It was very new to us, usually go out when it's very calm and save the windy days for sailing. Not today!

All I know is, I have a 115 HP on mine and even though I'm not on extremly big water, when there are whitecaps there really is no "getting on plane" for me... per say. All I can do is attempt to cut the waves the best I can and usually I have to slow down.

From my days of fishing offshore (had an offshore boat, not the toon), you quickly learn that the safest distance between point A and B is not always the shortest. Sometimes you have to play the wind and waves.

Experience will tell you what speed produces the best ride for your toon AND your crew!! Wae conditions differ on different bodies of water, and different length toons ride differently. Sometimes what I think is a comfortable ride is NOT what the Admiral prefers!

We too got caught out on Barkley earlier this summer when a couple storms north of the lakes collapsed sending winds straight down the channel at 30mph. Quartering into the waves proved to be a terrible idea as the spray was tremendous. I decided on quartering away from the waves over to the channel from the west. We turned straight into the wind to get back to the marina. I moved everyone to the rear seats to make the ass end heavy and ran the toon at 10mph to keep the bow up. Sometimes regulating the throttle to keep the nose high heading down the waves to keep the next waves from crashing over the deck. Scarry? Hell yes! My kids and dogs were NOT happy boaters that day...

Thanks for more replies. As I think about our return home, we never did hit planing speed. I think we went as fast as we could and still feel okay. Also, we ended up taking a less direct route in order to keep the waves on our stern quarter (vs parallel to the boat or directly behind). In hindsight, we did play to the waves and wind direction and I recall holding on to the bimini struts to see if they were shaking. Glad to hear we did okay. Will continue to do as you all have recommended. Thanks again, I feel much better!

Two stories.

I was cruising at around 35MPH and ran into a gust of wind. The bow rose up a generous 4-5 feet and gave that heart attack feeling like you get when your on a motorcycle and the back tires gets sideways.

Another time I had a massive tailwind and made 41MPH GPS.

I never had a 2 pontoon toon, what happens? It burries the nose? i have a harder time going slow (docking) in high winds, never a problem at speed. JT