Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Ok all you experienced Tooners out there.

What is the maximum wind speed you feel is safe for pontooning?

The tri toon's I have been on are very comfortable in 40's. Over that to me is to much wind and noise.

Are you talking wind speed maximum mph lake conditions or how fast a boat should run before it gets uncomfortable?

I'm talking wind speed/weather conditions.

Living in Kansas, "Windy" is a common weather condition.

30-40 mph winds with gusts to 50 or 60mph for example would be what I'd consider too windy to do much other than stay inside as it makes things miserable.

5-15 mph winds for example is a typical Kansas day.

I'm thinking that with a pontoon, the wind could be a big factor in handling safety, so wondered when the forecast is predicting wind speeds, what speeds would be the limit for planning a day at the lake.

I don't pay so much attention to wind speed as the size of the waves. When the white caps kick up on my side of the lake, the lake is usually calmer on the other side (1 mi. wide)--and vice versa. I'll just run up and down the calmer side of the lake. And when I get a 15 mph cross wind in front of my house, getting my tritoon into the boathouse is simply a bitch. That's when I just watch the water world from the screened porch.

Usually on extremely windy days (I live in Oklahoma) I will launch as close to our hang out cove as possible and pretty much idle over there. Once in the cove the wind isnt much of an issue.

Thanks for the tips.

Hey Cycleman

My wife is from Jenks.

For years as I drove the Cimmarron Turnpike, I'd see boats and think it'd be fun to go out on Keystone.

Is that your lake or do you hit a different one?

One of the nice things I think about having a pontoon will be that we can always put it on the trailer and head out to different lakes, etc.

I've run with the bimini up at 35MPH. I figure if it can handle that while moving it can handle that while sitting.

Worst I've ever docked in was 40MPH. It was the first day I had the slip and it took us forever to get the boat in. (I was almost in tears by the end of it thinking I had just wasted 3K on a slip that I couldn't get into by myself) Came back teh next day (0-5mph winds) and practiced docking and undocking for a couple hours. Now it's no big deal no matter what the wind is doing.

I've been anchored out on days where the wind is dragging my 25 lb richter anchor across the bottom. BUt I noticed that every other boat was ALSO being dragged about the same speed. Once an hour or so the whole flotilla would lift anchor and motor back up wind to reset. (I recovered three pairs of someone's dropped sunglasses that day. Evry time I pulled anchor up it has dredged up some more goodies!)

The only difficulty I've had is in fishing. Kind of hard to hold the boat exactly where you want it in a strong wind.

So if you are comfortable on the water in that wind, then that wind is ok to pontoon in.

If it blows the foam off my beer, it's too windy, on land or afloat.

Glenn

It's a wonder anybody ever boats in Wyoming.

We live in central Kansas and there are very few days we won't boat. Granted we have tritoon but the wind and wave don't really bother use.

Waterlogged wrote:If it blows the foam off my beer, it's too windy, on land or afloat.

Glenn

same here.

r.karjala wrote:We live in central Kansas and there are very few days we won't boat. Granted we have tritoon but the wind and wave don't really bother use.

Which lake do you boat?

Being in the middle of a body of water in high winds isn't the issue. How big are the waves? A shallow lake will kick up bigger waves causing maneuverability issues. If the wind is either forecast are actual above 25-30 mph, I'll stay on the deck. No fun trying to put the boat in a slip on on a trailer in high winds.
For some reason, no matter what direction you are trying to go while docking, trailering, the winds will ALWAYS be at a 90 degree angle!

Depends on the condition of the water, not the wind speed. You won't go boating on my lake in forty mile winds. 22,000 acres with average depth of 6 or 7 feet. I judge by the tall trees accross the channel from our house. If they be moving, I stay in the channel. Many small lakes and rivers would not be bothered by wind. Wind would blow the boat around though, which might make launching and revival a real tough task.

Be safe.