Need advice on boat and slip

[c130nav]

We recently purchased a house on a 500 acre lake. It has a small boat house and boat slip (9'9" x 20'). I guess than means I need purchase a boat. (There is no rush to purchase since we will be spending the next 4 months renovating the house.) I looked at several pontoon boats and my current favorite is a 20' Bennington with a 70 hp Yamaha. I anticipate most of the time will be slow cruising around the lake with wine glass in hand. Perhaps the grandkids and friends will try tubing and waterskiing.

Questions:

(1) It appears that a 20' boat will fit the slip, but the motor will not be under the roof. Sound reasonable?

(2) Would it be beneficial to back the boat into the slip for a longer winter storage?

(3) Will the web straps be adequate to lift the boat? Will it harm the pontoons? Or will I need to a different bracket to lift the boat?

(4) The 20' Bennington has a good front deck and back deck. Advantage will be a nice swim platforms. Disadvantage will be less lounging room and seating. Any other observations or comments?

(5) The Bennington typically comes with a 70 hp motor. Max size is 90 hp. Should I upgrade to a larger motor?

(6) I recently saw a 2013 Sweetwater, 22' with a 115 hp Yamaha, 20 hrs, and trailer for $22,000. Seems like a pretty good deal. Is that motor too much for my use and this lake? Since the boat slip is only 20 feet, will the back end and motor stick out too far? Will the boat tip backwards on the lift due to much of the weight being so far back?

[Bamaman]

(1) It appears that a 20' boat will fit the slip, but the motor will not be under the roof. Sound reasonable?
Your engine sticks out the back, and will make your boat maybe 23' long. Is there some way you can add a little more roof on the end? Looks like a seawall has your front end limited/fixed to where it is. I'm using an engine cover.

(2) Would it be beneficial to back the boat into the slip for a longer winter storage?
No, that wouldn't work.

(3) Will the web straps be adequate to lift the boat? Will it harm the pontoons? Or will I need to a different bracket to lift the boat? You will need to have a rack or cross supports fabricated to place under the boats. Straps used on fiberglass boats will eventually squeeze your toons and dent one or both of them. For a small pontoon, those pulleys are not needed as they slow down the lift by 1/2.

(4) The 20' Bennington has a good front deck and back deck. Advantage will be a nice swim platforms. Disadvantage will be less lounging room and seating. Any other observations or comments? I don't care a thing about a front deck. But the extended aft deck is great.

(5) The Bennington typically comes with a 70 hp motor. Max size is 90 hp. Should I upgrade to a larger motor? Not on a 500 acre lake. If it was a bigger lake, I'd say go for the 90 hp

(6) I recently saw a 2013 Sweetwater, 22' with a 115 hp Yamaha, 20 hrs, and trailer for $22,000. Seems like a pretty good deal. Is that motor too much for my use and this lake? Since the boat slip is only 20 feet, will the back end and motor stick out too far? Will the boat tip backwards on the lift due to much of the weight being so far back? You'd really need to extend the boathouse for a larger boat. And you can always move the cables to the rear of the boathouse with 4 5/16" holes drilled in the frame of the boathouse.

One problem you have not noted is the width of your boathouse. Most modern pontoons are 8 1/2 feet wide, and it would be very difficult to get your boat in there if there were waves or high winds. You might do better with a full hulled boat of some kind--rather than a party barge

[Cowracer]

I boat on a 450 acre private lake, and I have a 125 on my boat. that is not "too much motor" for the lake. Provided there is no HP restrictions, there is never "too much motor" for any given body of water because the throttle works both ways. Open AND closed. I can putt when I want, or knock down 24MPH when I want. It's nice to have choices.

Tim

[OK Toon]

First off, congrats on the purchase of the lake house with boat dock -- very nice. Bamaman answered your questions spot on. Your slip will handle the width of the boat, but you'll just have to come in really slow. Our dock has a 10' wide x 24' long slip. When I'm coming in very slowly I just look down the starboard side and if I see that I'm coming in really close, I know the port side will clear. But it does cause some "pucker power" the first few times you are coming in till you get the hang of it. I would also agree that you should be able to extend your roof area to cover the rear of the boat and the motor -- that's what I'm going to have to do to our dock as well since my motor hangs out by about a foot.

The problem you may run into if you get a normal lift is this will decrease the width of your slip due to the arms and brackets on the lift. You may want to look into having your slip widened a little.

Tubing with a 70hp will not be that much fun and waterskiing will probably be out of the question.

But as for the front deck, I enjoy ours as this gives me a place to be outside of the fence area to keep my non-water-loving lab from getting to when I'm putting out the anchor or where my wife can stand to catch us as we come into the boat dock.