Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

The wife and I (and possibly 1 or 2 others, but probably not) will be vacationing at St. Pete beach in Mid May. I'd bring my own if it was treated for salt water and if there was somewhere to park it but we really only want one for a day anyway. We just want to cruise the intracoastal and bay. We are open to a runabout or really any type of watercraft for this. Anybody feel like making a few reasonable bucks toward their payment or want to take us out for a day with fuel and lunch on us? (Yeah, I'm laughing out loud while typing this, but you never know until you ask).

If I were closer, I might join in, but I am too far from where you are going to be. Hope you have a great time.

Thanks for considering it.

Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?

There is no way I would rent my boat to anyone. I am not 100% sure but I am willing to bet my insurance company wouldn't even cover me if my renter got into an accident.

Way to much liability risk here.

I googled pontoon boat rentals Tampa Florida and came up with several places.

Thanks. I had seen those. Just more than I wanted to spend, especially considering I am already paying for a boat. Just don't want to spend money dragging it there, it's not treated for the salt properly and worrying about somewhere to park it while I'm there. May have to pop for one of these anyway. I certainly can appreciate the fears of letting someone rent your baby for a day. You don't know if they are going to treat it like their own or not. THen again, some may treat it like their own and flog the crap out of it-lol.

Out of curiosity, why do you think you need to do anything to your boat to use it in salt water?

my "always in fresh water" pontoon will get its first salt water bath on the week of june 5 - 11... taking a fresh water river to the gulf of mexico.... and back. Apalachicola River.... from Seminole Lake to Apalachicola and beyond..

i figure, spending a few days in salt water won't make a gnat's difference, especially since it's 100 miles of fresh water, to get back to the trailer!

i *have* heard of people, who, after spending time in the gulf, and trailering, will simply stop at a fresh water lake on the way back home... put the boat in, and give it a 5 min run around, to flush everything away.....

other than towing the parachute - i mean, pontoon - down the road and back, i see no problems with you taking your own ride...... especially since you live in alabama

babock wrote:Out of curiosity, why do you think you need to do anything to your boat to use it in salt water?

Yump.... Grew up in Houma La so we ran our boats in fresh, brackish and salt all the time and I don't recall my Dad ever doing anything special to the boat other than a extra tear drop anode on the motor fin.....

I don't recall exactly what damage will possibly occur, but I am thinking it's an electrolysis sort of thing and that aluminum boat in salt water that don't have their pontoons coated for such will be damaged. Now as to how long/how much exposure that takes, I've never heard a solid answer. I do know the motor should be flushed each time and a different anode placed on it I believe, and I would think you would want to rinse the boat off each time you use it in the salt. I've seen it mentioned here and heard it elsewhere.

I keep mine. In saltwater all summer. Never had any problems. About once a month I take it out and wash it down. Now I do rinse it off after each return to the slip. The water I use it in is saltwater. The water it is slipped in is brackish

I run mine in all types of water (fresh, salt and brackish) and have never had an issue with it. There are hundreds of pontoons in the Gulf of Mexico each year during scallop season here in Florida. I wash it good after each use, but it will be in the keys for a week in May.

Hmmm. I'm positive I've looked into this before and was told more than once it needed coating since it wasn't a fiberglass boat. Sounds like it really wouldn't be a big deal to carry after all except for the parachute factor and making sure I have somewhere to park it if I do. It is crazy how much a lightweight pontoon cuts your fuel mileage. It's not much better than pulling my 34 foot fifth wheeler.

albow wrote:Hmmm. I'm positive I've looked into this before and was told more than once it needed coating since it wasn't a fiberglass boat. Sounds like it really wouldn't be a big deal to carry after all except for the parachute factor and making sure I have somewhere to park it if I do. It is crazy how much a lightweight pontoon cuts your fuel mileage. It's not much better than pulling my 34 foot fifth wheeler.

And I can positively tell you that there are a lot of alum hulled boats out there with absolutely no finish or coating applied.... In fact my cousins build alum flat bottom "mud" boats that are used in the shallow marsh and these boats as they are run in the grass & mud end up the their bottoms polished to an almost mirror sheen from use....