Greetings From East TN, New to the Pontoon World

[Smoky Mountain]

Greetings from East TN and Lake Tellico. We just ordered a 2012 Bennington 2274GL powered by a 150 Yamaha with power steering. Some of the amenities include vinyl floor with snap in carpet for easy maintenance, double bimini for maximum shadage, 18 inch rear extension, tri-toon 25 inch with express package, dual batteries w/switch, 33 gallon tank and a few other upgrades that come with the "G" Package.

This is our tenth boat and included power and sail on the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico over the years.

We are enjoying the resevoir systems of TVA and will keep the Bennington in a slip at the Tellico "Yacht Club".


Yacht Club Marina


View toward the Smoky Mountains from near Ft Loudon Dam (little TN River).

We have some great large boating events near Fort Loudon and one can boat to Chillhowee Dam with the Mountains only miles away to locking through Fort Loudon Dam into Watts Bar Lake and on to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.

Since I know threads w/o pictures are worthless, this is the best I can do for now. A stock Bennington Pic of a G with standard toons.




Ours won't be ready for a couple of months.

[brumbyvet.1044]

I'm not so sure about locking thru Ft. Loudon Dam in Douglas Lake. lol
Welcome to the forum.

[HandymanHerb]

Welcome, Glad to have you with and you get bonus points for pictures on first post.

[Smoky Mountain]

I'm not so sure about locking thru Ft. Loudon Dam in Douglas Lake. lol
Welcome to the forum.

That would be a trick on a stick wouldn't it? I don't need a GPS do I?

The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in the early 1940s as part of a unified plan to provide electricity and flood control in the Tennessee Valley and create a continuous 652-mile (1,049 km) navigable river channel from Knoxville, Tennessee to Paducah, Kentucky. It is the uppermost of nine TVA dams on the Tennessee River. The dam impounds the 14,600-acre (5,900 ha) Fort Loudoun Lake and its tailwaters are part of Watts Bar Lake.

[oldcoot]

Welcome aboard, Smokey!!!....nice area and neat boat!!

[Thin Ice]

Welcome to the Club!

Great job posting pics.... we like em!

Now make sure you post a couple pics of the real toon when you get er

[Smoky Mountain]

Thanks for your warm welcomes. I participate in a number of Forums and of course everyone on every board gets hit-up for photos. I'll be sure to post some of the finished product. Unfortunately it is going to be a couple more months. I talked to a fellow who is on the iboats Pontoon Forum and works at Bennington and he indicated that the Spring boat shows have been very good and they are "swamped" with business. That's a good thing as long as things don't get too rushed and the quality suffers. I don't want the manufacturing of my boat to be finished by the Dealer through warranty work.

Must be folks are feeling better about the economy and or the Boomers are figuring that it's time to turn lose of some of that hard earned savings on some toys before they are too old to enjoy them. I think my Wife and I fit that profile. Since I am going to work until I drop (recommended by financial planners) I may as well have some (more) fun along the way.

Since you like pictures here are a couple. When we sold our 30 foot Pursuit, prior to moving from FL to TN I was jonsing for something to get out on the water that was low maintenance, inexpensive to operate, small yet sea worthy.


2002 Zodiac 480 Yachtline DL 15.5 feet long with 70 hp Yamaha.

[Smoky Mountain]

The Zodiac has been one of the most fun and dry riding boats we have had. Bought it in Grand Haven MI, brought it to FL (Palm Harbor), and have trailered it all over FL and TN where it currently resides.




Trailered to the Keys a couple times. Spotted it in a slip for a week to avoid the in/out of trailering.


Sold this three years ago. 2000 Pursuit 3000 Express, twin 350 Magnums. Kept it on the Anclote River, Tarpon Springs, FL.

[Smoky Mountain]

The other fun boat we have is a 11 foot Achilles with a 5 hp Mercury. It's a great dinghy and sized and weighs such that it can go in the back of a vehicle and be deployed anywhere there is water. I have had this out on the Atlantic in 10 foot rolling seas. What fun. I don't go anywhere without a boat if we think we are going to be near water. The last three years my Brother-in-Law and I have taken these Island Camping on Lake Fontana TN/NC, Smoky Mountains/Nantahala National Forest. Talk about your remote boat camping.




Anclote Island, FL






Ponce Inlet, FL east coast


Weeki Wachee River, FL

[Smoky Mountain]

Once we get the Bennington up and running I may tow this guy along so when we anchor up, the studly young nephews and their girlfriends can go cove exploring.

[captainjack]

welcome an looks like u ordered a great boat! Also looks like some beautiful country an plenty of cool toys to play with on the water!

[Bamaman]

We're always asking for pictures.
This time, we really got'em.

Glad that you're now a Tennessean. The Knoxville area is one place of amazing beauty, and a great place to boat. There are all kinds of lakes, both landlocked and not.

Your Bennington will be perfect for cruising the Tennessee River--the best inland cruising in the U.S. hands down. Just promise you that you'll stop for a visit @ mile marker 255.

There are just enough motels and state park hotels along the way to where cruisers seldom have to sleep on the boat.

We always wondered where Floridians went on vacation. About every third of the cars in No. GA, E. TN and W. NC mountains have Florida license plates. They seem to yearn for a change of scenery, i.e. mountains.

[Ron Burgundy]

Welcome to the forum! We have probably shared some sand at Anclote. Damn...I used to be the photo guy. I think you just took that self appointed title away from me.

[ROLAND]

Smokey Mountain... welcome to the forum... what a great collection of boats.....great pics.. thanks for sharing.

[Smoky Mountain]

We're always asking for pictures.
This time, we really got'em.

Glad that you're now a Tennessean. The Knoxville area is one place of amazing beauty, and a great place to boat. There are all kinds of lakes, both landlocked and not.

Your Bennington will be perfect for cruising the Tennessee River--the best inland cruising in the U.S. hands down. Just promise you that you'll stop for a visit @ mile marker 255.

There are just enough motels and state park hotels along the way to where cruisers seldom have to sleep on the boat.

We always wondered where Floridians went on vacation. About every third of the cars in No. GA, E. TN and W. NC mountains have Florida license plates. They seem to yearn for a change of scenery, i.e. mountains.

Yes Bamaman, we are the proverbial "half backs" born and raised in the socialist State of Michigan, moved to Florida to escape the Midwest Winters, and then tired of the overpopulated North Pinellas County and high insurance costs. There were some years the fear of a major hurricane kind of wore us out as-well. The good thing it did though was teach us how to prepare for a major cataclysmic event.