Haha. Well in Portland at least, the toe or three months you want to go boating are fairly hot and sunny.Quote:
Originally Posted by heckacali
Not like Arizona or Texas hot, but our pale northwest skin isn’t up for it!
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Haha. Well in Portland at least, the toe or three months you want to go boating are fairly hot and sunny.Quote:
Originally Posted by heckacali
Not like Arizona or Texas hot, but our pale northwest skin isn’t up for it!
Good stuff folks. Yeah I did forget to mention that it would be nice to have some sort of sun protection, not that we get a ton of it.
I was also curious about your views on aluminum vs fiberglass so thanks for tips. Aluminum seemed much lower maintenance and lighter, and was really drawn to the whalers. They sure do come with a premium though.
I’ll for sure get a survey and really dig the moisture meter advice.
I’ll update if I pull the trigger or have any other basic questions.
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Oh and curious if anyone wants to talk me out of even thinking about a pontoon boat. Having a floating couch to drink beer on and have the kids dive off sounds cool but I’m guessing there are some major downsides. In a perfect world, I would like something that can reasonably take me on a trip from Vashon to the Tides Tavern in Gig Harbor which is a short jaunt but it ain’t a stagnant lake.
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Maybe head to the boat ramp on a weekend and see what others are using? Bring popcorn as it can be entertaining. My 14' aluminum Sea Nymph has beached 100s of times on rock and sand the 40 years I've owned it. Still water tight.
Porn to me. Island camping in the Daks.
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Look into tri-toons. I'm far from an expert but from what I hear they're much more seaworthy than dual-pontoon boats and can handle fairly rough water.
Come visit me in Wisconsin and you can take my pontoon boat for a spin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Shirk
Awesome boat for a family. Tons of storage under the seats. Great boat for a booze cruise. The chain of 6 lakes I am on has 11 bars with boat docks.
Pontoon boats are awesome.
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Don’t threaten me with a good time. My crew is known to show up for a party, as remote as it may be.Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry
Good to know on pontoons. They look fun as hell. I’ll look for the tri-bottom iceman notes too.
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A 17’ Whaler is the Rossi Soul 7 of boats… If only they came in red. Paint it, I guess, and have a nice time.
Did not suckAttachment 461847
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Nice. You can get so far back on those foils.
It’s a drive, but this thing seems kinda cool.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/b...631778479.html
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Those are cool boats, and also indestructible. Very popular in the PNW and up towards where Harry is, we don't see too many of them in the East for whatever reason, at least around me. I bet singlecross sees them in Maine from time to time.
The biggest obstacle/concern would be the condition of the engine but you can get that checked out. 2009 is getting pretty old for electronics, especially chartplotters, but if you're only going where you know your way around already that's not a huge deal. Price doesn't seem crazy but I don't really know.
I could be wrong about this, but I think the tri-toon thing is because of horsepower. Although I can see size of the boat being part of the equation too. But I don’t think a tri-toon, by itself, is necessarily more stable than a traditional pontoon setup.
All sorts of different setups. Mine is 20’ and setup for fishing. I took out the front fishing seats and the rear card table (former owners used to host floating pinochle parties). I more or less converted it into a barge, then I put two Adirondack chairs up front for blunt passing. I mostly use this boat for low-speed scenic tours plus hauling supplies, like lumber, out to my island. The 25hp motor is fine for my use. A shorter boat, like a 16 or 18’, would be fine too. As you can tell, I am on the dirtbag end of the pontoon spectrum.
With kids, a 20’ boat is probably the minimum, and a 22’ or 24’ would be nice. A bigger motor, like a 75 to 115hp, would allow you to tow the kids around on inflatables or skis.
26’ and above, or 150hp and above, is when you should start looking at tri-toons IMHO.
My brother has a 22’ with a 90hp. His pontoon boat is much nicer than mine. Probably the ideal size/power IMHO.
I have a mid 70s 16' trihull that came with the lakehoyse I bought from my mom. Originally it had a 70hp Johnson until JR blew it up. It was replaced with a 90hp Evinrude in 1981 that was run cold, shut down hot and usually at or near WOT. I decided to retire the engine when I acquired it. I recently found and bought a lowish hour 2000 70hp 4 stroke Evinrude, it's a Suzuki with evinrude stickers. The prop is bigger but same pitch as was on the 90hp so it should push my boat along decently. Last weekend I pulled the 2 smoke off and installed the Evinzuki. It hasn't hit the water yet as I'm awaiting an impeller kit. I've been cleaning up the old boat and decided the peeled chrome on plastic look for the front running light needed love. One love.
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I heard that the third pontoon changes the whole dynamics of how the boat enters and handles waves but I ain't no naval architect so...yeah I dunno.
Lot of money for a 16’ boat. That thing will be a cork in any kid of chop. Buddy had a single console of that boat, hated it in anything but a smooth lake. Now a 17.5’ boat in that same platform rides completely different. The sweet spot is 18-19’.Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Shirk
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If anyone in the PNW has a line on a early 2000 Mercury optimax or pro xs in 200 up to 250hp let me know. I need to repower. Looking at up to 8k for the right motor.
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Hmmm, that’s a good point.Quote:
Originally Posted by ötzi
Good to know. Thanks 2funky. My rub seems to be the aluminum in the larger size pushes the budget but maybe worth it.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2FUNKY
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Not a boat owner myself but work on and around them, in PNW inland waters.
Art... if yer gonna be out on the Sound, at any distance out from the harbor, I'd really recommend a deep V hull. Slight weather change, even a 10kt north breeze (like we always get during high pressure, when you'll want to be out and about) will kick up the surface and you'll be poundin' spine trying to get back to the lee unless you can slice.
Something like this 20 ft Alumaweld would be cool as a versatile family intro salt boat, IMO... "Mr Fahrenheit" lol:
https://www.boattrader.com/boat/2001...ruder-8875394/
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Art Shirk
https://juneau.craigslist.org/boa/d/...628353203.html
https://juneau.craigslist.org/boa/d/...622423806.html
Put in on the ferry!
Heading out this coming weekend in a buddy’s older harbercraft nahanni that’s almost identical to that boat. Same HP even. Fills our freezer every year, 10mile seaward of Nootka Is. Probably will run a $100 a day in fuel if we have to troll big water with the main engine. I don’t know alumaweld but I’d buy that style boat for west coast fishing if it’s clean. For that price, the hard money will be in all the tackle, electronics, etc anyways ;) Damn electric Scotty downriggers are over a grand these days.Quote:
Originally Posted by Norseman
Bonney Lake - my old hood from childhood!Quote:
Originally Posted by Norseman
Love the defender 110 seats too.
Yeah I don’t expect to get too far from safety but don’t like the idea of getting too bounced around.
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Or fly up and boat down :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopeless Sinner
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Like many things, it's better to err on having more boat than you think you might need, than less boat than you need when you need it