PONTOON boat for inland waters > exp or sug please

[The Kraken]

Skeet, ditto, ditto, ditto on the tank racks!
I used to rent pontoon boats down in Panama City to do some putz about diving and keeping the tanks in place was a real pain.
I did some serious engineering for a design to prohibit tank rolling.
Ended up just using some small gauge stainless steel angle and marine grade plywood.

 

[swilson]

check out www.plasticpontoon.com as these hulls will perform well in both inland and ocean conditions.......web site has a demo boat with a short movie showing boat in action. Has 24" dia, 25 ft tube length.........had on ocean last weekend. Really worked well and had a 2 - 3 ft chop. Hulls are heavier than aluminum and water management is excellent as has molded in strakes vs. welded as on alum. Less drag and boat runs over 30 MPH with 115 HP engine. On ocean was up to 26 MPH. Speed isn't as important as ride and how the bow planes. Major problem on standard pontoon boat is the deck is like a rubber band and twists when hitting major waves or rough water. These are modular and can build any size of boat. and more importantly can be used as replacements on existing alum. pontoon boats.

 

[Lake Mead Tony]

I have a 24 ft pontoon that I dive off of with a 75 hp merc. This setup get's me about 25mph and very easy on gas. The 30 gal tank can last me all weekend. As for as room goes, it is great for about 3 divers, no more because of the amount of gear we take with us. Normaly we go for a 3 dive day and that brings me to the draw back. It's a weight thing. If I had it to do over again I would go for a tri-toon. I have also been out on some windy days and this presents the problem of water over the deck. I use it mostly on Lake Mead and that lake is known for winds and that causes 3-5ft waves at times. Also the option of having a bathroom on board is well worth its weight in gold.
Hope this helps you in your decision.

 

[froginmgl]

I'm glad I ran across this thread I also was considering a pontoon. Then I really didnt want to buy the trailer and pay to store her. So I have been looking at Inflatable hull 's 12' or 14' easy to store. and I hear they can handle waves pretty good. Does anybody have any expierence with these easy to store boats? or would it be a oops! to get one?

 

[Mambo Dave]

Having only spent a lot of time on bass and pontoon boats, but not 25' or 30' ocean boats, I'm not sure if this is an issue or not. Having had a pontoon boat on the Ohio river for a number of years, one questionable aspect of them turned me off from them on all but the ~10-HP lakes, and I'd like the exerpienced sea-people here to comment on it. Does the hull of a standard boat push floating debris away from an outboard, and thus protect it?

Most catamaran hulls also seem to put the outboards behind the twin hulls.

My experience on the Ohio (well, it was actually the ah-Hi-ah in the local dialect) was that any and every floating thing went straight back and hit the motor. After buying a new prop, I became suspicious of the design. Maybe I should have been suspicious of the Ohio river, what with the neat color our skin would be after swimming in it, and the hardness of our hair once dried... but I digress.

I realize that all props are exposed - they can't be behind any part of the hull - but do you guys think having a hull in front of a main portion of an outboard protects even the prop better?

As a sidenote, based on having been under a few trailered (freshwater) pontoon boats to try to tighten 'em up or do general work to them, I wouldn't trust many of those lightweight & cheap party platforms to the torsional twists that the ocean's chop subjects them to.

Best,

Dave

 

[mikes351]

Skeet, ditto, ditto, ditto on the tank racks!
I used to rent pontoon boats down in Panama City to do some putz about diving and keeping the tanks in place was a real pain.
I did some serious engineering for a design to prohibit tank rolling.
Ended up just using some small gauge stainless steel angle and marine grade plywood.

I have a 28' pontoon and am going to use vertical roll control type cylinder control system. Any thoughts?