PF official boat thread?

[rob_s]

Is there already one?

Did a coup, e of searches and nothing seemed obvious.

While I am not a boater I am a native North-Floridian and lover of Florida’s rivers (beaches and oceans not so much) and in doomscrolling all things Florida rivers and searching zillow for riverfront properties (not to mention a rabbit hole on the Great Loop) I've gotten into a side-scroll of boat videos and such.

Thought it might be interesting to see what PFers have and use and lust for etc. The Trucks and gear Head threads have been so much fun this seemed like a natural to me.

[littlejerry]

Im near fresh water lakes in the SE, so that basically means I use pontoons, wake boats, and PWCs.

I do get out into the salt regularly for work. Personally I really enjoy PWCs in the ocean.

[mtnbkr]

The only boat I have is a SOT kayak. We have a lot of creeks, rivers, and reservoirs in this region (with lots of bays, inlets, and feeders) and the kayak is a fun way to explore them. I got the SOT so I can take it to the beach when we go to OBX. I like kayaking in the surf when it's not too crazy and of course the marshes and sound at OBX is great for kayaking.

Chris

[mmc45414]

Well, we just jumped back in a couple years ago. We have had a small sporty boat that was a ton of fun, but got crowded when we got a dog. Then we had a couple pontoon boats, including a triple JC with a 4.3L I/O we probably shoulda kept but sold to get an old (1979) Carver cabin crusier that never really worked out the way we hoped.

In the past we have done a lot on the Ohio River and some on the TVA lakes south of here, but the Great Lakes have always been our aspiration. Also, three of my friends from high school have made the loop.

The current (probably last) rig is a 2001 ProLine walk-around with a 2008 Verado 300. Don't have any current state pics in the water, because it had a hard top on it that had some drawbacks that became more apparent as we made just a few trips, so I recently took it off:



ETA: Docked at Rogers City on Lake Huron this summer with the top:


And Cami and Chuck love it:

[rob_s]

The current (probably last) rig is a 2001 ProLine walk-around with a 2008 Verado 300. Don't have any current state pics in the water, because it had a hard top on it that had some drawbacks that became more apparent as we made just a few trips, so I recently took it off:



ETA: Docked at Rogers City on Lake Huron this summer with the top:

I like the look of that. Have a head of some sort in that cabin?

what's the... draft is it? IOW, how shallow can you go?

[Wake27]

I bought this in May and love it. It obviously has lots of drawbacks compared to a boat if you want to bring along several people and/or lots of cargo, but it is a lot of fun. My 5yo loves it and we can comfortably ride with my wife on the back and my daughter sandwiched between us. This is the kind of thing where it’d probably be really nice to have good friends or family with a mix, riding with a few other skis is lots of fun but having a boat come along too means that you can bring kids and pets plus coolers and an ez up to the sandbar and then go play in the water with the skis.

[mmc45414]

I like the look of that.

It is probably our endgame, after ~35 years of getting in and out of boats. Having something that still goes on a trailer is a huge reduction of expense, plus we do not want to be locked in and burn out on one place. But in your case rack storage or a lift might be better, you would end up storing a trailer.

Have a head of some sort in that cabin?

There is a spot for a Porta-Pot, we currently do not have one. Dunno how much you have researched any of that, installing one would be simple, but meeting the letter of the law may require it being bolted down so it needs to be pumped out so that you couldn't just grab it and dump it out overboard. That would be a shithead kind of thing to do (pun intended...) so probably would make sense to get an inspection without one and then install it. Not sure if actually ever getting boarded would be a thing unless you were screwing up in some other manner.

ETA: Here is a pic that sort of shows where it would go, that center cushion is on a moveable panel:

what's the... draft is it? IOW, how shallow can you go?

Going by the old manual the manufacturer has posted on the www it is 18", but that is just for the hull, obviously the outboard trims up and down. Also that one has an adjustable transom jack plate, something typically done for performance (to lessen drag by setting the motor higher), they are also common to be adjustable on the fly, so it could be raised to decrease draft. Then the limit is water intake and some people plug some of the higher holes, typically in an effort to raise top speed, but it could apply.

[dogcaller]

We purchased our first boat ~6 years ago and we love it. It's a pontoon (tri-toon) and is very versatile. It's fast enough to do anything we want (pull tubes of kids and adventurous adults as fast as they'd want to go) and there's plenty of room for the kids to bring friends and for people to move about, relax, and not feel cramped. We live near a large lake/reservoir so it's ~15 mins travel time from the driveway to the boat ramp. No HOA, so the boat stays at the house all season, making trips much more convenient than if we stored it.


A retirement dream would be to get a center console fishing boat and a place near the ocean so I could do more ocean fishing. That's hard to come by in Colorado.

[Wake27]

We purchased our first boat ~6 years ago and we love it. It's a pontoon (tri-toon) and is very versatile. It's fast enough to do anything we want (pull tubes of kids and adventurous adults as fast as they'd want to go) and there's plenty of room for the kids to bring friends and for people to move about, relax, and not feel cramped. We live near a large lake/reservoir so it's ~15 mins travel time from the driveway to the boat ramp. No HOA, so the boat stays at the house all season, making trips much more convenient than if we stored it.


A retirement dream would be to get a center console fishing boat and a place near the ocean so I could do more ocean fishing. That's hard to come by in Colorado.

I miss CO and really hope I can move back there in 2025 but the lack of water is kind of a bummer. I'd be back in the Springs and have a buddy there with skis that goes to Pueblo Reservoir but I've never been and don't know how it compares to lakes here. I've wondered how many bodies of water there are that are worth driving several hours to get to.

[littlejerry]

Tangent:

One of my guilty pleasures is watching YouTube videos of Haulover Inlet. Quality entertainment.