My brother and I are currently looking into purchasing a pontoon boat--our first boat--for floating down the Connecticut River. Based on past experiences with our friend's boats all we're looking for is something that can seat 10-12 and just coast downstream and do just a little bit of fishing. We don't care about pulling tubers, wakebording, or speed. Our focus is primarily on used pontoon boats made within the last decade, under $10,000 (with trailer, ideally).
We figure annual fuel costs will be about $1,200 - $1,500, winterization, registration, small tune ups and annual/biannual water pump replacement will run an additional couple hundred bucks a year. In the winter it'll be covered and stored in a barn, and we're aware that transport and launching/picking it up aren't going to be the easiest things ever.
All that being said, are we too far off with our expectations? Looking around the New England area we've found several appealing pontoon boats in our price range, but are there any particular brands we should look at?
And are there any other hidden costs we should prepare for?
Thanks in advance.
We figure annual fuel costs will be about $1,200 - $1,500, winterization, registration, small tune ups and annual/biannual water pump replacement will run an additional couple hundred bucks a year. In the winter it'll be covered and stored in a barn, and we're aware that transport and launching/picking it up aren't going to be the easiest things ever.
All that being said, are we too far off with our expectations? Looking around the New England area we've found several appealing pontoon boats in our price range, but are there any particular brands we should look at?
And are there any other hidden costs we should prepare for?
Thanks in advance.
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