pontoon submarining

[ezwitter]

frist reply on site theres lots of info helpful info here rebuilt 2 boats just reading info. but never had it happen to me but know it has happen to people in the past. what do you do when a pontoon boat submarines, best way for it not to happen etc. i own 24' party burge 70hp johnson family and i don't go fast at all just like putting around at lake here in augusta,ga



home of the masters

 

[Silvertip]

Re: pontoon submarining

You don't have to be going fast to have a submarine incident. Anytime a wave comes over the bow, the entire pontoon deck now acts like the diving planes on a submarine. Forward motion drives the deck downward until bouyancy occurs at which time forward motion stops and the boat is thrust back upward again which is when people can get pitched about if they are not already off the boat. The best way to prevent this is to stay off the water in heavy weather and by all means, DO NOT let a bunch of people sit up front. You want a balanced load with the bias toward the rear so the bow rides a tad higher than the stern. The other way around is a recipe for disaster and the faster you go the worse that disaster can be.

 

[steelespike]

Re: pontoon submarining

Basically cut the throttle; as long as there is thrust it will continue to dive.
Be aware of your conditions around you.Don't over load and keep a somewhat rearward weight bias.Never came close to submarining but at dead slow we did have a big wave from a boat wash over the front,lightly loaded 18 foot.I could see a little more weight and speed it might have happened.

 

[ezwitter]

Re: pontoon submarining

frist reply on site theres lots of info helpful info here rebuilt 2 boats just reading info. but never had it happen to me but know it has happen to people in the past. what do you do when a pontoon boat submarines, best way for it not to happen etc. i own 24' party burge 70hp johnson family and i don't go fast at all just like putting around at lake here in augusta,ga



home of the masters

thanks for the reply guys been boating 20 yrs but this is my frist pontoon. read a lot of comments about this subject, just wanted some feed back. im always careful about weight on front of the boat

thanks

 

[marlboro180]

Re: pontoon submarining

Silvertip has it.

Been there , done that....on a old Riviera:redface: Man , were the guests not happy, but then again, they all jumped to to the front to look at something in the water.

 

[imported_John o]

Re: pontoon submarining

Keep your weight balanced, Trim up a bit to lift the bow if needed. People have this nasty tendency to want to always be forward on the boat. Especially on mine as I have two very nice reclining fishing chairs up there (inside the fence but still forward). You are the captain, move those folks aft if you need to.

Cross wakes at an angle (45 deg seems to work best). This prevents most of the dive after crossing the first wave of the wake and minimizes roll (from a wake hitting you sideways)

DO NOT slow down just prior to hitting a wake. Slowing down lowers the bow and makes it easier to submarine. It's better to speed up a bit before hitting the wake in order to lift the bow over the wave.


I submarined once when I wasn't paying close enough attention. All my guests were forward and I slowed down too abruptly as I approached our other boat. Buried my nose in the wake. Fortunately a little up trim and a little throttle and we were back on top of the water with just enough on deck to cool our toes. Lesson learned: Always pay attention to the conditions of the boat no matter how good she looks in that bikini!

 

[Plumberbutt]

Re: pontoon submarining

We purchased our first pontoon this past fall just before Labor Day weekend and learned a valuable lesson......those things can REALLY dive!!!!! Scared the poo right out of me and had it for sale and sold by Wednesday of the following week!! It wasn't the boats fault, it was mine and I didn't know that they could act like an open cockpit submarine!!!! It was listed for 10 people and we had 5 and two dogs, but was overweight. Learn the hard way I guess. We then purchased a tri-toon Benny and I feel safe now, but I still am careful. I thought we were going down, the motor came out of the water and with so much water on the deck, it was hard to get it acting like a boat again. Good luck and be careful.

 

[imported_John o]

Re: pontoon submarining

We then purchased a tri-toon Benny and I feel safe now, but I still am careful.

Always remember that even a tri-toon can submarine. As long as you're careful (not paranoid just careful) you'll be alright. Without damage to the toons a pontoon is almost impossible to sink.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: pontoon submarining

This event happens quickly and it is over quickly because once the bow goes down, the prop almost immediately comes out of the water thus stopping forward drive. Bouancy then takes over and the boat pops back up but in a backward/upward motion which is what pitches people and things about. Too many people on an unbalanced vessel and greedy operators is also why so many ferries capsize and sink.

 

[TerryMSU]

Re: pontoon submarining

Always remember that even a tri-toon can submarine. As long as you're careful (not paranoid just careful) you'll be alright. Without damage to the toons a pontoon is almost impossible to sink.

I saw it happen about 25 years ago. Old fashioned open top fiberglass pontoons. Over the corse of the day that particular boat slowly began to ride lower in the water. Then suddenly it dropped about 4 foot down and rested on the bottom in the muck. The deck was about 3 ft under water. Fortunately it was in the shalow end of the lake, not the deep part. I don't know how they got it out, but I suspect that a wrecker on shore with a long cable was required.

TerryMSU

 

[ezwitter]

Re: pontoon submarining

never seen this happen but sure it can. i always turn in to the wake with what ever boat im own but hear u about nice looking bikinis sometime hard to look away but always wear sunglasses ( better half with book on head )

 

[OldePharte]

Re: pontoon submarining

I had this happen to me on a 24 foot pontoon. There were two rather large folks, each reclining on one of the front lounges. The Bosslady went forward to talk to them. As she bent down, I had two large cruiser wakes come together as I was crossing one of them at a 45 degree angle. The wave went over my wife's back, the deck caught and went under. Yep, I stuffed that puppy. As we sat there, I was collected floating shoes as they came by the helm.

I was concentrating too much on taking the one wake and missed the other.