Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

[loudness]

Proud owner of a 20 FT Harris Pontoon. I will post pics later. We bought the boat just mainly for cruising in freshwater.

What are the must have items for a fun day at the lake? BBQ pit? Tube? 99% of the time it is us 3 plus 2 dogs.

I saw those slides you mount on the boat. I think it was over 400.00. Any experience with those?

 

[BobGinCO]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Cat 4 (throwable) PFD, life jackets for everybody on board.
Take a boating safety course (free online from BoatUS).
Might want some rope and stuff...

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

download your state boating regs and make sure you understand are equipped appropriately. I boat in MN and WI and the regs are different so I need to be aware of what they are and where I am so I do not run afoul of the sheriff or DNR when checked.

You will want a good ladder, and an anchor appropriate to your boat size and water bottom. One thing you might not think of is a 12v powered air pump to blow up your floaties.

You will need fenders that you can move from one side to the other. there are clips you can get that you can slip over the rails. I use them to adjust the level of the fender by moving them from the upper rail to the lower rail depending on need.

 

[The Rooster]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Proud owner of a 20 FT Harris Pontoon. I will post pics later. We bought the boat just mainly for cruising in freshwater.

What are the must have items for a fun day at the lake? BBQ pit? Tube? 99% of the time it is us 3 plus 2 dogs.

I saw those slides you mount on the boat. I think it was over 400.00. Any experience with those?

Congratulations. BBQ pit, tubes, change room/ privacy for the girls, bimini, good stereo, extra towels, 12-v powered blender, carpet cleaner, 12-v air pump for tubes. Any slide I've ever seen came off of a hard top deck. Good luck !!!

 

[loudness]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Congratulations. BBQ pit, tubes, change room/ privacy for the girls, bimini, good stereo, extra towels, 12-v powered blender, carpet cleaner, 12-v air pump for tubes. Any slide I've ever seen came off of a hard top deck. Good luck !!!

carpet cleaner sounds good!

I have all the safety equipment, stereo, bumpers, bimini top. Do you really need a towbar for pulling a tube with a small kid or I can tie the rope on the pontoon eyelets?

 

[Old Screwball]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

If you tie your tow rope to the pontoon, you may.. WILL snag the rope on your engine when you make a hard turn.

 

[OK Toon]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Get a harness that goes from each toon. They have some that stay centered and they have some that have a pulley system that allows the tow rope to move from side to side on the harness (that's the kind we have) -- allows you to really swing the rider outside the wake.

Once you get all of your state-required safety devices and such, go find a lake ranger out on the water and have him do a safety inspection for you. He'll give you a sticker to put on your windshield so hopefully that will keep you from getting stopped later for a safety inspection (when you aren't as prepared).

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

I have towed tubes off one of the tube eyelets on all three of my toons without any issue. In all that time I have never snagged it on the motor. I am now using a bridle that connects to both and centers the load. It also has a floatie that keeps it from gettng in the prop. This along with a floating line (pretty much standard tow line) makes it easy. Would like a tow bar but am just too cheap. It is also helpful to have a boat hook to grab the rope when trying to pull the tube alongside for loading. A toon, especially a longer one, cannot turn sharp enough to come around on the rope like you can in a runabout.

 

[loudness]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Get a harness that goes from each toon. They have some that stay centered and they have some that have a pulley system that allows the tow rope to move from side to side on the harness (that's the kind we have) -- allows you to really swing the rider outside the wake.

Once you get all of your state-required safety devices and such, go find a lake ranger out on the water and have him do a safety inspection for you. He'll give you a sticker to put on your windshield so hopefully that will keep you from getting stopped later for a safety inspection (when you aren't as prepared).

Thanks. I did not know that!

 

[Bamaman1]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

You will need a larger rope than a simple ski rope to pull tubers. The commercial tow ropes for tubes are 4000 lb. test ropes and about 65' long. I say this because we had a couple of very serious injuries closeby when tubers' ropes broke--throwing riders into boat docks.

Most of the other items have been covered above. It all depends on how far you're going to be on the lake from your tow vehicle.

I carry a cell phone with neighbors' phone numbers programmed in case I need them to tow me to home port.

A spare prop (and changing tools) is good to have if your lake is very shallow and dangerous.

303 cleaner and 303 protectant and rags are needed, as you'll want to clean your boat before coming home. I also carry a small Royal 110 volt hand vacuum cleaner to combat dirt, bugs and spider webs.

Every boat needs a sign saying "NO SMOKING". Every time a smoker gets in a boat, their damned ashes will fall and burn a hole in your carpet. (I'm not so hard on drinking, however.) Carry a designated driver if it's a party crowd.

 

[Junkshow]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Life vests with handles for the dogs makes it so much easier to hoist the pups back on board.

 

[arod2012]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

This is a great thread and alot of useful info.

 

[halfmoa]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

Once you get all of your state-required safety devices and such, go find a lake ranger out on the water and have him do a safety inspection for you. He'll give you a sticker to put on your windshield so hopefully that will keep you from getting stopped later for a safety inspection (when you aren't as prepared).

^^^^This will vary depending on location...

 

[Silver Eagle]

Re: Proud New Owner of a Pontoon!! What are the must have for the boat?

A membership with Boat USA and a good Fire extingusher. ABC type.