Pontoon Boats in Gulf

[Jackbr549]

I am considering purchasing a 22' with a 60 Hp Mercury motor. I am in Florida and a would like to fish in local lakes, bay and the gulf. Is this boat sea worthy for the Gulf? I am getting mixed answers from the dealer. One wants me to get a bigger motor the other wants to sell me a bigger boat. Can anyone help me? Thanks

 

[charleso]

Bays and inlets you would be okay on CALM days. More horsepower will get you back quicker if weather threatens, longer boat will be more stable/drier in chop. Do your homework and use common sense.

 

[HotTommy]

I have done a lot of boating in Choctawhatchee Bay in NW Florida. It is usually suitable for my 24' pontoon boats, but there are times (25-30 knots of wind) when it is uncomfortable. There are times (e.g., north wind during the winter months) when the Gulf of Mexico is relatively calm. But during the warm seasons when the wind is out of the south, the swells are larger and the passage from the Gulf to the Bay is downright treacherous, I would be reluctant to take a pontoon boat out into the Gulf. So the answer to your question is this. If you're willing to wait for ideal weather and keep a very close eye on it while you're out, I think you'd be ok. But if you want to go out into the Gulf any time you feel like it, I don't think a pontoon boat is a good choice. .... I don't recall ever seeing a pontoon boat cruise along the coast near the Gulf front condo I frequent.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I boat in Tampa bay, Sarasota Bay, the Manatee river and the ICW. You only see pontoon boats when the weather is mild and there is no wind. With any chop, the passengers clearly are not having fun

If the wind changes, the ride gets really rough in a pontoon. I have gone out in dead calm, only to come back in 6' rollers with the upholstery puckered up my backside. At 3' pontoons are like riding in a washing machine

I agree, a bigger boat makes sense to a point, however most of the time you could get by with a 18' or smaller toon.

I personally wouldnt head out to the gulf often in a 'toon

 

[ahicks]

We use ours in the Gulf frequently but are pretty careful of the wind speed and direction, and then I'm never more than an hour or so away from the calm waters of the canal or river we used to access the Gulf. 18"- to maybe 24" is our limit and that's only something I can head into or have following me. I'm not going to be taking that from the side on purpose for very long.

The boat we use here in Fl. is a 20' with a Honda 50 on it. I have a 24' in Mi and I don't think it would do much better than the 20 under those conditions.

If the boat I was looking at was going to be used in the Gulf regularly, MY boat would not be a pontoon boat. While I've been all over the place in them and am a HUGE fan, there are much better setups available for conditions often found in bigger water (more comfortable, faster, and safer).

 

[bigdee]

Years ago a friend and his wife took a trip down the Mississippi in a 24' pontoon. Their plan was to travel the river and use a motorcyle at various docking sites and later enter the gulf and cross over to Florida and then trailer home. About half way across the gulf they got into the wake of a tanker which almost turned the boat over. He lost everything on the boat including the motorcycle.

 

[Silver Eagle]

When we had our 24 ft pontoon boat the only place I ever used it was in the Chesapecke Bay. It had a 90 hp 2 stroke engine on it. Very sea worthy, but I always kept an eye on the sky. never took it on in white caps and never went out alone.

 

[BLUE by you]

It's all based on water and weather conditions. It's not a boat for big ocean travel.

 

[brooksville_rebel]

We go out of of Hernando Beach and out of Pasco County near Sam's on the Beach (just a little south of it). We have a 24ft pontoon and at that time a 40hp. We'd go 1- maybe 5 miles out to fish/swim. Never had any issues with the weather. We got caught in a couple torrential down pours that lasted 10-30 mins and couple times the winds were gushing but not hurricane winds either. I don't think I'd go out any farther than we have tho. The one time we were out at 7 miles was by mistake. The GPS was not working and we could still see land so I thought we were only a couple miles out. Only found out we were out that far cuz we blew the engine and Sea Tow had to come and get us and he told us how far we were.
You want to fish the Middle grounds or farther out (you don't say were in Fl your at) then yea no way a pontoon does it out there.

 

[icwingman]

I am considering purchasing a 22' with a 60 Hp Mercury motor. I am in Florida and a would like to fish in local lakes, bay and the gulf. Is this boat sea worthy for the Gulf? I am getting mixed answers from the dealer. One wants me to get a bigger motor the other wants to sell me a bigger boat. Can anyone help me? Thanks

Bought Aug 2 suntracker dx fishing barge 115 command thurst. Only used it 6 times been in a lot of 1/3 foot seas. Sat was in 2/4 with some 5 ft swells. Bad storm came up. Boat was great but I know u need a bigger motor. I was 25 miles out of crystal river. 5 adults n 3 teens. No one was scared boat took it n gave a decent ride boat is 2017 model

 

[ahicks]

I'm out of Crystal River as well. Sometimes use the Barge Canal.

Geez, I hope you took that experience to heart. Making 25 miles with the weather straight ahead or behind you is one thing, toons handle that pretty well for the most part. But taking the weather from the side? That's generally an experience you won't forget. You're pretty much forced to tack like a sailboat to avoid the waves hitting you broadside. Takes FOREVER to get anywhere! Anyway, glad you made it back OK. That's the stuff TV News reports are about....

 

[NYBo]

Yep, taking swells or waves abeam in a 'toon is no fun. Cut short a trip the other day for that reason. My passengers were starting to look a little green.

 

[icwingman]

Like I said earlier Im quite confident with this pontoon. I had boats for over forty years, I also have a 6 pack Captains license. If you know how to captain a boat a rowboat will survive. Experience and common sense must prevail. Ive been out of crystal river, 35, 20 and mostly 15 miles. When its rough you go with the flow it might take longer to get back in, but thats what boating is about. I dont go out in SCA seas but you never what blows and you need the knowledge of how you and your boat perform. If not stay home and wait for good weather reports. Monitor your marine weather channels on vhf and then make your decision. If your taking broadsides your not running your boat right for that kind of weather....relax and enjoy what turns into a lousy trip can still be fun. I use mine constantly, but i know what the limits are.