New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

sugarnspice498

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Jul 16, 2012
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Hi guys-
I just bought a pontoon about 4 days ago. I have taken it out almost all day every day. Today I had 7 people on it; 4 adults and 3 children. It's an 18 foot sylvan mirage cruiser; capacity is 1075 pounds or 8 people. I'm kind of bigger but everyone else is "normal" sized. I felt like the weight was pretty evenly distributed. Anyway, about an hour after we were out the front of the pontoon started to go down into the water. Then I felt like with the engine going it was pushing us further in the water. People moved quickly to the back and I cut the engine down but it scared the crap out of me. It happened once more, not as bad, later. I haven't been that scared in a while and the kids were pretty scared too. We had more people move to the back and the kids up front but I don't feel like we had more weight than we're allowed to on the boat. I have been reading that you "can't" sink a pontoon boat but I'm sure that's not actually true. It's a brand new boat as well, I'm the first owner. I bought the new boat so I didn't have to worry about maintenance issues right away, like buying a new car. Any advice you could give me would be great. I was pretty terrified and kind of want to get back on the horse so to speak but can't say I'm jumping at the bit anymore to get out on it and it's only 4 days old. Thank you so much!
 

Lazzerus

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Sounds like weight distribution. What was the water like? I was just out in Lake Washington, and it was really choppy. I have a 21 ft Fishing Barge, and we had 2 big waves come up over the front. I cut the motor, and the water quickly drained off the boat. Needless to say, the water got just about the entire deck wet.

For my instance, I think it was just a combo of going a bit too fast and a huge wake coming.

Lots of questions like speed and conditions I think need to be answered though. I can't imagine that on a smooth lake.. that would be scary =)

Did you check for water in the toons just to make sure it is riding correctly?
 

sugarnspice498

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Hi there-
Thank you so much for answering. The water was a little choppy but nothing too crazy just a little bit of what I would consider normal wind. I am on Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire. The water also quickly drained off but everyone was still freaking out and I can't say I enjoyed the rest of the day out as I was so nervous. I actually don't know how to check the toons for water. It's brand new so I just assumed it was all good and when I put it on my mooring buoy it does sit high in the water and doesn't look like it's sinking at all.
 

MinUph

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Jun 5, 2011
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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Keep an eye on the water line for a couple days. If it stays the same the boat is fine. It more than likely is. You say you a large person, this is probably the cause.. To much weight in front hit a wave and water came over.
When you give the gas does the front end go lower or higher? It should raise a little and then level out (plane) toons don't plane well but they do a little. If the bow goes down trim the motor up a little at a time and watch it. Not too high just a little at a time. The water can be a frightening place. Get to know your boat. Taking passengers out and not being confident yourself is not a good day on the water. Learn your boat and you will feel better each outing.
It's good to ask questions. Have fun. Be safe.

I remember my first boat, not a pontoon, a 17' runabout. My cousin and I went out at a walleye derby in early spring. We were freezing, the weather changed quickly on Oneida Lake in Upstate NY, we put out life jackets on and we were hot. Not from the jackets either. We were scared sh*tless. Didn't know much about boating and lost tract of where we were. A larger boat stayed with us and we made it through the day. Never forget that day.
Take a boating safety course it will help allot.
 

lncoop

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

That's called submarining. I asssume you had a few people in front, which seems unavoidable with that many on an eighteen footer. As you said, there was some chop; the front load was already pushing on the front of the toons, and the bow took on some water and kind of stuffed itself, at which point the motor just propelled it in the direction it was already headed; down. Once you chopped the throttle and the weight shifted (read people ran:eek::D) to the back she popped right up. Scary for sure, but more frequent that one might imagine, and not necessarily an indication of a problem with your barge.
 

Lazzerus

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Oh brand new? yeah I bet just weight. If you are ever curious how to check for water, just have it on a trailer, go forward, hit the brakes and have a partner listen for water sloshing around in them.

Also, when it is loaded, I bet the trim can cause it to push the bow down, and with the boat loaded, it might be just enough to catch the water. Once it does it, I have seen videos on how quickly the can be shoved down with the motor forcing it deeper.

When mine happened, I had a wall of water come crashing in, and I wanted to hit reverse, but knew ppl would be caught even more off guard. We all got soaked! It was a big wake, but I did not think it was that big.

Good Luck with the new toon! I am loving mine so far also. Going to really try it out when we head to Canada for a week and will be on it everyday.

Lazz
 

sugarnspice498

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

I would say large is 250 pounds...I was the one driving so I was closer to the middle/back. It goes up a little and then levels off. I felt confident until that moment and then I was done for. If the front is going down you say to trim the motor up...does that mean to move it up (you know the up or down button on the throttle)? I would hope it was all just from being a little choppy and having 7 people on board. It's just interesting that there are more seats up front than in the back...I don't want too much weight in the back though and then start to go down in the back...I keep thinking of that because they say not to anchor off the back cause that can make you swamp and sink. I'm not sure. I just thought if everyone was sitting evenly around the boat on all the seats it would be fine.

Thank you guys so much for answering.
 

Old Screwball

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Jun 20, 2012
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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Hmmmm, Last weekend we had 6 adults 2 teens, and 2 children on my 18' party barge. The water was a bit choppy, but never took any water over the deck, and even loaded with 4 adults forward, the toon ran nose high. I'm still experimenting with props, so the fastest we could go was 19mph at that time. I'll be changing to a 15 pitch next trip. Good Luck.
 

Lazzerus

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

If I am underway, I usually have most the weight in back. I can always use the trim to move the bow up and down. Usually thought, I am only going about 15, so it does not make too much difference.

Going slow, like less than 5MPH then people can go anywhere. Like others have said, I think it was just a common thing that can happen that you where not aware of. Get too much weight on the front, hit a wave, and the pontoons act like spears right into the water. It is a built in carpet washing option you got with your boat! =)
 

86 century

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

On my parents 18" toon with as little as 4 people all being bigger 200-350.
With all of the setting rear of the middle of the deck the back two foot of both toons is under water.

I have seen the same toon take a big roller of the bow to the point of the front half of the thing was under water.

It popped right back up with no harm done to the boat or passengers two of witch where under 3years old.


As long as everyone is inside the fence and seated as they should be when the eng is running anyway it would be hard to get them overboard.


Think of it like this your toon has sealed floatation if you could manage to get the thing under water it would just pop back up.
 

5150abf

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

If there are no leaks in the toons you actually can't sink it, the tubes are full of air and as long as they aren't breached they won't sink unless you put ALOT of weight on it so don't worry about that.

I was screwing around in a 25' triple tube and had water come over the front so it can happen to any boat, doing dougnuts and stopped suddenly and the wake came over the bow, it is kinda freaky but the boat was never in any danger of sinking.
Pontoons are also peircing hulls in that they go through rather than over waves like a conventional hull so that helps to cause the submarining.

With 7 people you were probably real close to the weight limit which makes loading even more important.

Don't be afraid to get back out, it isn't going to sink, just watch how you istribute your passengers and you will be fine.
 

WaterDR

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May 8, 2012
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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Weight management is important on a toon and as others have stated, dependons a lot on your speed and conditions. I have had as much as three feet of water come over the bow on my pontoon and gotten soaked while driving it (not this toon, but on others). Your confidence is a little low now but now you know what can happen especially if the weather goes to **** really fast.
I agree with all the other advice.
 

lncoop

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

I would say large is 250 pounds...I was the one driving so I was closer to the middle/back. It goes up a little and then levels off. I felt confident until that moment and then I was done for. If the front is going down you say to trim the motor up...does that mean to move it up (you know the up or down button on the throttle)? I would hope it was all just from being a little choppy and having 7 people on board. It's just interesting that there are more seats up front than in the back...I don't want too much weight in the back though and then start to go down in the back...I keep thinking of that because they say not to anchor off the back cause that can make you swamp and sink. I'm not sure. I just thought if everyone was sitting evenly around the boat on all the seats it would be fine.

Thank you guys so much for answering.

Trimming out (pushing the up button) will compensate to a certain extent for the weight up front, but you can only trim out so far before you start ventilating (losing bite due to more water than air surrounding the prop). You'll just have to experiment with it to get comfy, but you'll notice that as you trim out the front of the boat will rise a little bit. That said, in a situation like you encountered the best thing to do is simply chop the throttle, which, as yesterday bore out, instinct will likely cause you to do any way. This stuff happens. I know it was skeery, but don't let it shake you.
 

newbie4life

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

It's scary when it happens the first time. It's not that much better when it happens the second time. And it's all fun and games until you lose a grill over the front because of it. Not saying that it happened to me... just saying... I recovered the oreos that were in the same rubbermaid tote as the grill... and I could eat them through a straw. Just sayin'. :D

I learned our pontoons are small (19"). Which means I have to really watch weight distribution... and weight. I've kinda come to the conclusion that our pontoon works great for our family, and two other people... but beyond that, I think I better start looking for another toon to rebuild. But it's certainly a sick feeling when you submarine it... I've never seen so many people throw life jackets on so fast as when I had 6" of water run over the deck... and I circled my stupid grill (with a turning radius of a Wal-mart parking lot) twice before the sucker dropped to the bottom of the lake.
 

Todd4

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Feb 11, 2012
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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

Reminds me of a story that happened to me long ago. We were in my lil sister's 70's, ~19 foot fiberglass 'speed boat' style of boat. The kind that sat way low in the water and had a long pointy bow (that would take forever to plane back down after starting out). Well, some of you may remember those. Anyway, I managed to submarine it in a pretty big wake. My boat at the time would have taken it just fine, but this boat sat much lower in the water. The boat didn't have a windshield, but instead, had a fiberglass 'lip' molded into the deck. Well, to my surprise, suddenly there was no bow visible to me, only water about chest high, and when the water hit that 'lip' it shot up into my face so hard it turned my eyelids inside out (seriouisly). The boat was almost swamped - cushions and life jackets floating in the lake. I immediately crawled to the back and started bailing water out of the boat before it sunk, while not being able to blink (close my eyelids). We managed to keep her from going under - and my lil sis got my eylids rolled back down. I learned something the hard way that day. It scared the crap out of us at the time, but today it's just another funny beer drinking story.

Todd
 

bigdee

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

If I am underway, I usually have most the weight in back. I can always use the trim to move the bow up and down. Usually thought, I am only going about 15, so it does not make too much difference.

Going slow, like less than 5MPH then people can go anywhere. Like others have said, I think it was just a common thing that can happen that you where not aware of. Get too much weight on the front, hit a wave, and the pontoons act like spears right into the water. It is a built in carpet washing option you got with your boat! =)

Common, yes. Scary,yes. Unsafe,no......when the stern rises and the prop comes out of the water the boat will self correct itself.
 

IslandManMitch

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

You were in no danger of sinking. The rule of never anchoring from the rear does not apply to pontoon boats.
 

86 century

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Re: New pontoon owner, did it almost sink?!

If it makes you feal any better I have taken some pretty big hits in my supra she sets low in the water even more so so with 1000# plus of ballast.

Its real easy to dig the nose or take big roller over the rear. Then the pumps kick on and we go about our day.
 
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